It was only a few months ago that Donald R. Lindsay, chief executive officer of Teck Cominco Ltd., was lamenting the lack of opportunities in one segment of the steelmaking raw materials market. Teck would love to get into the iron ore business, he said in February, but the problem was there were no good properties available.

That analysis stills holds true today. The large majority of the traded iron ore market remains under the control of the three big producers: Brazil's Vale and Anglo-Australian mining houses Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Enticed by a surging spot market and the prospect of big increases in contract prices, new entrants are rushing to bring ore to market, but a sale isn't on anyone's agenda.

In late July,...