Fortescue Metals shares are up more than seven per cent after the iron ore producer declared it would pay shareholders another dividend.
The fully franked dividend of 60 cents per share payable on June 14 brings the miner's total dividends for the year to 90 cents per share.
"This dividend reflects Fortescue's unwavering determine to deliver shareholder returns through dividends and investment in growth," Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said.
A key driver of the dividend is the increase in iron ore prices, which have surged ever since a January 25 disaster at a Brazilian mine.
Fortescue said it had seen a 47 per cent increase in realised prices in the March quarter, to US$71 per dry metric tonne.
Fortescue said it had also seen increasing demand for its products in China, where steel production was also up 9.9 per cent in the first quarter and there have been significant drawdowns in inventory.
At 1502 AEST Fortescue shares - defying a broad market slump - were up 53 cents, or 7.04 per cent, to $8.06, a four-week high.
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