A green metals company? Teck is betting on copper, and hoping investors don’t mind a side of coal – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 13, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

When Teck Resources Ltd. reported its first quarter earnings in late April, its chief executive Don Lindsay emphasized that his company was focused on “green metals as they’re now called.”

Specifically, the Vancouver-based diversified mining company is touting its production of copper, a metal that’s expected to see significant demand growth as solar power, wind turbines, battery electric vehicles and various other ‘green’ technology, all of which use copper, account for an increasingly larger share of global energy.

“We have one of the very best copper production growth profiles in the industry and located in attractive jurisdictions,” Lindsay told analysts on April 28. “Accelerating copper growth is the cornerstone of our strategy and by growing our copper production, we rebalanced our portfolio toward what are now called ‘Green Metals’.”

Moving into green metals marks an about-face for Teck, which for the past decade has derived most of its profit from steelmaking coal while investing heavily and growing its presence in the oilsands.

But last year, for the first time since at least 2010, copper grew to account for US$919 million in earnings, surpassing steelmaking coal, which accounted for US$816 million.

For the rest of this article: https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/a-green-metals-company-teck-is-betting-on-copper-and-hoping-investors-dont-mind-a-side-of-coal