Move gives IGO access to the Greenbushes, the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mine.

Iron ore price jumps again Monday as Chinese imports surpass 1bn tonnes, port stocks fall and steelmakers avoid winter shutdowns.

China imported another 220,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminum in October, extending one of the most unexpected trends in a year of metals market upheaval.

Australian nickel-gold miner IGO could buy up to a 25% stake, worth close to $1.5 billion, in the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mine.

Iron ore surges 6% to March 2013 high on Friday as Brazil supply worries, a red hot China economy, and a Beijing-Canberra row convulse seaborne trade.