Teck Resources Q1 2025 Earnings Report

Teck Resources EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.42
• Consensus EPS: $0.24
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.18
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.75

Teck Resources Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $1.60 billion
• Expected Revenue: $2.19 billion
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$594.67 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +41.40%

Teck Resources Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2025
• Date: 4/24/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, April 24, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 11:00AM ET

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) Limited is a Canadian mining and metals company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of base metals. Its principal products include copper, zinc and lead, along with associated by-products such as molybdenum, silver and germanium. Copper is an increasingly important part of Teck’s business as the metal is used in electrical infrastructure, renewable energy systems, transportation and industrial applications.

Teck operates and develops mining assets in Canada, Chile and Peru. Its portfolio has included open-pit and underground mines, mineral-processing facilities and development projects. The company also maintains an interest in Elk Valley Resources, the steelmaking coal business separated from Teck’s operations in 2023 and subsequently sold in a transaction involving Glencore and other partners.

Teck traces its history to mining operations established in Canada during the early 20th century and was formed in its current corporate structure through the 2001 merger of Teck and Cominco. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jonathan Price serves as Teck’s president and chief executive officer.

Teck Resources Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Adjusted EBITDA doubled to $927 million in Q1, driven by higher copper and zinc prices and increased copper volumes.
• QB ramp-up faced tailings facility and power-outage delays with extended shutdowns, but management maintains full-year production guidance of 230–270 kt.
• Strong liquidity and shareholder returns: net cash of $764 million, $10 billion total liquidity, and $568 million returned via buybacks and dividends YTD.
• Multiple copper growth projects (Highland Valley extension, Zafranal, San Nicolas, and QB debottlenecking) are advancing toward potential sanction in 2025, targeting ~800 kt annual copper by decade end.
• Fatal safety incident at Antamina: Teck offers condolences and will support the investigation despite an overall low incident rate of 0.05.

Presentation

[Operator]

Welcome to Teck's First Quarter 2025 Results Release Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. To join the question queue, press star then one on your touch-tone phone. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. This conference call is being recorded on Thursday, April 24th, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Emma Chapman, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Emma Chapman, VP of Investor Relations at Teck Resources]

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Teck's First Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Today's call contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary due to various risks and uncertainties. Teck does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Please refer to slide two for the assumptions underlying our forward-looking statements. We will reference non-GAAP measures throughout this presentation. Explanations and reconciliations are in our MD&A and the latest press release on our website. Jonathan Price, our CEO, will start with an overview of our first quarter. Crystal Prystai, our CFO, will follow with a financial and operational review. Jonathan will conclude with closing remarks followed by a Q&A session. I will now turn the call over to Jonathan.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Thanks, Emma, and good morning, everyone. Now, before we get into the quarter, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the current macro environment on slide four. As we all know, the past few months have been marked by volatility and uncertainty. Factors like the threat of a global economic downturn, geopolitical tensions, inflation, and supply chain disruptions have created an uncertain and challenging global business landscape. Despite these headwinds, we believe that the fundamentals for our key metals, copper and zinc, are robust over the medium and long term as several macro factors continue to drive demand. These metals are essential for global manufacturing and development, industrial policy and national security, electrification infrastructure, as well as the growth of the digital economy. On the supply side, the industry continues to face constraints.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

At the same time, new demand opportunities are emerging as many economies seek to revitalize their industrial sector. For example, defense spending may be significantly broadened to include areas central to economic resilience, such as upgrades to and expansion of electricity grids, which remain central to copper demand. We see this providing a medium-term boost to metals demand as the world enters into a state-backed, more capital-intensive phase of growth. Even in the short term, we continue to see extreme tightness in the concentrate markets that make up nearly 90% of our revenue, with benchmark treatment charges for copper and zinc at historically low levels. In this environment, Teck is well positioned for continued value creation. We are growing copper production and improving margins through disciplined operational performance.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

