Two giant metal structures jut out from the sub-equatorial waters off the western Pacific island nation of Nauru. Now collapsed and abandoned, the former phosphate loading stations are evidence of a mining boom and economic downfall that saw one of the wealthiest nations in the world become one of the poorest in a generation.At just 21 square kilometers, Nauru was once home to the purest phosphate reserves in the world. Nauru's phosphate -- created from the droppings of birds migrating across the ocean for thousands of years -- is a prized and essential ingredient in fertilizer.In the mid-1…READ FULL ARTICLE
