Bloomberg reports that Oil plunged on concern that poor U.S. economic growth will reduce demand. The market news is quoted as saying: The IEA announced the release of 2 million barrels a day for 30 days yesterday to make up for supplies choked off by an armed rebellion in Libya. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will provide 30 million barrels, European members will supply about 20 million and Asian nations the remainder.

U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa Inc (AA.N: Quote) said on Friday it won a multiyear contract worth about $1 billion to supply its new, lighter aluminum-based alloys for Airbus commercial aircraft. The news sent Alcoa stock up almost 1.8 percent to $15.55 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on a day when the broader market fell. Later in the morning, the shares were up 8 cents to $15.36. Image of an Airbus aircraft, operated by DHL, by Wikimedia Commons

Golden Minerals Co said it will buy Canada's ECU Silver Mining in a reverse merger for about C$302.5 million ($309.1 million) in stock and cash, to form a new silver mining company focused on Mexico and Argentina. Under the terms of the deal, ECU shareholders will get 0.05 common shares of Golden Minerals and about $0.000394 in cash for each share they hold.

Surging prices of rare earth elements, coupled with slashed export quotas from China, are creating ripples in the rare earths industry, including a call for the US government to start stockpiling the materials. Vancouver-based Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. (TSX-V:QRE; OTCQX:QREDF; FRANKFURT:BR3) issued a news release Friday calling on the U.S. to start stockpiling rare earths— voicing support for recent US legislation that directs the Department of Defense to set up an inventory of rare earth oxides, metals, alloys, and magnets for defense purposes.

Exotic materials are finding more and more uses, including a really expensive way to shave. Zafirro is taking orders for a $100,000 razor made with sapphire blades and a 99.95% iridium handle. Iridium is a member of the platinum group metals, and one of the least abundant materials on earth.

New training tools have been released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration to help miners understand their rights and responsibilities under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, MSHA reports.

"All miners, including supervisors and contractors, have the right to identify hazardous conditions and refuse unsafe work without fear of discrimination or retaliation," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Ensuring that miners understand their rights has been a priority of mine since well before I was appointed to this job in 2009. We hope these tools will help give miners the confidence to exercise those rights."

The caribou population in the Athabasca Oil Sands area in Alberta, Canada could be extinct in 30 years due to human activity, according to new research. Wolves have been blamed for the dwindling caribou population in parts of Alberta, but research published in the June issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment says human activity related to oil production and the timber industry could be more important than wolves in the caribou population decline.

Former Arizona congressman Richard Renzi must face public corruption charges over allegations that he coerced a mining company into buying land from one of his former business partners, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday. Renzi was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002.

Zimbabwe has been given the green light to sell diamonds from its Marange diamond fields by the industry's leading certification system, but the decision did not have the backing of all members. Participants of the Kimberley Process, which aims to stop "conflict diamonds" entering the market, met this week in Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss the Marange diamond fields but remained divided over a final statement.