In addition, we have an active share buyback program, a portfolio of value-accretive copper growth projects, an agile commercial strategy, and a strong balance sheet. Together, these underpin the resilience of our business, which is a competitive advantage for Teck, enabling us to navigate uncertainty while continuing to deliver value through our strategy of balancing disciplined copper growth with returns to shareholders. Turning to slide five, we are closely monitoring the potential impact of tariffs and retaliatory trade measures between the countries we trade with and the risks of wider macroeconomic uncertainty. Although the situation is fluid and evolving rapidly, we do not expect announced tariffs to materially impact our business. That said, a global trade war could weigh on global economic growth with potential implications for metals demand.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Today, we are continuing to see strong demand for our copper and zinc concentrate, and we are working closely with our customers with limited impact so far. Our copper and zinc concentrate sales are not exposed to U.S. tariffs, as we primarily sell to Asia and Europe with no sales to the U.S. On the other hand, Chinese tariffs, if maintained, are expected to apply to our sales of Red Dog concentrate to China, which represent less than 20% of our zinc and lead concentrate sales. However, over the past few years, we have successfully developed a regionally diverse customer base, which gives us greater optionality while trade negotiations are ongoing. Red Dog is a highly valued concentrate in the zinc market, and we have several long-standing customers for this product.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We also have other options available, including Trail feed integration, delivery outside the Red Dog shipping season, and product swaps, all options that support continuity of sales. Turning to Trail and our metal sales, refined zinc, lead, and specialty metals such as germanium, indium, and sulfur products are sold into the U.S., but they are exempt from U.S. tariffs as they are compliant with the USMCA. Overall, Teck has a strong business with diversified products and operations, an agile commercial strategy, and strong logistics capabilities. This enables us to quickly adapt and respond to changing market conditions to mitigate any potential impact on our business. Turning now to highlights from the first quarter of 2025 on slide six, our profitability improved significantly compared to last year, driven by higher commodity prices and copper sales volumes. Our adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $927 million.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

The ramp-up of QB operations continues, and we are seeing performance improvements in key areas such as average daily mill throughput. Production was impacted in the quarter by additional shutdowns, and I will provide more detail on this later in the presentation. During the quarter, QB successfully achieved the completion testing requirements under the $2.5 billion U.S. dollar project finance facility. This is a significant milestone that provides independent verification confirming the robustness of the design and construction and the capacity of the asset to operate at design levels, providing further confidence in the ramp-up to steady state by the end of the year. In the first quarter, we had strong operational performance across our established operations, particularly Highland Valley and Carmen de Andacollo. Trail operations generated strong profit in the quarter following the successful implementation of a range of initiatives to improve profitability and cash flow generation.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Our annual guidance is unchanged across all operations. Our balance sheet remains strong and resilient. We ended the quarter in a net cash position of $764 million, and as of yesterday, our liquidity is $10 billion. Finally, we continue to return cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends, totaling $568 million year to date. Turning to our ongoing commitment to safety and sustainability on slide seven, our safety performance was strong in the first quarter. Our high potential incident frequency rate across the operations we control remained low at 0.05. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the fatality that occurred at Antamina, in which Teck holds a non-operating interest earlier this week. We are deeply saddened by this event, and we offer our condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the deceased.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

As ever, we will support the Antamina team with the investigation and ensure that lessons are both learned and shared. In March, we released our 24th annual sustainability report, which details last year's environmental and social performance, including key areas such as health and safety, support for communities, Indigenous peoples, diversity, and climate. A copy of the report is available on our website. Coming back to QB ramp-up on slide eight, as I just mentioned, the successful achievement of completion testing under the QB project finance facility is a significant milestone. It comprised several independently verified operational and technical tests that validate the robustness of the design, construction, and operational performance of QB. This demonstrates QB's ability to generate strong cash flows. We've made significant progress in the ramp-up of QB, as you can see on the left-hand side of the slide.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We have a plan to consistently achieve design throughput and recoveries and have several data points showing that we can and have already operated at these levels. That said, first quarter production was impacted for two reasons. First, the previously disclosed 18-day extended shutdown to conduct maintenance and reliability work and progress tailings development. Second, external factors that included a nationwide power outage in Chile in February, leaving the site without power, which affected production for several days, and challenging weather. In particular, challenging weather impacted the rate of material movement for tailings lifts required for the development of the tailings management facility, which was also impacted by slower-than-expected sand drainage times. The result of this slower-than-planned TMF development is that additional mechanical movement is required prior to installation of the permanent infrastructure, and we expect to extend planned maintenance shutdowns in Q2 and Q3 to complete this work.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

