One of the forgotten battles of the first world war was fought for Chilean dirt. Daniel A Gross traces the explosive story of nitrates from South America to the western front

The Soma coal mine, where 301 workers lost their lives in a May 13 disaster, received a “perfect” score in March by an official inspector, who is the brother-in-law of a senior executive of the company, daily Hürriyet has revealed.

Photographs and stories of men who, today, live in the mountains and hunt for gold.

Forget crystal meth. The pseudo-religious Knights Templar drug cartel in western Mexico has diversified to the point that drug trafficking doesn't even rank among its top sources of income. The cartel counts illegal mining, logging and extortion as its biggest moneymakers, said Alfredo Castillo, the Mexican government's special envoy sent to restore the rule of law in Michoacan, the state controlled by the Knights Templar the last several years.

Salt mines are special compared to other underground excavation sites: once they are closed for extraction purposes, they can be opened for visitors, or for storage purposes--all because of their unique microclimate with natural air-conditioning and constant temperature and atmospheric pressure all year.