Investors are wondering why Russian steel-maker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works is buying Flinders Mines (ASX:FMS) for A$554 million. Flinder's main asset is the Pilbara iron ore project, a 917.3Mt JORC-compliant resource located in Western Australia. MMK is Russia's third largest steel company. Last year it had revenue of $7.7 billion and net income of $254 million.

The Oppenheimers, the dynasty involved in South Africa's diamond industry for a century, sold their 40 percent stake in De Beers to Anglo American.

Stock index futures fell on Friday with equities eyeing a seventh straight session of losses, their longest losing streak in four months, as investor fret about global growth and the euro zone's debt crisis.

A BBC poll enquiring about the public's appetite for nuclear power has delivered some surprising results. The poll by GlobeScan, commissioned for the BBC, asked 23,231 people in 23 countries with nuclear programs their opinions on nuclear power. It found that most are significantly more opposed to nuclear power than they were in 2005, with just 22% agreeing that "nuclear power is relatively safe and an important source of electricity, and we should build more nuclear power plants."

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, based out of Cairns, is being booked out as mining companies from all over the world seek training for their staff, reports The Cairns Post.

Established in 2008, the unit’s courses have grown as fast as the resources sector. Three years ago, Training and Emergency Management ran three courses a year. This year they are undertaking 12-day courses involving up to 14 participants every six weeks. "We have bookings well into next year," TEM inspector-manager Queensland North Gavin Holden said.

Mmegi Online is reporting a major downsize has taken place at Debswana, a partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers.

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.

Dundee Precious Metals (TSE:DPM) was up 4.83% to close at $8.89 Thursday, on news that the Bulgarian government has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its Krumovgrad gold project. "Since initially embarking on this project in 2005, we have made great efforts to develop a comprehensive plan for Krumovgrad that addresses the concerns of the community and will prove to be economically beneficial forBulgaria and the local community, as well as DPM and its shareholders," President and CEO Jonathan Goodman said in a statement.

The mining industry in Quebec is roaring, with $2.92 billion in investment in 2010, up from 43% in 2009. The Institut de la statistique du Québec, which released the findings on Wednesday, said that this was the seventh straight year mining investment increased, and in each of the last three years investment was greater than $2 billion. In March the Fraser Institute warned that changes to the province's tax code would harm business investment, and Quebec slid from first to fourth in the institute's list of mining-friendly jurisdictions. If the changes don't weigh on province, 2011 could be a banner year.