MINING.COM Staff Writer

Mining in northern British Columbia received a shot in the arm on Monday. The College of New Caledonia will purchase heavy-haul truck and front-end loader simulators to provide virtual training for a total of 50 students each year, as part of the Mining Industry Certificate Program. The program will train students for employment as heavy equipment operators in surface mining operations located in northern B.C.

Gold futures rose for the second straight session as Japan’s strongest earthquake on record boosted demand for a haven asset, reports Bloomberg. Palladium fell for an eighth straight session, the longest slump since July 2008. Equities declined worldwide as officials said the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami may top 10,000. Technicians tried to contain damage from a second explosion at a nuclear plant north of Tokyo.

Reuters is reporting that FE Steel, the world's No 5 steelmaker, on Monday halted production at a plant near Tokyo and global fourth-ranked Nippon Steel suspended operations at two small plants: - JFE said shipments from its 10 million tonnes per year Higashi Nihon plant near Tokyo had virtually halted due to a power outage. - JFE resumed operations on Sunday of two blast furnaces at its Higashi Nihon plant, one of its two mainstay plants, which were idled after Friday's quake and tsunami.