Coal news and updates

Teck Resources to use profits from coal to fund expansion of copper mining capabilities

Teck Resources Ltd.’s new chief aims to leverage his company’s booming coal business to get bigger in copper and become a “significant” miner of the metal behind the global energy transition.

“We’re so focused on copper just because of the critical role that the metal is going to play in decarbonization through electrification,” Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Price said in his first interview since taking the top job in September. “It’s really the cornerstone of what we’re doing.”

Demand for copper, which is used in wiring and electric-vehicle batteries, is accelerating as part of a worldwide move away from fossil fuels. The threat of severe supply shortages in the coming decade is prompting miners worldwide to scour the world for new deposits and accelerate existing mining projects.

Teck’s copper drive is part of a longstanding push to reposition the company, whose business of producing steelmaking coal has been the biggest revenue contributor for more than a decade. Copper represents less than a fifth of sales so far this year, while metallurgical coal accounts for more than half of revenue.