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Makers M3D reached its $400,000 target in just eleven minutes of the device appearing on the crowd funding website. Early backers of the machine will be able to get one for just $199, while other backers can pledge as little as $299.

Dubbed Micro, it comes with easy-to-use software that allows users to search, drag and drop objects to print. At just 7.3in square and weighing just one kilogram the device will be easy to move around, and can be used with Windows, Mac or Linux.

The Republic of Suriname, with its capital city Paramaribo, is located just north of the Amazon delta on the northeast coast of South America. It is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west by Guyana, to the east by French Guiana, and to the south by Brazil. This is a country with a rich mining history as one of the major bauxite and alumina producers in the world, however it also has oil, both onshore and offshore.

Desalination is an increasingly viable solution to providing potable water in places with limited fresh water on land but plenty of access to coastal water – almost a dictionary definition of a small island. The islands of the Caribbean are not traditionally thought of as arid but water supplies in the region are under stress as populations increase, and climate change is not helping the situation. Intense rains were reported in some Caribbean areas in 2013, but that doesn't always result in an increase in fresh water supply.

It was in 1995 that the government of Jamaica took the decision to restructure its public transportation industry, one which saw the formation of Metropolitan Management Transport Holdings which was tasked with bringing order to a sector lacking in the required infrastructure.

Three productivity apps, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, are the first to become available, each optimised for touch-based controls. In a matter of hours after the launch, Word had become the most downloaded application for iPads in Apple's app store, with Excel and Powerpoint apps ranked third and fourth respectively.

Oculus VR is the Californian company behind the Oculus Rift, an immersive, google-like headset designed for video gaming. The device was developed through $2.4 million sourced by the crowdfunding website Kickstarter and subsequent investment of $75 million. Despite not yet being released there are 75,000 orders already in place for the development kits.

The incredibly reaction to Oculus Rift has already had ripple effects throughout the world of technology, with Sony being the latest company to announce the development of a rival product.

Ed Macha always felt there was a better way. Fascinated since childhood by the possibilities of automation, he learned the industry inside and out, knowing one day he would be the one to transform it. Beginning at the age of 15, he spent his summers sweeping electrical room floors and troubleshooting pull cords on conveyor belts at a mine site in Mexico.

Having been in production since late 2005, it took less than five years for Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine to produce its one-millionth ounce of gold. Located in the western highlands of Guatemala, 300 kilometres northwest of Guatemala City in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, in an area boasting elevations ranging from 1,800 to 2,300 metres above sea level, Marlin has operated as both an open pit and underground mine, and continues to generate significant cash flow.

Founded in 1954, EXSA Peru is today part of Breca, the leading economic group in Peru, and is the country’s leading provider of rock fragmentation solutions to the mining and construction industries, with more than a 50 percent market share. The company’s market leadership is reflected in both its recent sales growth and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

Nowadays, aquaculture is a major economic activity in Chile, due to its excellent geographic, climatic and water quality conditions. In fact, by 2006 the country had risen to become the second largest global producer of salmon, behind only Norway, while in the case of mussels it retains its crown as the largest global producer.