However there was a slight lift in the iron ore price yesterday, halting previous declines.

Meanwhile Goldman Sachs predicted this week's G20 meeting could be a catalyst for a rebound in commodities prices, Reuters reported.

"Given the size of dislocations in commodity pricing relative to fundamentals, with oil now having joined metals in pricing below cost support, we believe commodities offer an extremely attractive entry point for longs in oil, gold and base (metals)," the bank said.

Metals and mining stocks closed 1.48% lower in Toronto yesterday but Imperial Metals was one of the bigger risers, up 18.97%, as it said it would receive C$108 million in a settlement over damages stemming from the Mount Polley tailings dam failure in 2014. It said the settlement represented compromises of disputed claims and did not constitute an admission of liability by any party.

Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) closed down more than 2% in London, where Chilean copper miner Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) posted one of the bigger declines on the FTSE100 of 3.38%.

In Australia, recent market darling Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX: SAR) was down more than 6% in afternoon trade.

The gold miner had hit an all-time high last week but has since softened, despite yesterday announcing two new gold discoveries in the Carosue Dam corridor, within 4km of its mill in the Western Australian Goldfields.
 
The gold price was lower due to strength in the US dollar, trading earlier around US$1,214 an ounce on the spot market.