The Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) share price was a strong performer in 2022.
As you can see below, the mining giant's shares rose 16% over the 12 months.
As a comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) recorded a 5.5% decline over the same period.
And let's not forget dividends. Rio Tinto rewarded its shareholders with total fully franked dividends of $10.46 per share during the year. Based on the Rio Tinto share price at the end of the year, this equates to a 9% yield.
Why did the Rio Tinto share price beat the market?
There were a couple of drivers of Rio Tinto's impressive share price gains in 2022.
The first was the release of a record-breaking full year result in February. For the 12 months ended 31 December 2021, the miner reported a 58% increase in underlying EBITDA to a record of US$37.72 billion.
This allowed the Rio Tinto board to increase its full year dividend by 87% year over year.
And while Rio Tinto's half year results for FY 2022 in July didn't go down as well with investors, that was all forgotten late in the year when the iron ore price surged higher.
The benchmark iron ore price climbed above US$100 a tonne amid optimism that the easing of COVID restrictions in China could cause a spike in demand for the steel making ingredient. Particularly given the prospect of major stimulus policies to support the country's economic recovery from the pandemic.
Given how important iron ore is to Rio Tinto's earnings, investors appear confident that these strong iron ore prices will underpin another solid full year result for the miner.
Investors won't have long to wait to see if that is the case. The mining giant is scheduled to release its results on 22 February.
