Commodities had an interesting March, with copper down around 6%, while iron ore prices stabilised towards the end of the month following a drop to an 18-month low.

Nickel was up 8% over March alone as supply worries from major producers Russia and Indonesia boosted prices.

The 14% rise in the nickel price so far this year, combined with a lower average Australian dollar should lead to a positive round of March quarterly reports from producers.

Western Areas has been a standout so far this year, up 40% over the three months to March 31, and is best-placed to benefit from higher nickel prices due to its low costs.

Gold closed at a March low of $US1283.80 an ounce, its lowest price since early February, but hit $1379.20/oz during the month.

The volatility has brought mixed fortunes for gold miners, with Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining among the best performers in the ASX 200, up 44% and 40% respectively over the quarter.

Saracen Mineral Holdings was a standout, rising 86% over the quarter, while Perseus Mining has jumped about 77% during the same period.

Other miners weren’t as strong, with Beadell Resources down 30% and Regis Resources falling 22.2%.

Gold will be under the microscope this Thursday at the Paydirt Gold Conference, which will feature presentations from Beadell, Northern Star and Doray Minerals among others.

In other events this month, Intrepid Mines will hold a general meeting next week to allow shareholders to vote on an $US80 million settlement over its former Indonesian property.

Shareholders are likely to approve the deal, but the company has agreed not to spend the cash and allow investors to vote on a return of capital instead.

Australia will have a new uranium mine this month, with Alliance Resources last week flagging first production from its 25%-owned Four Mile project in South Australia after commissioning began late last month.

Tiger Resources, another strong performer this year, is expected to start copper cathode production from its Kipoi expansion project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Another copper producer, Aditya Birla, expects to remain suspended for at least another two weeks after a subsidence event at its Nifty mine in Western Australia.

Blackthorn Resources said last week it was wrapping up the prefeasibility optimisation study for its Kitumba copper project in Zambia.

Although the initial PFS, released in September last year, showed that the project was viable, the company said the optimisation had shown encouraging results in regards to feed grade, recovery, costs and economics.

The optimised PFS will be released towards the end of the month.

Highfield Resources recently said it had received the final draft of the PFS for its Javier potash project in Spain.

Results were being peer-reviewed before being released.

A resource estimate for the Sierra del Perdon project is also due this month.