Thursday Australia's fourth largest iron ore producer, Mount Gibson Iron Ltd, said some Chinese customers had requested delays to shipments, sparking concerns of a slowdown in commodity demand.
However, OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Michelmore said on Friday the company had seen no sign of any slowdown in demand along the lines of that reported by Mount Gibson.
Michelmore said Asian smelters were dropping the treatment charges for zinc - the fee charged to convert concentrate to metal - which indicated continuing demand of zinc.
"What is happening is that treatment charge price is dropping, that happens when the market is wanting more zinc," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
Michelmore said mine shutdowns and underperforming projects globally had removed about 500,000 tonnes of zinc out of the world market this year, as the price of the commodity dropped.
"We're confident that zinc is going to recover," he said.
OZ Minerals was formed this year through the merger of gold miner Oxiana and zinc producer Zinifex, and also produces copper, nickel, gold and lead.
The company, which exports 75 per cent of its product to Asia, has six mining operations in Australia and Asia, with two new mining projects under development.
Michelmore told a lunch in Melbourne on Friday the company was in for some tough times but was "optimistic" about the demand for commodities in the mid to longer term.
"I think the impact (of a possible recession) is going to be felt more keenly by OECD countries and so our view on demand for commodities for the mid to longer-term remains optimistic," he said.
"Countries like China will undoubtedly feel the impact and their economies will slow."
OZ Minerals has about $1.2 billion in cash, which Michelmore described as "worth a fortune" in the current market.
He added that the cash reserve would allow the company to underwrite all its organic growth projects and weather further drops in metals prices without having to go back to the banks or markets.
