BASIC MATERIALS

Alcoa Inc. kicked off earnings season by posting quarterly results of 9 cents a share on sales of $5.5 billion, beating Street expectations.

Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine's richest men, was closely associated with Viktor Yanukovych and aided the flow of gas between Russia and Ukraine.

Monsanto's second-quarter growth outpaced Wall Street's expectations as the company's seed business continued to boost revenues.

On the outskirts of Mongolia's capital, illegal miners risk their lives to feed a growing coal hunger. Their accident rates make China's pale.

The WTO ruled that Chinese exports of environmentally damaging rare earth elements shouldn’t be artificially manipulated by the government.

We spoke with Christine Furstoss, the company’s technology director for manufacturing and materials.

In a case of 'where you stand depends on where you sit' - China's steel bubble seems to trouble everyone but the Chinese.

The resolution of the dispute could lead to the development of some of the world’s largest shale fields.

Wall Street is rejecting the rationale for vertical integration in light of Dow Chemical's falling feedstock costs.

The projected growth of the U.S. energy sector has to be seen to be believed, so see it here.

According to jobs listings publicly available on the Apple website, the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology company has started hiring iPod and iPhone engineers at its Mesa, Ariz., sapphire manufacturing facility.

Zambia has announced a plan to standardize mining practices between African countries to keep foreign companies from overstepping labor standards.

Marijuana for recreational use goes on sale in Colorado tomorrow. How we got here is unspooled in this infographic.

The Canadian Supreme Court on Friday struck down three laws that banned certain aspects of prostitution.

Nigerian Aliko Dangote plans to invest $16 billion across infrastructure projects in the energy, agricultural and construction sectors in Africa.

The compensation, if and when disbursed, will be used to reduce the use of lead-based paint in tens of thousands of homes.

Leaders of Africa's biggest copper producer are ordering China’s Nonferrous Mining Corporation to halt production over environmental and worker concerns.

The $1.55 billion deal follows an 18-month bidding process involving the world’s top steelmakers.

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook southern Iran, near a nuclear power plant in the Bushehr region on Thursday evening.

Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen spoke with IBTimes about the Alaskan copper mine proposal.

Escalating prices and an abundance of reserves could spur the implementation of coal expansion projects.

Oil prices have already started heading south. Will other commodities follow?

The nation's biggest chemical company made substantial progress in paying down its debt during the third quarter.

Profits for the quarter fell 44 percent from the year before.

China, fearful of its trouble with the WTO, is cleaning up its act in rare earth extraction.

The industrial conglomerate’s pace may be slowing, compared to more-specialized competitors.

The diversified industrial giant has fallen out of favor with institutional investors. Here's why.

The world’s primary jade source is also home to 500,000 heroin-addicted miners, most of them HIV-positive.

Barrick’s CEO told the Denver Gold Forum that it wasn’t worth it for the company to cancel Pascua Lama, because the company is halfway through mine development.