Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO), Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) (ASX: FMG), and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares all outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in October.
In the month just past, the ASX 200 gained a modest, but welcome, 0.4%.
As for the big Aussie mining stocks, BHP closed out September trading for $42.53 a share. When the closing bell sounded on 31 October those same shares were changing hands for $43.45, putting the BHP share price up 2.2% over the month just past.
Rio Tinto enjoyed an even stronger month. Rio Tinto shares closed September at $122.03 each and finished October trading for $132.87 apiece. This saw the Rio Tinto share price up 8.9% over the month.
And Fortescue shares led the charge, closing at $18.68 on 30 September and at $21.29 on 31 October. That put the Fortescue share price up an impressive 14.0% in October.
What lifted the ASX 200 mining stocks?
As you likely know, iron ore counts as the top revenue earner for Rio Tinto, Fortescue, and BHP shares. And the iron ore price was resilient, trading above US$104 per tonne throughout the month, even topping US$106 per tonne in mid-October.
BHP and Rio Tinto have also been actively expanding their copper exposure, with copper now representing their second biggest revenue earner. And the copper price gained some 6% over the past month, closing October to trade for US$10,887 per tonne, according to data from Bloomberg.
Atop the rising metals prices, all three ASX 200 miners also released their September quarterly results in October.
Here's what we learned.
Rio Tino, Fortescue and BHP shares in focus amid results
BHP shares closed up 2.3% on 21 October, the day the miner released its quarterly update.
While the mining giant reported a 1% year-on-year decline in iron ore production down to 64 million tonnes, BHP's average realised iron ore price was up 5% to US$84.04 per wet metric tonne (wmt).
And investors will have noted that BHP's copper production was up 4% to 494,000 tonnes, driven by record concentrator throughput at its Escondida copper project. BHP's average realised copper price for the quarter was up 8% to US$4.59 per pound.
Turning to Rio Tinto, the miner reported its quarterly results on 14 October.
Rio Tinto shares gained 1.8% on the day, with the company reporting a 6% quarter-on-quarter increase in Pilbara iron ore shipments to 84.3 million tonnes.
While down quarter on quarter, Rio Tinto's copper production of 204,000 tonnes was up 8% year-on-year.
As for Fortescue, whose October share price gains raced ahead of those posted by Rio Tinto and BHP shares, the ASX 200 miner reported its September quarter results on 23 October.
Fortescue shares closed up 2.4% on the day after the company reported record total iron ore shipments over the three months of 49.7 million tonnes, up 4% year-on-year.
