Geoscientist jobs getting harder to unearth

A record number of geologists and geoscientists are out of work, according to the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, with almost half of the unemployed having searched for work for at least a year, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Underscoring the impact of the mining industry downturn and ongoing commodity price volatility, the institute said the results from a March quarter employment survey of about 1000 of its members were the worst since it began surveying in 2009 and continued a trend of growing unemployment in the sector since September 2011.

Future of Rio Tinto director under a cloud

The future of Rio Tinto director Anne Lauvergeon is under a cloud after French prosecutors starting investigating her conduct while chief executive of energy giant Areva almost a decade ago, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

French prosecutors spent Friday questioning Lauvergeon over whether she deliberately filed misleading accounts for Areva in 2007.

Higher steel prices drive record Chinese production

China's record steel production in April wasn't good news for an embattled global steel industry that is already reeling from competition from the world's top producer, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Crude steel output over the month rose 0.5% to 69.42 million tonnes from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.