The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has seen plenty of volatility over 2022. But, interestingly, the miner significantly outperformed S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) during September.
Last month, the ASX 200 dropped by 7.3%. This compares to Rio Tinto shares which only fell by 1.1%.
Now, it's worth pointing out that the Rio Tinto share price did start falling on 26 August 2022, and it fell by 5.3% between 26 August and the end of September. Clearly, not every share and index is going to go up and down at the same time. Though, the ASX 200 did drop by 8.9% between 26 August and 30 September.
Let's have a look at what may have impacted the miner during the month.
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September announcements
Rio Tinto made quite a few announcements during the month that may have led investors to want to buy its shares.
One of the first things was that Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill finally reached an agreement in principle for the ASX miner to acquire full ownership of the Canadian-listed miner for C$43 per share.
This agreement has the unanimous approval of the independent special committee of Turquoise Hill's board of directors.
The transaction will require the approval of 66.7% of votes cast by shareholders, including Rio Tinto's and the approval of a simple majority of the votes cast by minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill.
This acquisition will enable Rio Tinto to move forward with the large Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in direct partnership with the Government of Mongolia.
This will also increase Rio Tinto's exposure to copper, which is seen as having a promising future due to the decarbonisation trend.
Another factor that investors could have taken into account for the Rio Tinto share price was that the ASX mining share and China Baowu Steel Group have agreed to enter into a joint venture for the Western Range iron ore project in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
Construction will begin in early 2023, with first production expected in 2025. Western Range's annual production capacity of 25mt of iron ore will help sustain production at its existing Paraburdoo mining hub.
Another Rio Tinto announcement was the start of underground mining at its Kennecott copper operations. It approved a $55 million investment in development capital to start underground mining and expand production at Kennecott.
The particular area of underground mining that Rio Tinto will focus on will deliver a total of around 30kt of additional mined copper through the period to 2027, alongside open-cut operations. The first ore is expected to be produced in early 2023, with full production in the second half of the year.
Rio Tinto share price snapshot
Over the past six months, Rio Tinto shares have fallen by around 18%.
