A picture made available on 05 July 2012 of a coal truck driving over a coal mining site in the mining town of Nalaikh in Mongolia, 02 July 2012. Once a thriving mining town, Nalaikh is one of first and oldest mining site in Mongolia but has seen a decline in its fortune as mining disasters and accidents plague the site. With little government oversight, only a handful of small companies and informal miners work on the site with scant regard to safety standards. Mongolia is rich in a variety of natural resources including forests, coal, iron ore, gold and copper. Expansion of the mining industry has turned the sector into the most important income source and led to an economic growth rate last year of around 17 per cent. The majority of raw materials are exported to China. Seeking to to reduce the dependency on China for exports and Russian imports, Mongolia has embarked on a policy of closer economic ties with other countries such as Germany, Canada and the United States. Despite impressive growth rates, about one-third of the population lives below the poverty line while unemployment and inflation are high.
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