This article is 7 years old. Images might not display.
However base metals including copper and nickel closed slightly higher on Friday, as did iron ore.
Despite positive leads from northern hemisphere markets on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was in negative territory this afternoon.
Lithium miner Orocobre (ASX: ORE; TSX: ORL) was the top market riser on the index in afternoon trade, up more than 5.3% in a newsy day.
It announced production for the June quarter was the second highest ever achieved, 28% higher than the previous quarter, and would likely equate to lower unit costs.
It also unveiled a six-fold resource increase for the Cauchari lithium joint venture in Argentina which will be the basis for a preliminary economic assessment this quarter.
Despite gold price woes, Canadian explorer GT Gold (TSXV: GTT) closed up 15.58% on Friday to C89c, after last week starting drilling at its high-grade Saddle discovery in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
Meanwhile money managers say trade jitters are prompting them to look for ways to protect profits in the event equity markets take a dive after years of growth, Reuters reported.
