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British Columbia Mining

New critical mineral mines in British Columbia could generate nearly C$600 billion, study says – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – January 8, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

In the province of British Columbia, 16 proposed critical mineral mines, worth C$36 billion in near-term investment, 300,000 person-years of employment and C$11 billion in tax revenues, are at a critical juncture, a new independent economic impact analysis conducted for the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) has found.

There are currently 10 metal mines, seven steelmaking coal mines and two smelters operating in BC, which is regarded as a key global mining jurisdiction. BC is Canada’s leading producer of copper and steelmaking coal, second largest producer of silver, and only producer of molybdenum, MABC said.

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Teck ditches coal, flags lower copper output in Chile – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK) has kissed coal goodbye after closing the sale of its minority stake in steelmaking coal operations to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. and South Korean steelmaker Posco.

Nippon Steel now has a 20% interest in Teck’s coal business, known as Elk Valley Resources. In exchange, the Japanese firm gave up its prior 2.5% stake in one of Teck’s coal operations and has paid $1.7 billion in cash.

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Newsmakers 2023: End of an era for Vancouver mining giant Teck – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – December 21, 2023)

https://biv.com/

Vancouver-based Teck Resources sacrifices most profitable assets on altar of ESG

One of the biggest B.C. business news stories of 2024 was the announcement Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B, NYSE:TEK), B.C.’s biggest miner and Canada’s only diversified mining major, will sell its most profitable assets – its B.C. coal mines – to an even bigger diversified mining major: Switzerland’s Glencore plc (LSE:GLEN).

For $9 billion, Glencore will acquire a 77 per cent interest in Teck’s four steelmaking coal mines in B.C., collectively called Elk Valley Resources (EVR), with Nippon Steel and South Korea’s POSCO owning the balance in a deal totalling $12 billion. EVR will also own 46 per cent of Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver.

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OPINION: Teck Resources is amassing the cash to slowly triple its copper production – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – December 19, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

By next fall, Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive officer Jonathan Price will likely be sitting on US$9-billion in cash, the payout for selling its coal mines in British Columbia.

The CEO of the country’s largest mining company will also have a long list of projects to spend that money on, including planned new mines in Mexico, Peru, Chile, the United States and Canada that will triple Teck’s copper production and make it one of the world’s largest metal producers.

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Glencore’s prized Canadian coal mines come with rising environmental scrutiny – by Nia Williams and Divya Rajagopal (Reuters – December 14, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

Dec 14 (Reuters) – A Glencore-led (GLEN.L) consortium’s successful $9 billion bid for Teck Resources’ (TECKb.TO) steelmaking coal unit could face tougher environmental clean-up obligations, as water pollution from the mines comes under increasing scrutiny in the U.S. and Canada.

Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told Reuters that Ottawa and Washington are close to requesting a study of selenium contamination from Teck’s Elk Valley mines in southeast British Columbia.The research would be carried out by International Joint Commission (IJC), a bi-national organization set up under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the U.S. and Canada to prevent and resolve disputes over shared waters.

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OPINION: Teck’s inessential coal sale makes it smaller and more vulnerable to takeover – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – November 24, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After two decades of evisceration, the Canadian diversified mining industry had one big name standing – Teck Resources. The company was not among the half-dozen giants that dominate the global mining industry, but it was the biggest we had left. With a smart strategy, disciplined spending and more than a little luck, Teck could emerge as a homegrown champion, perhaps not among the industry’s A-team players, but near the top end of the B list.

That was the vision, at least. What happened instead was self-evisceration. On Nov. 14, Teck sold its vast coal assets, all of them in Canada, to Glencore of Switzerland, Japan’s Nippon Steel and South Korea’s POSCO, in an US$8.9-billion deal. The sale of Teck’s coal made sense on one level, perhaps, and no sense on others.

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‘Easier deal to swallow’ — B.C. politicians soften their stance as Glencore buys Teck’s coal mines – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – November 22, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Two dozen commitments agreed by the Swiss mining giant reassure community leaders

The mayors of two towns in British Columbia’s southeastern Kootenay region weren’t too happy when Glencore PLC first tried to buy Teck Resources Ltd. and its four steelmaking coal mines.

Six months on, however, both mayors seem to have changed their point of view now that Glencore is set to take over most of Teck’s coal mines for about US$7 billion. One of them even hopes the Swiss mining giant can help build more homes to address the region’s housing shortage.