This is expected to impact production in the short term only, and there are no issues with dam integrity. Once this phase of TMF development is complete, we will be on track for full production ramp-up by year-end and steady state operation into the future. Moving to slide nine, QB's planned performance continues to improve. In the first quarter, the average daily throughput, excluding the extended and unplanned shutdowns, increased compared to the fourth quarter, demonstrating continued improvement in operational stability. Higher levels of transition ore were mined, leading to lower recoveries, as expected, and higher-grade ore mined in March increased the average grade for the quarter. For the remainder of the year, we will continue to drive operational performance and expect to achieve higher throughput rates and higher recoveries in line with design.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We continue to expect to achieve our production guidance for QB, albeit at the lower end of our previously disclosed range of 230,000-270,000 tons. We continue to expect QB net cash unit costs to be between $1.80 and $2.15 per pound for the full year. Although commensurate with production, we expect this to be towards the higher end of guidance. Turning to slide ten, we expect significant growth in our copper production with improving margins this year. Our copper EBITDA margin increased last year from 33% to 42%. This year, current consensus estimates show further improvement to 51%. We continue to expect our copper production to grow to between 490,000-565,000 tons for the full year, from 446,000 tons in 2024, reflecting the ongoing ramp-up of QB and improved grades and throughput at Highland Valley.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We also expect a significant reduction in our copper net cash unit costs to $1.65-$1.95 per pound from $2.20 per pound in 2024, reflecting an increase in copper and the Highland Valley production, as well as continued cost discipline across our operations. Slide 11 outlines our ongoing growth trajectory, underpinned by our existing portfolio of operating mines, coupled with our well-funded value-accretive near-term copper projects, including the MineLife extension at Highland Valley in British Columbia, and our high-returning greenfield projects at Zafranal in Peru and San Nicolás in Mexico. Compared to QB, these greenfield projects are significantly less complex and smaller in scope, with lower capital intensities. We are also working to define the most capital-efficient and value-accretive path for further growth of QB through optimization of the mill and low capital debottlenecking opportunities that could increase throughput by 15%-25%.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

With these projects, we have a clear path to increase our annual copper production to approximately 800,000 tons before the end of the decade. Now, on slide 12, I will cover the key progress updates and major future milestones as we work to bring these near-term projects to potential sanctioning this year. An independent review of the MineLife extension project at Highland Valley was completed in the first quarter and confirmed construction readiness of the project. This means we should be positioned for a potential sanction decision after we receive the necessary permits, which potentially could be in mid-2025. At Zafranal, the project is progressing as scheduled, and we received the advanced works permit on April 10th. We aim to submit the construction permit in Q2, and the project could be ready for a potential sanction decision in late 2025.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

At San Nicolás, engagement with government authorities and other stakeholders is ongoing to support our permit application. We expect to complete the feasibility study in the second half of 2025, positioning the project for a potential sanction decision following the receipt of necessary permits. At QB, our focus is to ramp up to steady state. At the same time, optimization is progressing, and detailed planning for debottlenecking is underway, which should enable us to submit the declaration of environmental impact or DEIR permit application in the second half of the year. We look forward to progressing these well-funded near-term projects to sanction and launching the next phase of Teck's copper growth. I'll now hand over to Crystal to provide further details on our first quarter results.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Thanks, Jonathan. Good morning, everyone. I will start with our first quarter 2025 financial performance on slide 14.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

We more than doubled our adjusted EBITDA on the quarter compared to a year ago to $927 million. This was primarily driven by higher copper and zinc prices and increased copper sales volumes due to strong production performance across our established operations. We generated increased revenue and profit from byproducts, including the molybdenum from QB and Highland Valley, as well as silver, germanium, and other critical metals from Trail. We also benefited from a weaker Canadian dollar as we converted U.S. dollar denominated revenue into Canadian dollars. Our results reflect positive pricing adjustments of $106 million, primarily as a result of higher copper prices. Our finance income increased significantly to $91 million compared with $27 million a year ago, as our investment income increased due to our balance since the sale of the steelmaking coal business last year.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

