China told the WTO it would stop accepting certain types of foreign solid waste, including metals, in 2018 if they didn't meet stricter impurity thresholds.
Zinc hit its highest in more than a decade on Friday as concerns over market tightness persisted, while copper hit a two-week low as Chinese investor interest was muted with the Lunar New Year holidays looming.
The mining cycle turned two years ago – gains for the sector's largest companies have far outpaced stocks like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook since.
Breakthrough discovery backed by the US government replaces cobalt with iron in lithium-ion batteries – enabling much cheaper, longer lasting batteries.