Teck said in a quarterly update that overall progress at the QB2 project surpassed the half-way point in April, and that the pace of construction continues to trend upwards, hitting new weekly records over the last month. First production is expected in the second half of 2022.
Don Lindsay, president and chief executive of Teck Resources, commented as part of the release on the company's unaudited first-quarter results for 2021: "We [have] achieved major milestones for our priority projects, including surpassing the half-way point at our flagship QB2 copper growth project. We remain absolutely focused on implementing the necessary protocols to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of our people and local communities."
Teck considers QB2 to be a long-life, low-cost operation with major expansion potential. The company expects it to have low operating costs, an initial mine life of 28 years and significant potential for further growth.
The project's progress comes despite a temporary suspension of construction activities at QB2 in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the company said will delay the completion of the project by six months.
Teck targets 316,000 tonnes of copper equivalent production per year for the first five full years of mine life, which would catapult the company into the world's top 20 global copper producers.
It plans to use an integrated operations centre located in Santiago in the project, as well as an autonomous haulage fleet, and the first large-scale use of desalinated seawater in the Tarapacá Region.
Teck today reported a first-quarter profit of C$305 million (US$247 milllion) compared with a loss of $312 million a year earlier, citing higher prices for copper, zinc and blended bitumen.