In February, we paid a final 2024 Canadian income tax of CAD 130 million, primarily related to earnings and the proceeds from the sale of the steelmaking coal business. Importantly, we continue to return cash to shareholders throughout the quarter, with CAD 568 million returned year to date. Turning to slide 15, which summarizes the key drivers of our financial performance in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, our adjusted EBITDA increased by 127% in the first quarter as a result of strong base metals prices, higher copper and zinc in concentrate sales volumes, and the positive impact of a weaker Canadian dollar. Copper sales volumes increased by 11% from Q1 of last year, reflecting higher volumes from Highland Valley and Carmen de Andacollo. Zinc in concentrate sales volumes increased by 10% due to the timing of sales from Red Dog and increased volumes from Antamina.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Our strong adjusted EBITDA also reflects improved copper and zinc unit costs, reflecting cost discipline across our business. This was partially offset by an increase in royalties, primarily as a result of increased profitability at Red Dog. Now, looking at each of our reporting segments in greater detail, and starting with copper on slide 16. In Q1 2025, gross profit before depreciation and amortization from our copper segment increased 90% to $704 million compared with the same period last year, primarily due to higher copper prices and sales volumes and increased byproduct revenues from molybdenum and zinc. This reflects strong performance across our established copper operations. Copper production increased by 7%.

[Operator]

Just a moment. I'm going to turn the hold music on for just a moment and check the volume with the backup line.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Operator, Spruce, I'll get the line back going.

[Operator]

Wasn't good.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Just find it where we need to get back to where we started. Slide 16.

[Operator]

The operator, can you hear me on the backup line?

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Hi, Kaylene. Yes, Kaylene, we can hear you. Do you know where we cut off?

[Operator]

Just a few seconds before I interrupted. I'll go back a paragraph. Okay.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Okay.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

I believe we're good.

[Operator]

All right. Let me join you back in. You'll hear the old music. I'll cut the music.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Okay.

[Operator]

Join me back in now. Thank you for your patience. We have reconnected with the presenters.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Hi, everyone. Sorry about the technical difficulties. I'm going to start back at the beginning of slide 16 and get going again.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

In Q1 2025, gross profit before depreciation and amortization from our copper segment increased 90% to $704 million compared with the same period last year, primarily due to higher copper prices and sales volumes and increased byproduct revenues from molybdenum and zinc. This reflects strong performance across our established copper operations. Copper production increased by 7% to 106,000 tons, driven by increased grades and mill throughput at Highland Valley and Carmen de Andacollo. Production significantly improved at Highland Valley as we advanced mining in the higher-grade Lornex pit, which has softer ore, leading to increased mill throughput. Carmen de Andacollo also had improved mill throughput as a result of increased water availability compared to the same period last year, which was affected by drought conditions. Antamina performed in line with expectations. Our net cash unit costs improved by $0.32 per pound to $2.04 U.S.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

per pound as a result of higher copper production, increased byproduct credits, reduced smelter processing charges, and lower transportation costs at QB. This strong performance led to an improvement in our gross profit margin before depreciation and amortization of 13% to 47% compared to the same period last year. On April 9, QB's third and final labor union ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. This completes all labor negotiations for QB's workforce, with labor agreements now in place through 2028. Looking forward to the rest of this year, we expect to see QB continue to ramp up to steady state by year-end, as well as increased quarterly copper production at Highland Valley as we process increasing proportions of higher-grade Lornex ore through 2025.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

For the full year, as Jonathan mentioned, we continue to expect growth in our copper production with improving margins in line with our guidance of 490,000-565,000 tons at a net cash unit cost of between $1.65 and $1.95 per pound. Turning now to our zinc segment on slide 17. Our profitability in zinc improved significantly in the first quarter, with a 79% increase in gross profit before depreciation and amortization to $225 million. This increase was due to higher zinc prices, strong sales volumes at Red Dog, and improved profitability at our Trail operations. Our Red Dog zinc in concentrate sales of 91,000 tons were higher than our guidance range for the quarter of 75,000-90,000 tons due to the timing of sales. Red Dog production was impacted by lower grades, as expected in the mine plan.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Our net cash unit cost improved to $0.59 U.S. per pound from $0.67 U.S. per pound in the same period last year, driven by reduced smelter processing charges and partially offset by the impact of lower production levels. At Trail operations, we generated strong profitability in the quarter, reflecting increased production of byproducts such as silver, germanium, and other critical metals, as well as the successful implementation of initiatives to improve profitability and cash flow generation at Trail. Looking forward to the second quarter, we expect zinc in concentrate sales from Red Dog of 25,000-35,000 tons, reflecting the normal seasonality of sales. Our full-year production and unit cost guidance for our zinc segment is unchanged. Our guidance for zinc in concentrate production remains at 525,000-575,000 tons, and we continue to expect refined zinc production of 190,000-230,000 tons for the year.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Net cash unit costs are expected to be between $0.45 and $0.55 U.S. per pound. Turning to our balance sheet on slide 18, our balance sheet remains strong and resilient. We were in a net cash position of $764 million at March 31st, and as of yesterday, our liquidity was $10 billion, including $5.8 billion of cash. Our cash balance decreased in the first quarter, primarily due to continued returns to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, the final 2024 tax payment relating to the earnings and sale of the steelmaking coal business, and the seasonally larger royalty payment to NANA in respect of Red Dog's strong Q4 2024 performance. Our remaining outstanding term notes of $1 billion U.S. are long dated. We will continue to deleverage as we make semi-annual repayments on the QB project finance facility through 2031.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

