The move also expands Kirkland’s ownership of interest in the Urban Barry area of northwestern Quebec, which the company believes to be “highly prospective mining camp" in Canada.
The proposed tax, to be applied on the nominal value of extracted metals, would affect copper miners that produce more than 12,000 tonnes of the metal and those extracting 50,000 tonnes of lithium a year.
The world’s top diamond producer by value has led industry efforts to both verify the authenticity of diamonds and ensure they are not from conflict zones where gems may be used to finance violence.
Company won’t have to cut output at its central BC-based copper-gold mine, at least for now, as it has been granted approval to use certain short-term water sources.
Other companies interested in partnering with Teck include Freeport-McMoRan, China’s Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) and Canada’s base metals miner Lundin Mining.