Vancouver, B.C. – Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (“Teck”) today provided select unaudited fourth quarter 2022 production and sales volumes, annual production volumes for 2022, as well as operational and capital guidance for 2023 and production guidance for 2024 to 2026.
Our fourth quarter 2022 financial results are scheduled for release on February 21, 2023.
2022 PRODUCTION RESULTS
The table below shows a summary of Teck’s share of unaudited production and sales of our principal products for the fourth quarter and 2022 annual production in relation to our previously disclosed annual guidance. Our 2022 annual production was within the previously disclosed guidance range for zinc in concentrate, while copper, refined zinc and steelmaking coal production came in slightly below the low end of our guidance ranges as follows:
Copper production of 270,500 tonnes was impacted by a temporary pit closure at Highland Valley Copper as a result of a localized geotechnical event in December that has been stabilized, as well as extreme weather and unplanned maintenance at Carmen de Andacollo in Q3.
Refined zinc production of 248,900 tonnes reflects an extension of major planned maintenance activities on the KIVCET boiler at our Trail Operations and unplanned downtime due to extreme cold weather in December.
Steelmaking coal production of 21.5 million tonnes reflects a two-month plant outage at our Elkview Operations for the repair of the previously announced plant feed conveyor failure, plant availability challenges, ongoing labour constraints, and extreme weather events early in 2022 and in December.
Q4 2022
2022 Actual
2022 Guidance1
(Units in 000’s tonnes
excluding steelmaking coal)
Sales
Production
Production
Production
Copper
Highland Valley Copper
27.0
27.9
119.1
127 - 133
Antamina (22.5%)
24.0
24.3
102.3
91 - 96
Carmen de Andacollo
10.5
10.9
39.5
45 - 50
Quebrada Blanca
2.1
2.3
9.6
10 - 11
63.6 65.4 270.5 273 - 290
Zinc
Red Dog
141.6
119.9
553.1
540 - 570
Antamina (22.5%)
23.1
23.8
97.4
90 - 95
164.7 143.7 650.5 630 - 665
Refined Zinc
Trail Operations
57.0
46.2
248.9
257 - 267
Steelmaking Coal (million tonnes)
4.3
4.9
21.5
22.0 - 22.5
Note:
1 Guidance as of October 26, 2022.
2023 GUIDANCE
Our guidance for 2023, including production guidance for the following three years, is outlined in the tables below. The guidance ranges reflect uncertainties including increased frequency of extreme weather events and other potential disruptions.
Like others in the industry, we continue to face inflationary cost pressures, which have increased our operating costs compared to prior years. The increase in the cost of certain key supplies, including mining equipment, fuel, tires and explosives, are being driven largely by price increases for underlying commodities such as steel, crude oil and natural gas. While our underlying key mining drivers such as strip ratios and haul distances remain relatively stable, inflationary pressures on diesel and other key input costs, as well as profit-based compensation put upward pressure on our unit costs in 2022 and are expected to persist through 2023.
The Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 commissioning of Line 1 is progressing well and we are close to first concentrate production. Our focus continues to be on system completion and handover as part of the continuous commissioning plan through 2023. Construction capital cost guidance remains unchanged from our third quarter update and further details regarding key milestones achieved and expected in 2023 will be included with our fourth quarter 2022 release.
Production Guidance
The table below shows Teck’s share of unaudited production of our principal products in 2022, and our guidance for 2023 and the following three years.
(In 000’s tonnes
excluding steelmaking coal and molybdenum) 2022 Actual 2023 Guidance 2024 - 2026 Guidance
PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS
Copper 1 2 3
Highland Valley Copper
119.1 110 - 118 120 - 165
Antamina
102.3 90 - 97 90 - 100
Carmen de Andacollo
39.5 40 - 50 50 - 60
Quebrada Blanca 9.6 150 - 180 285 - 315
270.5 390 - 445 545 - 640
Zinc1 2 4
Red Dog
553.1 550 - 580 500 - 550
Antamina
97.4 95 - 105 55 - 95
650.5 645 - 685 555 - 645
Refined Zinc
Trail Operations
248.9 270 - 290 280 - 310
Steelmaking Coal (million tonnes)
21.5 24.0 - 26.0 24.0 - 26.0
OTHER PRODUCTS
Lead1
Red Dog 79.5 110 - 125 85 - 95
Molybdenum (million pounds)
Highland Valley Copper 1.0 0.8 - 1.2 2.0 - 6.0
Antamina (22.5 %) 1.5 2.2 - 2.6 2.0 - 4.0
Quebrada Blanca - 1.5 - 3.0 10.0 - 14.0
2.5 4.5 - 6.8 14.0 - 24.0
Notes:
1. Metals contained in concentrate
2. We include 100% of production and sales from Quebrada Blanca and Carmen de Andacollo, because their results are fully consolidated in our financial statements. We include 22.5% of production from Antamina, representing our proportionate ownership interest.
3. Copper production includes cathode production at Quebrada Blanca and Carmen de Andacollo.
4. Total zinc includes co-product zinc production from our 22.5% proportionate interest in Antamina.
Sales Guidance
The table below shows our sales guidance for the first quarter of 2023 for select products.
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