Teck Resources Ltd. went into 2023 with a strategy to better position for the energy transition by spinning its steelmaking coal unit into the newly formed Elk Valley Resources, and advancing its copper- and zinc-forward metals assets under a rebranded Teck Metals Ltd.

This proposed reorganization, however, was stymied by an aggressive takeover bid by Glencore that wanted to incorporate Teck's coal and metals assets into its own reorganization plans.

While Teck fended off Glencore's unsolicited offer, the commodities giant did shake up Teck's shareholder base enough to prevent management from moving forward with a vote on the original coal and metals demerger planned for 2023.

In October, the Canadian miner agreed to sell its steelmaking coal business to Glencore for US$9 million in a deal set to close in the second half of this year.

With all its assets remaining under the Teck Resources banner during 2023, the diversified Canadian miner continued with business as usual, including its exploration for zinc, copper, and other metals in Alaska and Northern British Columbia.

"Our exploration efforts are primarily focused on copper, zinc, nickel, gold and steelmaking coal in support of the company's operations and business units," Teck wrote on its exploration webpage. "Strategic opportunities in other metals and high-margin mineral commodities are also being actively pursued."

• Copper exploration is focused in the Americas and select belts globally for porphyry and sediment-hosted copper deposits

• Zinc exploration includes projects in Red Dog District of Northwest Alaska, along with sediment- and carbonate-hosted project in BC, Australia, and Ireland.

• Nickel exploration is focused on evaluating opportunities in Canada and the U.S., along with select belts and frontier districts.

• Gold exploration is directed to creating and realizing value through the development of gold resources in the Americas, Turkey, and select belts globally.

• Exploration for steelmaking coal is directed at opportunities in and around the company's projects in southern BC, as well as monitoring opportunities globally.

Golden Triangle copper

On the copper front, Teck's exploration includes advancing two very large porphyry projects in the Golden Triangle region of Northern BC – Galore Creek and Schaft Creek.

According to a 2023 calculation, Galore Creek hosts 1.2 billion metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.46% (12.2 billion lb) copper, 0.25 grams per metric ton (9.4 million ounces) gold, and 4.5 g/t (174 million oz) silver.

Galore Creek Mining Corp., a joint venture owned equally by Teck and Newmont Corp., carried out a roughly 25,000-meter drill program in 2023 focused on geotechnical, metallurgical, and resource development drilling in preparation for a prefeasibility slated for completion this year that will detail plans for developing a mine at the world-class porphyry copper project.

Teck also invested C$17.2 million (US$12.5 million) to continued exploration at Schaft Creek, a porphyry copper-gold deposit about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Galore Creek.

Being advanced under a JV between Teck (75%) and Copper Fox Metals Inc. (25%), Schaft Creek hosts 1.35 billion metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.26% (7.76 billion pounds) copper, 0.17 g/t (7 million ounces) gold, 1.25 g/t (54.3 million oz) silver, and 0.017% (510.6 million lb) molybdenum.

A preliminary economic assessment completed in 2021 outlines plans for a 133,000-metric-ton-per-day mill and open pit mine at Schaft Creek that would produce roughly 5 billion lb of copper, 3.7 million oz of gold, 226 million lb of molybdenum, and 16.4 million oz of silver over 21 years of mining.

Following up on a 4,688-meter drill program carried out in 2022 focused on collecting metallurgical samples across areas of the deposit slated for early mining, the 2023 program included 1,000 meters of additional metallurgical drilling to update throughput and recoveries assumptions.

The primary focus of last year's program, however, was roughly 8,000 meters of geotechnical drilling to ensure sufficient data is available to support an updated mine plan design with increased pit slope angles and reduced strip ratio.

"The emphasis in 2023 will be to advance the Schaft Creek project by augmenting the metallurgical, geotechnical, and environmental data while aligning these activities with the cultural and social traditions of the Tahltan Nation," said Copper Fox Metals CEO Elmer Stewart.

Red Dog zinc satellites

When it comes to zinc, Teck's primary focus continues to be around Red Dog, a world-class asset that produces more than 1.1 billion lb of zinc per year, accounting for roughly 4% of this critical galvanizing metal mined on Earth.

Going into 2021, Red Dog had roughly 46 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 12.9% (10.8 billion lb) zinc and 3.6% (1.8 billion lb) lead. This is enough ore to keep the world-class zinc mine in operation until 2031.

Aktigiruq and Anarraaq, satellite deposits on state land held by Teck, could provide ore for the Red Dog mill deep into the 21st century.

Aktigiruq, which lies about nine miles north-northwest of the current Red Dog operation, is one of the largest undeveloped zinc deposits on Earth.

While an industry-compliant resource has yet to be published, Teck has previously reported that Aktigiruq hosts 80 to 150 metric tons of material averaging 16 to 18% combined zinc and lead.

This would be enough ore to feed the Red Dog mill for 25 to 50 years at current production rates.

Anarraaq, which lies just south of Aktigiruq, hosts 19.4 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 14.4% zinc and 4.2% lead, according to the most recent calculation published by Teck.

In the wider Red Dog district, Teck is also exploring the Lik zinc project under a 50-50 partnership with Solitario Zinc Corp.

Lying about 11 miles northwest of its world-class zinc operation in Northwest Alaska, Lik hosts 17.6 million metric tons of potentially open pit mineable indicated resource averaging 8.1% zinc, 2.7% lead, and 50.1 g/t silver; plus 2.8 million metric tons of inferred resource at 8.6% zinc, 2.7% lead, and 38.9 g/t silver.

Teck was the operator of a jointly funded 2023 program at Lik that included geophysics and drilling focused primarily on resource expansion targets at the northeast end of the deposit.

In addition to Red Dog, Teck is exploring for zinc at Cirque, a Northern BC zinc project being advancing under a 50-50 partnership with Korea Zinc; and Teena, a project in Australia's Northern Territory that hosts 58 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 11.1% (6.5 million metric tons) zinc, according to a calculation completed prior to Teck's 2016 acquisition.

In 2022, Teck begun early-stage exploration for nickel, with an initial focus on Canada and the United States.

Teck Resources Ltd.

"A key element of this program is the complete digitalization of Teck's historical exploration records – this digitization program will use advanced machine learning tools to drive and inform our evaluation of high-quality nickel prospects, plus copper and zinc prospects, globally," the company penned in its 2022 annual report.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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