With the achievement of the QB project financing completion testing requirements, Teck and the other sponsor guarantees of the project finance facility have been released. Our balance sheet strength and investment-grade credit ratings enable continued value creation in current market conditions. On slide 19, we remain committed to our disciplined capital allocation framework, which balances investment and value accretive growth with returns to shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet through the cycle. Our capital allocation framework and project sanction requirements ensure the prudent deployment of capital. All growth projects must meet stringent criteria, delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns and competing for capital. We are continuing to execute on our $3.25 billion authorized share buyback, and we are committed to returning between 30% and 100% of available cash flows to our shareholders.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Looking at our cash returns now on slide 20, we continue to build on our strong history of cash returns to shareholders, which currently total approximately $5.4 billion since 2020. We are in the market daily, actively buying back our shares under the $3.25 billion share buyback announced last year, with more than half of the buyback now complete. We have increased the daily number of shares reported.

[Operator]

Operator, the quality of your backup line has deteriorated to the point where we're not really able to hear you. I'd like to suggest that we pause for a moment and reconnect your main line, and I will put the hold music on again. I apologize. I really don't think that we should proceed when we can't hear what's being said. Put the hold music back on. Hi. I'm supposed to log into a private conference.

[Operator]

If we could reconnect the main line, I will put this line on hold, and we'll go back to the main line.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Looks like we're reconnected. Maybe?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Oh, it's updating.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Oh, actually, now it's coming.

[Operator]

I'm still showing it as. I'll be right back. I'm going to put the shipment log.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

Kaylene, it's Bruce. I'm trying to get to the 844 number, and I'm getting a busy signal.

[Operator]

I'm sorry. I'm not able to hear you.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

I'm trying to get to the 844 number, and I'm getting a busy signal.

[Operator]

Oh, dear.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

So it's a choice of the underscore.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

We're also hearing, Kaylene. Kaylene, we're also hearing that the audio is fine for those listening.

[Operator]

All right. All right. If you want, I can join you back in, or if you guys dial out to the 604 number that was showed displayed on screen for the original presenters line. Bruce?

[Unknown Speaker 1]

Kaylene, I can give you a number to call me at.

[Operator]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

604-6499-886677.

[Operator]

You're speaking. I'm not hearing it.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

604-6499-886677.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

Can you hear us on this side? Everyone's saying they can.

[Operator]

Still not able to hear you. Is there any way that somebody can type the number into the Q&A chat? If you can hear Bruce, Emma, I know you're connected. You can't.

[Unknown Speaker 1]

I'm not in the Q&A chat.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Okay. I think Kaylene, everyone on the line can still hear us, so we're just going to continue on and proceed with the rest of the call. Apologies again, everyone on the line. I'm just going to jump. We are getting feedback that people that are listening on the line can hear what's going on in the room, so we want to just continue.

[Operator]

They can't possibly hear what's going on in the room because your room line is not connected in the call, but I will join you back in if that's your choice and cut the hold music. Joining you back in now.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

You are now rejoining the main conference.

