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Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO) is in the green at writing after naming Bold Baatar its new chief commercial officer.

Rio Tinto is committed to expanding in copper

Baatar has been with the mining giant since 2013 – at present serving as its chief of copper operations. He was a key executive behind the company’s underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi.

Alf Barrios – the current COO of Rio Tinto will hand over the role to Bold Baatar in September.

Baatar will take on notable projects in the new position, including an over $6.0 billion investment in an iron ore of the Republic of Guinea.

The announcement arrives as RIO continues to expand in copper – a key component of the global commitment to renewable energy and electric vehicles. Rio stock is still down over 10% year-to-date.

Strategas analyst reveals top two U.S. copper stocks

But Rio Tinto isn’t the best stock to play the strength in copper prices, as per Chris Verrone – a Strategas analyst.

He instead sees Freeport-McMoran Inc. (FCX) and Southern Copper Corp (SCCO) as the top two U.S. copper stocks to buy in April. Verrone recommends investors to “add to” these stocks on any “near-term/overbought pullbacks” in his research note this morning.

Note that FCX stands to benefit from a special mining license or “IUPK” from Indonesia as well.

Copper's Time has Come

Traders are betting on a supply shortage as production cuts by miners begin to take effect. Chinese #copper smelters are working on a plan to cut output to cope w/ a raw material shortage.

Morgan Stanley predicts a $10,200 /t price by Q3 $ARG $HCH $ECOR pic.twitter.com/UAvjN6pTCQ

— Duane Hope (@DuaneHope5) March 31, 2024

The Phoenix-headquartered miner is scheduled to report its financial results for the first quarter on April 23^rd. Consensus is for it to earn 31 cents a share – down from 52 cents per share a year ago.

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