** Shares of copper miner Southern Copper SCCO.N rise 1.6% to $91.80

** Brokerage UBS upgrades SCCO to "buy" from "neutral", PT at $120

** PT represents a 30.6% upside to the stock's last close

** Brokerage sees SCCO to benefit from higher copper price with the market expected to be in deficit despite macro economic challenges

** Expects co's Tia Maria mine project in Peru to support about 10% of its production volume growth over the next 3 to 4 years

** "We also expect SCCO to continue to trade at a premium to FCX FCX.N & ANTO ANTO.L due to its reliable operational performance, its high quality portfolio of low-cost long-life assets, its strong balance sheet, its simple structure, and its growth optionality" - brokerage

** Stock down ~2% in the past 12 months

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan)

((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com;))