The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished 47.2 points higher at 4699.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 47.7 points to 4794.2.

The mining heavyweights gained ground in today’s trade following a jump in commodity prices on the London Metal Exchange.

BHP Billiton added A51c to $44.71. The miner today announced the appointment of Transurban chairman Lindsay Maxsted as an independent non-executive director following the retirement of Alan Boeckmann.

Rio Tinto finished 92c higher at $81.60, while Fortescue Metals Group gained 25c to $6.12.

Fellow iron ore miner Atlas Iron had a good run on the boards, closing 27c higher at $3.47. The company’s managing director David Flanagan told delegates at a Reuters Global Mining and Steel conference that the iron ore industry would continue to “migrate more and more to shorter-term, one-month pricing”.

Meanwhile, Sundance Resources was one of only handful of miners on the Final Call watchlist to lose ground in today’s trade. The stock closed 0.5c lower at 45.5c. There were reports yesterday that the company was close to striking a deal with a Chinese state-owned steel mill over its flagship Mbalam iron ore project.

In other mining news, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan gave his blessing to all the recommendations handed down in a review into the government’s controversial Mineral Resource Rent Tax.

The Policy Transition Group, led by Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson and former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus, made 94 recommendations when it handed down its 175-page final report on the implementation of the MRRT at the end of last year.

The next step will involve putting together draft legislation on the tax.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for three-month delivery shed as much as 0.6% to $US9670.25 per tonne in today’s trade in Singapore, its first fall in three days, after sales of new homes in the United States plunged in February to the slowest pace on record.

Nickel dipped 0.2% to $26,780/t, zinc lost 1.2% to $2394/t while aluminium shed 0.4% to $2621 and tin fell 0.5% to $31,210/t.

Gold continues to extend its gains as investors rushed to secure safe-haven positions in the precious metal on the back of spreading turmoil in the Middle East.

At 4.23pm (AEDT), spot gold was trading $1.40 higher at $1438.7 an ounce.