Business | To build or to buy?

The tug-of-war between Glencore and Teck

It is mining’s dilemma in a nutshell

Train cars are loaded with coal at a Teck Resources Elkview Operations steelmaking coal mine in the Elk Valley near Sparwood, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Teck Resources reported first quarter earnings of $1.57 billion, up from $305 million as demand for its copper, zinc and steelmaking coal surged, The Toronto Star reports. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Image: Getty Images

Apr 13th 2023

In FEBRUARY TECK RESOUrCES finally announced its slow move into the future. The Canadian miner plans to spin off its relatively dirty steelmaking-coal operations. Under the plan, Teck would focus on mining copper and zinc, while continuing to get the majority of the severed coal company’s profits. Holders of Teck’s super-voting “class A” shares would retain control over the rump firm’s strategic moves for six years. After that its dual-shareholding structure would be scrapped.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “To build or to buy?”