Spot gold rose to US$1,867 an ounce while silver was up slightly and back above $25/oz.

Cash copper lost 1.6% on the London Metal Exchange to $9,421.40/t.

"Buy the dip," US investment bank Jefferies said yesterday.

The bank is resolutely bullish on the red metal despite demand concerns.

"We forecast a balanced copper market in 2022 followed by growing deficits starting in 2023," analyst Christopher LaFemina said.

If it excluded the new production from Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jefferies said global copper mine supply would actually have been down year-on-year in the third quarter.

While production growth from projects including QB2 was coming, "we believe risk to overall mine supply expectations continues to be to the downside, as many existing mines are in decline," LaFemina said.

Elsewhere, Nickel Mines (ASX: NIC) rose almost 6% yesterday after saying nickel pig iron production from its 80%-owned Angel project in Indonesia was now expected in the first quarter of 2022, well ahead of schedule.