Teck produces first bulk of copper from its largest project in Chile

Article content Teck Resources Ltd. has produced its first bulk of copper concentrate from its Quebrada Blanca 2 (QB2) deposit in Chile, a project that is the company’s largest ever in terms of construction and one that’s expected to almost double the amount of copper it annually produces. Article content Canada’s largest diversified miner, though, has yet to complete construction of the mine and aims to ramp up to full production sometime this year. At full production, Teck expects QB2 to produce 285,000 to 315,000 tonnes of copper annually between 2024 and 2026. Overall, it expects to increase its copper production to between 545,000 and 640,000 tonnes per year in the same time period. Article content Producing the bulk copper concentrate is an “important milestone” for a project that’s the “cornerstone” of Teck’s copper growth strategy, Teck’s chief executive Jonathan Price said in a statement on March 31. The miner has a 60-per-cent interest in the project. Copper is expected to play a key role in the shift away from fossil fuels, given it is essential for most electricity-related infrastructure, including wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panel wiring, and to transfer electricity. Article content Canada listed copper as one of the top six critical minerals in its critical minerals strategy released in December, along with lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, due to its importance in the clean-technology sector. Teck produced 65,400 tonnes of copper in its fourth quarter that ended on Dec. 31, pushing its overall annual production to 270,500 tonnes in 2022, but missed its guidance of 273,000 to 290,000 tonnes due to extreme weather events. In 2021, the company produced 72,000 tonnes of copper in its fourth quarter and 287,000 tonnes overall. The Vancouver-based miner attributed the lower production in 2022 to a temporary closure at its Highland Valley Copper operations in south-central British Columbia, and “unplanned maintenance” and “extreme weather” at its Carmen de Andacollo operations in Chile.

This article was published by: Naimul Karim

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