Technology keeping miners afloat despite prices going under water

Vancouver

NEW technology is helping miners cut costs to survive the worst downturn in commodity prices in nearly two decades, which is good news for companies that might otherwise have gone to the wall, not so good for an industry drowning in overcapacity.

Commodity prices from coal to zinc are down in some cases by as much as 80 per cent from record highs a few years ago, caused in part by slowing economic growth in China - for years the world's biggest user of raw materials - which shows little signs of abating.