Teck secures regulatory approval for Zafranal copper project

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) received regulatory approval from SENACE, Peru´s National Service of Environmental Certification for Sustainable Investments, for the Zafranal copper project located in the Arequipa Region.

The deposit is owned by Compañía Minera Zafranal, of which Teck owns 80% and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation owns 20%.

“Regulatory approval of the Zafranal Project is an important step forward in our strategy to grow our copper business and unlock significant value for shareholders,” Teck CEO Jonathan Price said in a statement.

Zafranal has an expected mine life of 19 years and will produce copper-gold concentrates through an open-pit mining and conventional concentration process. The mine and concentrator are expected to produce an average of 133,000 tonnes of copper contained in concentrate during its first 5 years of production.

According to Teck, the Zafranal team will update project capital and operating cost estimates and will develop detailed engineering plans as well as permitting activities through 2023. The project could be positioned for a formal project sanction decision as early as H1 2024.

The miner, the target of an unsolicited takeover bid by Glencore PLC, narrowly missed first-quarter estimates last month, hit by lower prices, weak copper and zinc sales, and higher expenses.

On April 26, Teck said it will not go ahead with a key shareholder vote on its plan to separate its metals and steelmaking coal businesses into two companies and instead will pursue what it called a simpler and more direct approach.

Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail reported that a consortium led by mining veteran Pierre Lassonde had proposed to buy the company’s coal operations.