The rapid growth of Chinese industry, combined with rebounding economies in the U.S. and Japan, has caused an increased demand for minerals that has left the global mining industry scrambling to keep pace after a decade of investment cut-backs. While certain areas lack supplies such as dump trucks or explosives, the most pervasive deficit is in labor, forcing firms to woo workers from competing firms and even other industries.
See "A Booming China Saps Labor and Supply", Wayne Arnold, International Herald Tribune, March 16, 2006