When you think of big-name Australian mining shares, it's hard to look past South32 Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd. If you're weighing up South32 vs Rio Tinto shares for your portfolio, here's what stands out.
South32 emerged from BHP's 2015 demerger and now runs mining operations across ten countries, extracting everything from bauxite and aluminium to copper, silver, zinc, nickel, and manganese. According to its most recent company description, it employs around 9000 people and provides the raw materials crucial for construction, energy, renewables, and consumer products worldwide.
Among South32's fundamentals, a few things jump out. The company's year-to-date return is a real eye-catcher: up 38.07%, a gain for any mining stock. Its dividend yield is a modest 1.94%, but it comes franked—a plus for Aussie income hunters.
Rio Tinto needs little introduction: this is one of the world's largest and oldest mining operations, tracing its roots to 1873. Listed on the ASX since 1962, Rio focuses on three pillars—iron ore, aluminium and lithium, and copper.
Looking at Rio Tinto's metrics, scale is the first thing that stands out. With a market cap of $61.82 billion, it dwarfs South32. Earnings per share are much higher, consistent with its size and profitability.
YTD, Rio's return is 16.56%: less blazing than South32's, but still a solid result considering its scale.
South32 started on 18 August at $4.82 and finished on 16 September at $5.01. Rio Tinto started this period at $167.40, ending at $166.25 on 16 September—a slight drop of about 0.7%.