Mineral Resources has cut its iron ore guidance and warned that it spent $300 million of cash in three months, but still investors took comfort from assurances that a highly dilutive equity raise was off the table.

The loss-making miner said its net debt jumped by $300 million in the third quarter to $5.4 billion, outweighing its market capitalisation of $4 billion. Investors pushed its shares 13 per cent higher on Tuesday to $20.61, although they are down 70 per cent from a year ago.