Teck Resources Plans to Expand Operations in British Columbia

Teck Resources Ltd., based in Vancouver, B.C., has announced plans to invest $685 million at two of its operations in British Columbia.

The first investment, for $210 million, will be made at Teck Resource’s Trail, B.C., integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining operations. The investment will increase the company’s capacity to recycle end-of-life electronic scrap and will include the construction of a slag fuming furnace and settling furnace that will integrated into the facility’s existing lead smelting process. Construction on the project will begin in 2012 and is expected to be completed by 2014.

“This is part of our ongoing commitment to the community of Trail,” says Don Lindsay, president and CEO for Teck Resources. “Last year, we recycled just over 13,000 metric tons of e-waste at our Trail Operations, and this project will significantly increase our capacity to recycle end-of-life electronic components, helping to keep them out of landfills and allowing for the recovery and reuse of valuable metals.”

The second investment of around $475 million will involve modernizing Teck’s Highland Valley, B.C., copper operations. The mill will be modernized, including extending the life of the mill. The project also is expected to increase mill throughput by around 10 percent and copper recoveries by about 2 percent. Construction will begin immediately, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

“We have significantly extended the life of the Highland Valley Copper mine in recent years, and the modernization of the mill makes sense, especially given the expected increases in throughput and copper recoveries,” Lindsay says.

In a release, Lindsay adds, “These projects will improve the long-term viability of two of our key operations.”

Teck is a diversified mining, mineral processing and metallurgical company. The company is involved in the production of copper, steelmaking coal and zinc, molybdenum and specialty metals.