That there is very little activity in July deliveries should be...

That there is very little activity in July deliveries should be no surprise given that July Comex Gold was barely traded relative to August, October and December.

Meanwhile, there are huge movements in August and December as the big gold derivative books position themselves for the second half of the year. Why is the open interest moving from August to December? The shorts don't want to deliver, and the longs don't want to take delivery. But both want to keep their short and long positions for the future, so they roll them to the next liquid contract.

Source:
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/gold_quotes_settlements_futures.html

What is even more interesting is that most of the holders of these "structural" longs and shorts that make up the open interest, are indifferent to market direction. The banks will continue to hold them regardless of whether the POG is $1,000 or $2,000.

Comex gold futures is the "paper gold" that we can see. But it doesn't make sense by itself. The other pieces of the puzzle in these books are the OTC swaps, spot and forward deals, which are shrouded in commercial confidentiality.

Similarly, the Comex Physical gold holdings are the physical gold that we can see.

I am more interested in what we can't see.