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22 May 2026
Above: Representatives from Teck, the Nlaka’pamux Nation and British Columbia Premier David Eby break ground at the Highland Valley Copper mine life extension project.
Industry Partner Spotlight
This story was provided by Teck, a CIM Industry Partner, and appears in the May 2026 issue of CIM Magazine (view it in flip format here).
Teck’s purpose-driven transformation
A Canadian-headquartered critical minerals champion for a changing world
Teck’s portfolio transformation over the past several years represents one of the most significant strategic shifts in modern Canadian mining. Following the appointment of Jonathan Price as CEO in 2022, Teck made the choice to pivot away from oil and steelmaking coal and reposition itself as a pure-play critical minerals producer—focused on the metals that support electrification, clean technology, advanced manufacturing and global supply chain resilience. This shift has reshaped Teck into a company aligned with the needs of a rapidly changing world and positioned Canada as a leader in responsibly produced critical minerals.
Teck’s transformation was guided by a simple purpose developed under the guidance of Price: to provide the essential resources the world is counting on to make life better while caring for the people, communities and land that we love. This purpose influenced every major strategic decision—refocusing the portfolio on copper, zinc and specialty metals, working to strengthen environmental and social performance, and deepening long-term partnerships with communities and Indigenous Peoples.
By 2025, Teck had reached several critical milestones in this transformation. In addition to fully divesting of its oil and steelmaking coal assets, the company completed construction and advanced the ramp up of its expanded Quebrada Blanca copper operation in Chile and began construction on the Highland Valley Copper (HVC) mine life extension in British Columbia—which will extend the life of Canada’s largest copper mine through 2046.
These achievements not only strengthen Teck’s operating base but reinforce its goal of being a responsible, reliable producer of the metals the world needs to decarbonize and electrify.
Teck’s transformation is grounded in its conviction that critical minerals—especially copper—are fundamental to the 21st-century economy. Independent forecasts show that by 2035, copper supply could fall short of demand by nearly 30 per cent, driven by electric vehicles, grid expansion and the rapid growth of data centres. Teck’s strategy is built around focusing on growth in copper through a portfolio of long-life copper assets and growth options.
The company is already a major North and South American copper producer, with a growth pipeline of projects across Canada, Chile and Peru. In zinc, Teck maintains North America’s most important integrated value chain, anchored by the world-class Red Dog mine in Alaska and Trail operations in British Columbia—one of the world’s largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes. Trail also plays a critical role in the supply of specialty metals including indium and germanium, an essential material for fibre optics, semiconductors and defence technologies.
This combination of operational depth, technical capability and strategic metals exposure positions Teck as an important supplier for the world’s energy transition.
Teck’s growth as a critical minerals leader is connected with its longstanding focus on sustainability. By the end of 2025, Teck achieved 100 per cent renewable power at its Chilean operations, maintained industry-leading safety performance and secured Copper Mark and Zinc Mark verification at all operations—global standards that recognize leading environmental and social performance.
Teck’s sustainability and partnership approach is rooted in collaboration. Across all its operations and projects, Teck has 85 agreements with Indigenous nations and continues to foster Indigenous-led partnerships.
A recent example of this is the environmental assessment process for the HVC mine life extension that integrated Indigenous-led assessments and consulted with 17 First Nations. In addition, at its Quebrada Blanca operation, Teck consulted with local communities and reached agreements well before construction began.
Teck’s partnership model, with communities in Chile, Canada and Alaska, reflects its belief that responsible mining depends on meaningful, long-term relationships.
In September 2025, Teck announced a proposed merger of equals with Anglo American to create a top five global copper producer headquartered in Canada. As part of the proposed merger, Anglo Teck committed to invest $4.5 billion in Canada over five years. This includes the HVC mine life extension, investing in Trail operations to enhance critical mineral processing capacity and advancing the Galore Creek and Schaft Creek projects in northwestern British Columbia.
By focusing on the metals that matter, considering sustainability in decision-making processes and investing in people and communities, Teck is growing as a Canadian-based critical minerals champion working to meet rising global demand with the goal of advancing economic opportunity and environmental responsibility.
This next chapter of the company is focused on supplying critical minerals to the world that is emerging: electrified, digitized and driven by the essential resources that make modern life possible.
