London Metal Exchange (LME) copper erased overnight losses and lifted other metals on Tuesday after news of a fire at a Kazakhstan mine, traders said.
"The market needed little stimulation to buy after recent heavy losses," one dealer said.
"Once the news broke there was some short covering, which carried steadily through the afternoon rings.
That said, momentum appeared to stop around $2,520/525 a tonne, and now it's a waiting game to see what, if any, supply losses there are."
There was no word on production problems after the Kazakh fire on Monday, which killed two workers, local emergency services said on Tuesday.
The state-run Kazinform news agency said work at the mine had stopped.
A spokeswoman for Kazakhmys, the mine's owner and the Central Asian state's dominant copper producer, said she could not immediately comment.
Traders said a hardening in nearby spreads for cash-threes copper to $73 by the kerb close from about $60 backwardation the day before had also underpinned support.
Copper ended the rings at $2,523 a tonne from $2,512 at Monday's kerb close.
Tin was untraded in the kerb and was last indicated at $8,780/790, up $30.
The market remained shored up by extreme supply tightness, although the cash-threes backwardation eased by $200 to $550/600.
Aluminium was at $1,625 from $1,593, while zinc was at $1,027, up $11. Nickel was at $10,800 from $10,550, while lead was at $735 from 730.
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