Why Freeport-McMoRan Shares Rose Sharply Today

Shares of copper miner Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) were up by more than 7% in mid-afternoon trading Thursday after an analyst named the company as a possible acquisition target.

Mergers and acquisitions are certainly hot topics right now in the mining space, with giant Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) recently agreeing to acquire the 49% of copper/gold miner Turquoise Hill that it doesn't already own. Elsewhere in the sector, BHP Group recently made an unsolicited bid for Australian copper/gold miner OZ Minerals, but the target company rejected that bid in August.

Both were cases in which large mining companies were looking to acquire copper mining assets to benefit from anticipated future demand for the metal from the electric vehicle and renewable energy industries.

Source Fool.com