Could one family farm stop a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project from going ahead? Probably not, but a Texas family farm will at least have its day in court.

Cenovus last week shipped 250,000 barrels to China, locking in relationships with refiners there, as the Northern Gateway pipeline project in Northern BC languishes in regulatory review.

Goldcorp reported fourth quarter gold production of 687,900 ounces at a total cash cost of $261 per ounce, leading to record revenues of $1.5 billion and operating cash flows before working capital changes of $831 million. 

Rising costs could make any interested buyer baulk at the idea though. Cash costs in South Africa at its Ezulweni mine has rocketed to $2,143/oz and were up 20% at Mine Waste Solutions although at $613/oz there you could still turn a profit .

The company, advancing iron ore projects in Sweden and Finland, decided to increase the size of the equity offering announced earlier in February due to "high demand" . Together with a fully subscribed bond offering the company is now raising close to $700 million.

A report published this week by Global Witness, an international human rights group, says that companies mining the controversial Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe have senior personnel drawn from security forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe.

Canadian junior explorer Abcourt Mines (TSX-V:ABI) has intercepted a high-grade silver zone at its Abcourt-Barvue orebody in Quebec.

Gold mining in Colombia is shining bright as major gold players are expected to invest U.S. $ 2,100 million by 2015, reports local newspaper La Republica.

David Hill of Singularity Hub reports that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s new OpenCourseWare program will provide nearly all MIT courses for free on the web, and allow students to study online and earn a certificate of completion. A prototype of the system will be launched this spring.

As government funding has been cut to some schools and others struggle with donations and endowments, institutions are desperate for tuition dollars to cover their expenses, so they are left with little choice but to raise tuition rates (a trend called out by President Obama in his State of the Union address). As the country slowly pulls itself out of a recession and looks to the future for financial stability, it is a crucial time for something big to happen in the educational world.