The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is rising 0.03% today, but Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares are climbing higher.
Rio Tinto shares are rising nearly 2% today and are currently fetching $113.63.
So what is going on with the Rio Tinto share price?
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What's going on?
Iron ore shares on the ASX 200 are shining brighter today. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are jumping 1.44%, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares are up 0.89%.
A boost in the iron ore price could be giving these ASX 200 mining giants a boost today.
The iron ore price is lifting 1.41% and is currently fetching US$109.40 on the Singapore Exchange.
ANZ economist John Bromhead said, "iron ore futures gained after data showed a surprise rise in Chinese imports".
Commenting in a research note this morning, he said:
Volumes in May rose 6.3% month on month to 96.3 million tonnes. This comes amid hopes of further support from China.
Meanwhile, analysts at Goldman Sachs have recently retained a buy rating on the Rio Tinto share price.
The company has placed a $136.10 price target on Rio Tinto shares. This implies a nearly 20% upside based on the current share price.
As my Foolish colleague James reported, Goldman has visited Rio Tinto mine sites in North America. The broker is positive on the company's Resolution mine site, near Superior Arizona.
Commenting on the resolution mine site, Goldman said:
Resolution won't be an easy mine to develop (deep, wet and hot), but RIO has plenty of block caving expertise with Oyu Tolgoi (OT) in Mongolia, where the OT project team could in theory roll onto Resolution in 2024.
Goldman is tipping Rio Tinto to deliver dividend yields of 7.6% in FY 2023 and 6.5% in FY 2024.
Rio Tinto shipped 82.5 million tonnes of iron ore from Pilbara in the first quarter of 2023, up 16% compared to the first quarter of 2022. The company also mined 145 kilotonnes of copper, in line with the prior corresponding quarter.
Rio Tinto share price snapshot
The Rio Tinto share price has lost 4.45% in the last year but is down 2% year to date.
This ASX 200 mining share has a market cap of about $42.18 billion based on the latest share price.
