Teck Resources Seeks to Become Top 10 Copper Producer

The start-up of Quebrada Blanca’s second phase is expected to help boost the group’s copper output to 640,000t in 2024, Conger said.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Canada’s Teck Resources, which operates Chile’s Quebrada Blanca, among others, aims to become a major copper producer.

“We want to become a much larger copper producer than we are today. With Quebrada Blanca phase 2, we will double our annual production, and we want to be one of the top 10 global producers by developing the other prospects we have, which include Zafranal right here in Peru,” COO Harry Conger told the Perumin mining conference in Arequipa region.

The start-up of Quebrada Blanca’s second phase is expected to help boost the group’s copper output to 640,000t in 2024, Conger said.

Conger presented a portfolio that involves nine projects, as Quebrada Blanca phase 2 “will produce around 316,000t/y of copper. The initial useful life of the mine is 27 years. [Production] represents 18% of total reserves and resources that we have drilled there,” he said.

Teck’s short-term focus is on the polymetallic San Nicolás project in Mexico (50% participation), Quebrada Blanca 2 mill expansion in Chile (60%), the Zafranal copper-gold project in Peru (80%), and NorthMet in the US (50%).

Construction at Zafranal in Arequipa is planned to start in 2025 and operations in 2028. Proven and probable reserves are 441Mt grading 0.376% copper and 0.07g/t gold. 

 Courtesy: www.bnamericas.com

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