The prices of metals and minerals have fallen, share prices have tumbled and the once-mighty mining houses are shaky. Iron-ore at $50/t is bruising, platinum at $1 000/oz is maiming, not even China’s stock rout and the Greek tragedy have lifted gold, diamonds have lost their sparkle to a troubled supply chain, copper has come a cropper, coal, aluminium, manganese and nickel prices are numbing, and the list goes on.