[Operator]

All right. May we reconnect with the presenters? Please proceed.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Sorry, everyone. I'm going to jump back in here, still on slide 20. As of yesterday, we've executed $1.75 billion of the $3.25 billion authorization under our normal course issuer bid, including over $500 million year-to-date. This leaves approximately $1.5 billion of our authorized share buybacks remaining to further improve our per-share value. With the strong cash flow generation potential of our business, we could see further cash returns to shareholders in line with our capital allocation framework.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Turning to our near-term growth now on slide 21, our value accretive near-term copper projects are well-funded. While the project capital attributable to these growth projects remains unsanctioned and uncommitted, we continue to expect to deploy between $3.2 billion and $3.9 billion U.S. over the next four years for our near-term copper projects. We will continue to be disciplined in our assessment and progression of these projects to ensure value accretive growth. As we continue to balance our growth in copper with cash returns to shareholders, we can continue to significantly impact the accretive growth potential of our metrics on a per-share basis, as shown on slide 22. Last year, with the ramp-up of QB and with a significant portion of our $3.25 billion share buyback completed, we increased our copper production per share by 54% compared to the prior year.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

By 2026, as we stabilize QB at full production and complete the remaining authorized share buyback, our copper production per share could increase by a further 34%-51%. Beyond that, our copper production per share could increase substantially as we bring our near-term value accretive growth projects online. This does not consider the impact of any further share buybacks that could be authorized under our capital allocation framework as a result of the strong cash flow generation potential of our business. Through the end of the decade, our copper production has the potential to increase rapidly on a per-share basis. With that, I'll now turn it back over to Jonathan.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Thanks, Crystal. Turning to slide 24, we remain focused on our priorities to create value for our shareholders.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Completing the QB ramp-up to steady state operations, continuing to drive operational excellence across our portfolio of high-quality copper and zinc operations and projects, growing our copper production and improving our margins, remaining committed to returning cash to our shareholders by continuing to execute our authorized share buyback program and paying our base dividend, progressing our value accretive near-term copper projects to possible sanction decisions in 2025, positioning us for our next phase of copper growth, and maintaining the resilience of our business to navigate uncertainty and create value, leveraging our agile commercial strategy and strong balance sheet. To wrap up on slide 25, our strategy remains delivering growth and creating value in a responsible and disciplined way. We will continue to balance investment in growth with returns to shareholders. We have the resilience to successfully navigate the current environment as well as potentially exploring evolving opportunities.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

As a pure-play energy transition metals company, Teck is uniquely positioned to deliver significant value to shareholders through the execution of our copper growth strategy. Apologies again for the disruption on the line during that portion of the call. Hopefully, you can hear us clearly now. With that, Operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. To join the queue, please press star then one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you wish to remove your question, please press star then two. We ask that you limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. The first question is from Orest Wowkodaw with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

[Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank]

Hi. Good morning. Questions on. It sounds like you're pushing back the target for sustainable full production of the operation from mid-year to end of year. Yet the guidance is unchanged.

[Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank]

Can you give us a sense of how long these extended maintenance outages related to the tailings facility are supposed to impact Q2 and Q3? I'm curious what gives you confidence at this point, given the pretty weak Q1 you could still make even the low end of the range for the year.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Hi, Orest. Thank you for the questions. Look, we'd always expected 2025 to be a build of production throughout the year and achieving steady state operations towards the end of the year rather than in the first part of the year. I think that's no different with what we've guided to today. We still expect to deliver the guidance of 230,000-270,000 tons this year, albeit now towards the bottom end of that range. Yes, there's some additional work we have to do here around the tailings facility. We're making good progress.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We're implementing measures to complete that work quickly. That includes initiatives which will allow us to speed up sand drainage and deposition of material at the dam. Look, as we've said, completing this work will require some additional downtime in Q2 and Q3, which is why we anticipate being at that lower end. Once we get through this phase of the transition from the starter dam to regular ongoing sand lifts, which is essentially a one-time event, we can then operate at steady state for the life of the facility. That is the phase of work we're going through this quarter and next quarter. That is why we have confidence that we can end the year running at steady state. That is why we believe that we will continue to deliver within the guidance range that we've set out for 2025.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Knowing that this was a ramp-up year for the operation, we reflected in that guidance range the uncertainty with operations in this phase of the life of a project. That is what you're seeing in our disclosures today. I think critical that we remain confident of delivering production within that range.

[Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank]

Sorry, can you give us detail how long are the expected outages? For Q2 Q3 now?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Look, that will be a function of what needs to be done, Orest, which will be determined by the operations team and will be a function of the improvements that we make in sands, the improvements that we make in the pace of material deposition at the dam. It is not possible to be precise on the number of days that we will need to achieve that this year at this point in time.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

I can tell you that the range of outcomes that we expect to be likely in terms are reflected in the guidance and are reflected in the fact that we continue to hold that guidance, yet we are pointing towards the lower end of that range.

[Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank]

Is there anything at this point that could impact the guidance range for 2026, the 280-3? I think it's 310. Based on what you're seeing, or are all these issues expected to be solved by year-end?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. The short answer is no, Orest. We don't expect to see any changes due to the guidance for 2026 or beyond. The work that's required here on the tailings to transition into steady state, we expect to be finished in the third quarter of this year.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Therefore, as we move into 2026 and beyond, we do not see any ongoing impact of the work that we are undertaking today.

[Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank]

Thank you.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Thanks, Orest.

[Operator]

The next question is from Liam Fitzpatrick with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Pardon me. If I can take control of the next question, it is from Liam Fitzpatrick with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

[Liam Fitzpatrick, Managing Director at Deustche Bank]

Can you hear me okay?

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Yes. Yeah. All good.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

You have got you, Liam.

[Liam Fitzpatrick, Managing Director at Deustche Bank]

Okay. All right. Yeah. My question is just around the next proper project that you are highlighting now. First of all, would you realistically include something like Zafranal in the current macro environment, or would you place a greater clarity around straight policies in general? I mean, it also seems that three or four of your projects are all converging towards the decision within the next 6-12 months or so.

[Liam Fitzpatrick, Managing Director at Deustche Bank]

Can you talk about management bandwidth to manage multiple projects, particularly while QB is still ramping up, and how you're thinking about project phasing with all of these options ahead of you? Thank you.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. Thanks for the question, Liam. Now, of course, as we look at the projects that we have in the portfolio here, what we're focused on is the long-term perspective for the fundamentals of the commodities associated with those projects. We see nothing at this point in time that changes our view or our conviction on the long-term fundamentals for both copper and zinc being the key components of growth, with copper being the primary target. There is nothing in that respect that causes us to sort of take a pause in that regard. The growth projects that we have in the portfolio are critical to the long-term strategy.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

As I mentioned in the call, these are projects that are smaller in scope, lower in complexity than QB, for example, with low capital intensities, which should be very competitive projects and should deliver strong returns. From that perspective, no change. Of course, we always continue to evaluate those things. When we take our projects forward for sanction, we always look at a range of forward pricing scenarios to ensure that those economics and returns will be robust. Just in terms of your comment on organizational bandwidth, just to put these projects into context, Highland Valley Mine Life Extension is a brownfield project at a site where we've been operating since the 1960s, and we've undertaken numerous previous brownfield expansions of that site. The team is all in place, is ready to go.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

As I mentioned, we had a very positive independent review of our construction readiness for that project. We have a good level of confidence moving forward with that. The other greenfield project that we would deliver and Teck would take the lead on is Zafranal because, of course, we are 80% of that project. That is where we would be delivering. Again, we have been building a very strong team over an extended period of time now, coupled with our EPC partners. We are well set up, subject to sanction and permits, of course, for construction and delivery of that project. San Nicolás is somewhat different because, of course, that is an incorporated joint venture with Agnico, which does not mean Teck is taking the lead on delivering that project. It is actually the joint venture that does that work.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Of course, we'll be very closely involved in a range of ways in support of that project, and in particular, really taking a lead on the commercial aspects of that project when it comes to the marketing and sales of copper and zinc. That necessarily, by virtue of the way that that's been set up, is a lower lift on the organization here. We do believe that this is manageable, Liam. We've been preparing for this for a number of years in terms of systems, processes, procedures, etc., but most importantly, bringing in the talent, developing the teams, and getting ourselves set up for success in execution. Thanks, Liam.

[Operator]

Carlos de Alba with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

[Carlos de Alba, Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Yeah. Thank you very much. Good morning.

[Carlos de Alba, Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

I would like to check if you received any feedback or suggestions for potential improvement on the completed QB independent testing that you successfully did recently, which, again, conversations on that. I am interested to know if there were any suggestions for any potential improvement that they provided.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Look, I think in short answer is no. That is not really the way that process works. There is a series of tests that have to be achieved based on performance, and those tests were achieved and independently validated and certified. It is not really an improvement-focused process, Carlos.

[Carlos de Alba, Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

All right. Thank you. How many days was QB shut down as a result of the power outages? I think it is a little bit it was several days, but it would be helpful for the analysis if we had a bit of a more precise number of days.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Carlos, we were sort of directly shut down for a couple of days, and then it took us a couple of days to get back up and running to full rates again. Broadly speaking, four days, half of which was downtime and half of which was recovery. Of course, it's the first time at QB that we've had to deal with one of these events and get the site back up and running to full capacity. That's a learning experience. Perhaps in future, we'll be able to come back online more quickly, but we had to be prudent first time out dealing with an event like this at that site. Thanks, Carlos.

