Mining to the rescue as coffee earnings down sharply in Honduras

International commodity markets can be very fickle, as Honduras is finding out. This crop year, the nation's coffee output has grown substantially, but coffee export earnings have slumped because of low international prices.

But mining has partially offset these losses thanks to high metals prices. Through April, Honduras has earned $88 million in exports of metals, mainly gold and zinc.

Overall, the nation's metal exports have risen in the first four months of the year by 60 percent.