The last time markets were defending against sovereign defaults in the same way they seem to be doing with EM concerns so high was summer of 2012. 
Gold rallied from USD1570/oz. levels to USD1760/oz. only to give way once we were out of the soup.
Note that gold shares have been positive all year and one of the best trades.
Gold shorts remain near record highs; still, those highs were hit in April of 2013. Can gold miners rally when the world is falling apart however?
No, but the world isn’t falling apart.
GOLD +6.2% since Dec 20 2013: