Rio Tinto Continues to Ramp Up Copper Output: What's the Road Ahead?

Rio Tinto Group RIO has been benefiting from an increase in the production of copper, supported by strong performance across its assets. In the third quarter of 2025, the company’s copper production (on a consolidated basis) increased 10% year over year.

Rio Tinto’s growth projects are advancing at a healthy pace. For instance, in December 2025, RIO produced the first copper from the Johnson Camp mine in Arizona, leveraging its Nuton Technology. The successful deployment of Rio Tinto’s Nuton technology facilitates copper production that's cleaner, faster and more efficient at an industrial scale.

The successful deployment at the Johnson Camp mine involves designing and delivering a technology package for a heap leach pad, targeting around 30,000 tons of refined copper production within a four-year demo period. Employing Nuton, Rio Tinto aims to produce copper with the lowest carbon footprint in the United States at the Johnson Camp.

Rio Tinto is also working with U.S. customers to boost domestic copper supply. The company’s total copper production in 2025 is expected to reach the higher end of its guidance (780-850 kt). This is supported by the solid ramp-up at the Oyu Tolgoi site and strong performance at the Kennecott mine.

Business Performance of RIO's Peers

Among its major peers, Southern Copper Corporation SCCO has the largest copper reserves in the industry and operates high-quality, world-class assets in investment-grade countries, such as Mexico and Peru. Southern Copper targets copper production of 958,800 tons for 2025. Southern Copper’s Pilares project, which reached full capacity last year, is expected to contribute significant production of copper this year.

Another peer, BHP Group BHP, reported record copper output of 2,017 kt for fiscal 2025, up 8% year over year, crossing the 2,000 kt mark for the first time. BHP has delivered a 28% increase in copper output over the past three years, reflecting its ongoing investments to build its copper portfolio. BHP expects copper production to range between 1,800 and 2,000 kt in fiscal 2026.

RIO's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Rio Tinto have gained 43.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 44.8%.

From a valuation standpoint, RIO is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90X, below the industry’s average of 17.20X. Rio Tinto carries a Value Score of B.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RIO’s 2025 earnings has been on the rise over the past 60 days.

Rio Tinto currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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