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From bad blood and public bashing to an $8.9-billion deal: How Teck made nice with Glencore – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 18, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Back in the spring, Teck Resources Ltd. suffered one of the biggest blows in its more than 100-year history. At the 11th hour, Canada’s biggest diversified mining company called off a restructuring that had been years in the making, after failing to garner enough support from shareholders.

On the day of that grim announcement, the atmosphere at Teck’s annual general meeting was akin to that in a morgue. Teck’s sombre-faced chief executive officer Jonathan Price and its board of directors were forced to publicly accept blame for putting forward a poorly conceived restructuring.

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Mining company takes BC government to court over permitting delays – by Rachael Lesosky (Hamilton Spectator – November 16, 2023)

https://www.thespec.com/

Taranis Resources Inc. has been waiting 15 months for a decision on its mining exploration permit application for its Thor project near Trout Lake, in Ktunaxa traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. The Canadian mining company believes that First Nation consultation is holding things up, and has filed a petition with the British Columbia Supreme Court.

“We believe the government is unwilling to do its legal duty [to grant the permit] because of First Nation pressure,” said Taranis President and CEO John Gardiner in an October 16 press release.

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Teck coal sell-off a green politics manoeuvre – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – August 17, 2023) https://financialpost.com/

https://financialpost.com/

Green promise may not play out as imagined

Somewhere within the machinations of Canada’s largest mining corporation the goal of increasing shareholder gains must still exist in some form, although the latest developments around Teck Resources does make one wonder.

The news Tuesday that the mining giant has agreed to sell its steelmaking coal operations to Swiss mining giant Glencore and companies in Japan and Korea for an “implied value” of $9 billion popped Teck shares to $52, a gain of eight per cent on the day. But the pop didn’t last long.

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Glencore-Teck deal reveals the irony of coal: Profitable and vital, yet endlessly shunned – by Heather Exner-Pirot (Globe and Mail – November 17, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Heather Exner-Pirot is the director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

In many ways, the US$8.9-billion deal Glencore has struck for Teck Resources’ coal assets represents an elegant split that plays to each company’s strengths.

Teck, the Canadian miner, can now focus on its core base metals business, in particular copper, as it bets on strong returns in the years to come. Swiss commodities giant Glencore can build up its coal empire, adding the steelmaking coal assets to its vast thermal coal trade.

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OPINION: Ottawa sets out clear path for Glencore’s purchase of Teck’s coal mines – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – August 17, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government is giving Switzerland’s Glencore PLC a clear path to acquiring Canada’s largest coal miner from Teck Resources Ltd., while making it clear Ottawa will block any foreign player bidding for all of Teck itself, the country’s critical minerals champion.

Although federal officials previously signed off on acquisitions of major metals producers – so long Inco Ltd., farewell Alcan Inc. – the current regime signalled a more protectionist, nationalist approach this week during a news conference at a condo construction site in Toronto.

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Teck to sell coal business to Glencore, Nippon Steel and POSCO in US$8.9-billion deal – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 14, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. has agreed to sell its coal business to Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore PLC and two Asian steelmakers, in a US$8.9-billion transaction that requires federal approval, and will be closely scrutinized by Ottawa before it can proceed.

Vancouver-based Teck has been fielding offers for its core metallurgical coal business since the spring, when an earlier plan to spin it off was cancelled at the eleventh hour because of insufficient shareholder support. Founded in 1913, Teck is Canada’s largest diversified mining company, a major employer in British Columbia and one of the oldest miners in the country.

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U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation to discuss coal-mining pollution in Kootenai River watershed (Montana Free Press – November 9, 2023)

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At the first-of-its-kind meeting, representatives of U.S., Canadian and tribal governments will discuss water quality impacts stemming from an expansive coal-mining operation in British Columbia.

After years of delays and false starts, eight governments impacted by an expansive Canadian coal-mining operation are set to meet today on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, British Columbia, to discuss the future of the governments’ shared waterways.

The meeting will include representatives from the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which advocates for the interests of six bands of Indigenous people spread across present-day British Columbia, Montana and Idaho. The council, which includes representation from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has for years asked for greater oversight of Teck Resources’ British Columbia-based coal-mining operation.

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‘No is a valid outcome of consultation,’ groups fighting Taranis’s Thor copper project in B.C. say – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – November 7, 2023)

https://www.northernminer.com/

A dispute between Taranis Resources (TSXV: TRO; US-OTC: TNREF), the British Columbia government and First Nations groups over the Thor polymetallic project is brewing over deep drilling exploration permit delays.

On October 16, Taranis escalated the battle to the B.C. Supreme Court, seeking to bypass what it says are excessive delays in the permitting process. At issue is Taranis’ complaint against the B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI).

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