Frik Els , Editor

Energy Efficiency News reports internet giant Google has quietly announced that it is to retire its ‘Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal’ or RE<C initiative, which it launched in 2007 saying "other institutions seem better positioned than Google to take this work to the next level." Google spearheaded various projects and made investments in companies working on potentially ‘breakthrough’ technologies, including $168 million for a solar tower project in California and geothermal mapping. As part of its broader renewable energy programme Google has made several investments totaling more than $850 million in the US and Germany.

London-listed Coal of Africa and various environmental groups buried the hatchet on Thursday to work together to preserve Mapungubwe in northern South Africa near the company's controversial Vele opencast project. Construction of the coking coal mine was halted and the Australian company fined $1.3 million because it did not comply with aspects of environmental laws, but the green coalition has now agreed to drop all legal action. Coal of Africa Limited closed at 49.52 pence in London on Thursday up 8.2% on the previous day.

One of the more unique lots at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on November 29 in Hong Kong is likely to be a set of poker chips made by the Swedish artist and jeweller Kristian Ståhl. The 120 chips are made of 18K white gold and are set with a total of 5,160 calibrated top-quality diamonds, rubies and sapphires. But what makes the set truly unique is that each chip was sliced from the 1 million year old Muonionalusta meteorite that contains iron, nickel and rare earths. The set is estimated at $100,000 – $150,000 and Stahl said he was inspired to create it after his Siberian mammoth ivory dice sold well at auction last year.

By buying the stake held by defunct broker MF Global, JP Morgan has dramatically boosted its influence in the battle to acquire the London Metal Exchange. As the biggest shareholder JP Morgan now has stronger input into any changes proposed by suitors while making a tidy profit from any sale, but retains the option to team up with others to block a takeover, analysts and industry sources told Reuters. JP Morgan now has a stake of 1.4 million shares or 10.9%, jumping ahead of the former dominant shareholder, Goldman Sachs, but the banks have also come under scrutiny over possible conflicts of interest as it also owns metal warehouses and proved brokerage services. One of the last bastions of open outcry trading, the 134-year old exchange handles some 80% of global trade in metals futures.

Mining Review reports the government of Tanzania has allayed fears over likely land disputes between uranium investors and local residents in the Ruvuma region of southern Tanzania, and is confident that the envisaged uranium project in the area will be operational late next year. The controversial uranium mine is located inside the Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s second-largest wildlife sanctuary and a Unesco heritage site. Australia’s Mantra Resources project in the southern part of the 54,600-square kilometre park is estimated to have 53.9 million pounds of uranium oxide deposits which is worth some $2.7bn at current market prices. Officials claim that mining would only involve about 1% of the park’s overall area and that income accrued from mining would help fund upkeep of the park, but environmentalists have slammed the plan.

Bloomberg reports AngloGold Ashanti, the third- largest producer of the metal, is scaling back a $3 billion, 10-year programme to extend is Mponeng mine outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Mponeng is the world's deepest mine and extends about 4 km (2.5 miles) underground. To meet an output target of 5.5 million ounces of gold by 2015, AngloGold will speed up expansion outside its South African base where barring technological breakthroughs, gold reserves are too deep to be mined profitably and safely. South African gold miners have to contend with some of the highest cash costs in the industry which at some properties are almost double the global average of $620 per ounce. AngloGold's most recent quarterlies showed production at Mponeng declined 8% to 117,000 ounces at $587/ounce.

The US coal industry has settled on an unlikely candidate to build America's largest coal terminal. Bellingham is a small coastal city 32 kilometers south of the Canadian border known for being one of the few cities in the US to rely solely on solar and hydro-generated electricity and its innovative building efficiency program. Plans are now underway for a new $500 million bulk dry goods facility to ship 28 million tonnes of coal and potentially 8 million tonnes of potash to Asian markets and HuffingtonPost reports the plans have sparked a fierce fight in this otherwise quiet college town of 81,000 residents.

Reuters reports copper hit a one-month low on Wednesday, pressured by worries about the outlook for demand after factory growth in top consumer China slowed in November, a poor bond sale in Germany intensified concerns about the euro zone debt crisis and US efforts to tackle its budget continued to flounder. Three-month contracts for the red metal fell to a one-month low at $7,168 a tonne in intra-day trade in London and extended its losses in New York where it was trading at $3.27 a pound by early afternoon, its lowest level since October 25 and down 30% from its 2011 high of $4.61 set in February. Copper used in the power, telecoms and construction sectors is often seen as a barometer for economic growth, but a new research report suggests "Dr. Copper is Dead" and that the red metal, along with oil, have actually been lagging other economic indicators. In short: things may well be even worse than the fall in the copper price suggests.

A report by Climate Spectator raises new questions about BHP Billiton’s $20 billion investment in the US shale gas business, saying Mike Yeager, the Houston-based boss of the world's number one miner's petroleum division, has been on quite a roadshow to explain the company's rationale but failed to adequately address the critical issue of water supply. Analysts are skeptical about the prospects of BHP's foray into shale gas – which the world’s most valuable miner could grow to $60 billion over the next decade – considering its poor track record with acquisitions, its relatively limited experience in the fracking business, environmental concerns and warnings that it is again buying at the top of the cycle.

Reuters reports the board of Brazil's Vale has approved a $6 billion expansion of its Moatize coal project in Mozambique to lift output to 22 million tonnes per year from the 11 million tonnes it expects to mine initially with first production forecast for the second half of 2014. The country's Tete province is believed to hold one of the world's largest untapped coal reserves that has been compared with Australia's coal-rich Bowen Basin. Mozambique suffered a 15-year long civil war that ended in 1992 and remains one of the poorest countries in the world, but the ex-Portuguese colony 7% economic growth this year is forecast to accelerate thanks to billions in mining and infrastructure spending. The Mozambique metical is also the world's best-performing currency.