By Robb M. Stewart

Teck Resources' shares were under pressure after the miner hit pause on its major growth projects to focus on troubles at its flagship copper mine in Chile.

The Canadian company launched a comprehensive review of the Quebrada Blanca operation, which includes assessments of operating plans, input from third-party experts and execution tracking. Teck said it will defer sanctioning major growth projects until the Chilean mine achieves steady-state operations and ramp-up targets.

In premarket trading Wednesday, Teck's shares were 3.9% lower in New York after ending the previous session at $33.55, down 17% so far in 2025.

The operations review, which is expected to conclude by October, will target improving performance at Quebrada Blanca, identifying opportunities to enhance operating practices, and reinforcing confidence that future business plans are both reasonable and achievable, Teck said.

An unnamed special advisor to the chief executive has been brought on board to accelerate the mine's tailings management facility and to drive operational performance, the company said. It also said Chief Operating Officer Shehzad Bharmal, who has had a 33-year career with the company, has retired.

Teck has pivoted to focus on copper operations that are underpinned by growth at Quebrada Blanca. A year ago the Vancouver, British Columbia, company completed an exit from its steelmaking coal business, leaving it to concentrated on copper and zinc mining in North and South America.

In June, Teck said it faced troubles in Chile that included a mechanical issue at a mill at its Carmen de Andacollo operations and a temporary outage of the shiploader at its Quebrada Blanca port facility. And in July the company lowered its target for copper production this year to between 470,000 and 525,000 metric tons to reflect development work at the tailing facility, from 490,000 to 565,000 tons.

Teck said its near-term priority is to enable unconstrained production by mechanically-raising the tailings dam wall and increasing crest height, which is being done with the construction of additional rock benches to minimize downtime in the concentrator.

Work has already been started this year to improve sand drainage times at Quebrada Blanca's tailings facility, it said. Further work is underway to improve drainage, including sand placement techniques to increase efficiency.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 03, 2025 07:17 ET (11:17 GMT)

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