Low commodity price waves have overturned several junior mining companies as the mining sector goes into 2015 a little worse for wear. Two coal juniors, the Sydney-listed Zyl and the London Aim-listed Beacon Hill, put themselves into voluntary administration last week; antimony junior Cons Murch went into business rescue in mid-December, coal junior Miranda shut up shop in the last quarter of 2014 and several others, particularly small emerging miners, are bemoaning their ongoing buffeting in an environment where both equity capital and debt are extremely difficult to raise. Iron-ore juniors are so severely under the cosh in Australia that the state government of Western Australia has thrown them a lifeline, which defers half of their royalty commitments for the next two years. Only the zinc, nickel and aluminium prices are showing a semblance of buoyancy as oversupply and decreased demand ravage most other commodities.