In early afternoon trade the OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price has been the best performer on the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO).
At the time of writing the copper and gold miner's shares are up 9% to $8.05.
Why are its shares higher?
Yesterday OZ Minerals released a better-than-expected quarterly update which revealed strong production and lower costs in the second-quarter.
As of the second-quarter, OZ Minerals had produced 53,242 tonnes of copper and 58,271 ounces of gold.
As a result, the company is on course to achieve its annual production guidance of 105,000 to 115,000 tonnes of copper and 115,000 to 125,000 ounces of gold.
Pleasingly, thanks to a sharp drop in costs in the second-quarter, it has done this at an average cash cost of 90 U.S. cents per pound.
This is well within its guidance range of 85 to 95 U.S. cents per pound and could yet fall lower if it can take these cost savings through into the second-half.
This is great news, especially with the copper price surging to a two-year high overnight thanks to positive economic data out of China.
I'm not the only one that was impressed with its performance. A research note out of UBS this morning reveals that its analysts have reiterated their buy rating and $10.00 price target.
Even after today's sizeable gain, the investment bank's price target implies potential upside of 24%.
Should you invest?
If you are looking for exposure to the resources sector then OZ Minerals could be worth taking a closer look at.
Whilst I'm not overly bullish on the gold price, I do think that copper supply and demand will remain tight enough to keep prices higher for longer.
This could put OZ Minerals in a solid position to deliver above-average earnings growth over the next couple of years.
In light of this, I would put it up there with Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) and Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) as one of the better options in the sector.
