The ruins poke out of a monotonous stretch of scrub and beckon the world to visit Afghanistan as it was more than 1,400 years ago, when Buddhist monasteries dotted the landscape. An ancient citadel juts from a tall crag, standing sentinel over what once was a flourishing settlement. Image is from Reuters Video.

Gold mines in Mali are an underexploited treasure trove for commodity investors, the supervisory board chairman of German-listed Pearl Gold told Reuters in an interview, Mineweb reports.

Macarthur Coal shares soared almost 40 per cent after Peabody Energy's near $5 billion takeover bid, providing a stock price boost to others in the Australian coal sector. The shares closed up $4.06, or 36.64 per cent, at $15.14 on Tuesday, Macarthur's highest finish since late April.

Network Alliance, a specialist IT and network solutions provider for small and medium enterprises, has announced the successful completion of the South African phase of its first major Riverbed project.

Supported by pick-up in spot demand and a better trend at the London Metal Exchange, zinc futures prices rose 0.39 per cent today. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, zinc for delivery in July traded higher by 40 paise or 0.39 per cent to Rs 103.25 per kg

Twenty four miners were trapped in a flooded iron ore mine in east China's Shandong Province, the rescue command center said Monday. Previously, 21 miners were believed to be trapped in the mine.

Pimps man the park across from the historic Ulan Bator Hotel, popular with foreigners. They are keeping an eye on their employees -- about 20 women working in Mongolia's quickly expanding sex trade. Image by Tomascastelazo

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hailed a takeover bid for a Queensland coal mine as proof her carbon price package won't kill off the sector. US energy giant Peabody Energy Corp is making a second tilt for Macarthur Coal within 14 months, this time through a $5 billion bid in tandem with the world's largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal.

China's gold output in the first five months of 2011 totalled 132.02 tonnes, up 3.67 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on its website on Tuesday.