EXPLAINER: What we know about China’s metals reserves release

The stock hit a high of $50 in May 2008 and came close again in April 2011, but at $170 billion, the Melbourne-based company is now valued at some $80 billion less that at its peak.

Aluminum is one of the most ubiquitous manufacturing materials of the industrialized era, but few would suspect that this commonplace metal harbors tremendous potential as an ecological fuel source.

Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) is looking to reduce costs at its Australia’s Clermont Coal Mine, in central Queensland's Bowen Basin, driven by falling coal prices.

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), the world's largest diversified miner, is considering a withdrawal from aluminum and nickel operations as part of a general retreat from non-profitable sides projects by key mining players, and the company has appointed advisors to look into the possible sale of these assets.

Spanish photographer Palindromo Meszaros has released a series of haunting photos depicting the devastating impact of a toxic aluminum spill in 2010 upon forests and rural communities in Western Hungary.

Rio Tinto's long-standing Chief Financial Officer, Guy Elliott, will retire at the end of 2013 announced the miner on Thursday, along with a few other senior management changes.

Despite concerns that China may be slowing—or worse—aluminum giant Alcoa still sees robust demand in China for its products and pegs growth at 11% this year.

Locked out workers at a Rio Tinto Alcan plant in Quebec, Canada, voted to end a six-month labour dispute that has dragged on since Dec. 30, said the United Steelworkers union in a press release on Friday.

The much-anticipated Tesla Model S, which started production last week, uses a lot of aluminum, and that has industry groups pleased as punch.