Platinum and palladium producer Stillwater Mining Co's (SWC.N) quarterly profit almost tripled and the company's shares rallied on Wednesday after its CEO told skeptical Wall Street analysts why it wants to diversify into copper and gold. "The rising price of gold has been one of the top commodity stories of the past year," Francis McAllister said."We believe the copper story is already well-known," he told the analysts on a conference call. McAllister, who is also chairman, spent most of the call justifying the company's recent plan to acquire Canadian exploration company Peregrine Metals (PGM.TO), which owns an undeveloped copper and gold property in Argentina.
Shares of SWC traded higher by 3.46% or $0.51/share to $15.27. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.47 and as high as $25.90. On average, 3954040 shares of SWC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3706674.
