The S&P-ASX200 index finished 0.13% lower at 4524.1 points, while the All Ordinaries also dipped 0.13% to 4536.2 points, despite the Shanghai Composite Index gaining a further 0.5% to 2647.17 points.
There were bearish leads from Wall Street this morning where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38% to 10,497.88 points on news that orders for big-ticket items sank during June following a drop off in demand for airplanes and electronic goods.
The mining heavyweights both gained further ground today with BHP Billiton hitting a three-month high of $A40.56 before cooling slightly to $40.46, up 26c, while Rio Tinto hit a four-week high of $71.72 before closing at $71.50, up 46c.
OZ Minerals chief executive Terry Burgess told delegates at the Sydney Mining Club lunch today that OZ had conducted due diligence on a number of copper assets.
"We have looked at three to four projects in great detail including due diligence and in some cases we made non-binding offers," Burgess told the Sydney Mining Club.
"This is against a backdrop of many, many others that we have reviewed."
OZ closed the day 2.5c higher at $1.215 today.
Fortescue Metals Group closed the session 2c higher at $4.34 while uranium play Paladin Energy fell 2c to $3.89.
In other news, Sydney Mining Club chairman Julian Malnic took a swipe at the Minerals Council of Australia when the federal government and the big three miners cut the rest of the mining industry out to make their own deal with Labor.
Malnic was to give his address in person today but his flight from Hong Kong developed difficulties and had to return to its point of origin. Instead, the speech will be given by SMC deputy chairman Chris Sabin.
In an emailed copy of the speech, he also called on the audience to vote for Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party on August 21, calling it the only true way of getting rid of the tax.
Base metals made gains on the London Metal Exchange overnight. Copper for three-month delivery added 1.6% to $US7170 per tonne, zinc finished 2.4% higher at $1955/t while nickel dipped 0.68% to $20,405/t.
Spot gold gained 0.38% to $1167.20 an ounce at 4:40pm AEST.
Newcrest Mining finished 6c lower at $32.72, Lihir Gold closed unchanged at $4.06 while Kingsgate Consolidated gained 2c to close at $9.75 after announcing it had increased the interim ore reserve estimate at its Chatree gold mine in Thailand by 41%.
