Manganese (the main colorant in purple glasses) costs around $2.25/kg and hasn't changed much on the world market in a long time. The pinks that have gold in them have only about 10ppm (that's 0.001%) gold so even with high gold prices that's probably not what's really driving the glass price. Energy costs of production are more likely to be the real driver over materials. IMHO.
Robert
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Robert Simmons
(Former) Director for Bead Donations
Beads of Courage, Inc.
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