BASIC MATERIALS

Glencore announces third extension of $33bn tie-up as both parties await approval from authorities in China.

Kloppers becomes the fourth major mining executive to leave within the past six months.

World's biggest platinum producer says shareholder loss hit $1.5bn after earlier writedown of Minas Rio project in Brazi.

Fourth-quarter loss figures by European debt crisis and slowdown in Chinese growth.

World's largest platinum producer raises cost base at key Brazil mine for sixth time.

Arckaringa Basin shale oil might be worth $20tn and turn Australia from energy importer to exporter.

China's fourth-quarter rebound lifted the FTSE close to a five year high but weak retail sales keep investors cautious.

Chairman says he's 'deeply disappointed' with news of $14bn impairment of two of group's key mining assets.

Scientists at Manchester University say ultra-thin substance could have applications in the medical, security and aviation industries

Britain's FTSE 100 tests four and a half year highs as banks and miners lift benchmark to 6,100 level.

Barrick Gold and China National Gold failed to agree on the value of a 73.9 percent stake in African Barrick Gold.

Investors pull back after grim European data points to deeper fourth quarter recession ahead of key US earnings data from Alcoa

Search begins for replacement as acting CEO Simon Scott rules himself out of the running.

ArcelorMittal takes an impairment charge of $4.3bn in the fourth quarter due to weakness in the European markets.

EU approved the merger between Glencore and Xstrata but the deal is yet to be okayed by China and South Africa

Xstrata receives shareholders' approval to merge with Glencore, paving the way for the formation of a natural resources giant.

Shares in mining company Kazakhmys were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading, after issuing a production report for the third quarter ended 30 September 2012.

Shares in Anglo American were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the mining group reported significant increases in production during the third quarter ended 30 September.

Texan National Guard and police scour desert in hunt for dangerous device that disappeared on truck journey.

Petrofac shares took a dip today on the FTSE 100 despite the oil and gas group issuing an update in which it predicted net profit growth of at least 15 per cent in 2012.

IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven says the technology and the know-how exist for unconventional gas to be produced in an environmentally acceptable way.

Peru's government has issued a 30 day state of emergency in an attempt to curb the anti-mining protest that is currently raging against Xstrata's

A little over two years ago, Tata Corus closed down their Teeside Cast Products plant in Redcar with the loss of 1,600 jobs by late February 2010. With the parent company in India expressing a willingness to sell the steel mill, Geoff Waterfield, Chairman of the Multi-unions at Redcar, expressed the hope in mid-2010 that a buyer would be found and that steel would again be produced at the site by Christmas that year, but this proved to be far too ambitious.

Vedanta Resources has reported a slump in its full-year iron ore output for the year ending March 2012 at 13.8 million tonnes compared to 18.8 million tonnes a year ago, as a ban on mining in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and logistical bottlenecks in Goa continued to bite.

Driven by an increase in gold sales by 52 percent, Petropavlovsk, the Russian gold exploration company, has reported revenue of US$1.3 billion for the full-year 2011, which is more than double the group's revenue of US$612 million in 2010.

Petropavlovsk, the Russian gold exploration company, has increased the production target for the FY 2012 by 11 percent to 680,000oz compared to FY 2011 and a compounded yearly growth rate of 26 percent since the group first listed in 2002.

Copper miner lifts dividend as revenues, but cash costs remain an investor concern

Glencore, the supplier of metals, minerals, energy and agriculture products has reported its preliminary 2011 results with revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 at $186,152 million, a 28% increase compared to $144,978 million in 2010.

Glencore International, the supplier of metals, minerals, energy and agriculture products, remains affirmative about the long term global economic prospects and is scheduled to release its preliminary results on March 5, 2012.