[Operator]

The next question is from Craig. The next question is from Craig Hutchison with TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

[Craig Hutchison, Equity Analyst at TD Securities]

Hi there. Good morning. Sure.

[Craig Hutchison, Equity Analyst at TD Securities]

As I spoke with the Zinc business, thank you for your opening remarks. You said that about 20% of the sales of Red Dog is going to China. These are 50% of the remain in place. Any indications of whether there's concerns about those sales right now when they have to be directed material? I guess just on the flip side, are you purchasing materials for Red Dog from China that are subject to tariff? That could be a potential risk on the cost. Thanks.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. Thanks, Craig, for those questions. Look, on the outbound, as I mentioned, given the levels of tariffs being placed on imports from the U.S. into China, that creates challenges with supply at the moment. Now, fortunately, at this time of the year, given the shipping seasons at Red Dog, we're not moving material from the site in any event.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We're pretty well covered at present. The commercial team is working very hard, as I mentioned on the call, as a range of options and alternatives here, which could see us placing material elsewhere through this period of time. The bottom line is, Craig, that we don't expect to face a material impact here as the result of tariffs between China and the U.S. As I said, we've got a number of months up our sleeve here to resolve any issues that might arise. There is no risk the other way around. We're not exposed on the inbound here in terms of imports of goods from China into the U.S. or into Red Dog. No risk there.

[Craig Hutchison, Equity Analyst at TD Securities]

Okay.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. Look, as I said, tragic event.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We will work very closely, as we always do, with the Antamina team here to understand what's happened and to look at learnings for the future and learnings, not just for Antamina, of course, but for the industry more generally. Our understanding is that the site will be returning to operations today. Back up and running. Thank you, Craig.

[Operator]

Question is from Myles Allsop, with UBS. Please go ahead.

[Myles Allsop, Research Analyst at UBS]

Thanks. Maybe just on QB, if it all goes to plan, when should you get the licenses to be able to distribute about 343,000 tons a day? Is this the only model that can have optimization to go from it?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. I mean, I think there's a level of optimization that's allowed under the current permit, Myles, as we have it today, which is essentially a 10% allowance from nameplate. That's something we already have in hand.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

In terms of the submission of the DL, let's say that goes in in July of this year, we would expect to have an approval on that 12 months subsequent. That would be July of the following year, which fits very well with the timeframe we have for the debottlenecking. The existing permit really allows for the optimization that we've been talking about, and this DL or amendment to the permit allows for the debottlenecking. We can get the optimization with what we have now, and with the DL, we can unlock the debottlenecking.

[Myles Allsop, Research Analyst at UBS]

You said it's good to have to be resolved before we could push ahead with these large-scale projects. Where are you with that? Do you think the potential will be pushed back approval to begin?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Look, we are going through engagements with various of the indigenous government organizations surrounding Highland Valley, and a number of those parties, two of those parties, in fact, have initiated dispute resolution processes under the Environmental Assessment Act. That's not unusual for these sorts of processes. It's the way in which they engage with the province, essentially around the terms of the permit. Ultimately, we stay very close to this, of course. As you can imagine, we're very close with the indigenous government organizations. We're very close with the province here in British Columbia who have this as a priority project for them. They are working very hard on this. Of course, we continue to assess the project plan and schedule as these processes unfold.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

While we can't guarantee time for permitting, you never can with any project, we are optimistic that we will have a resolution in the middle of this year. We will continue to progress the project. As I said, the work we've done on construction readiness looks very good. That has been independently verified. We will continue to move the project forward this year. Yes, we've got to get through those engagements, and ultimately get the permit issued. We're hopeful that the middle of this year is still the timeframe that we're working to.

[Myles Allsop, Research Analyst at UBS]

Are you comfortable now with us seeing more downgrades to production by 2025?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Look, what we know about the site, what we see in the operation of the mine, of the concentrator, of the port, and our view now on the work that is required to progress the tailings facility from today into steady state operations, all of those factors are considered in the guidance range. Of course, we are looking at guidance all the time to ensure it's appropriate and representative of what we expect to do at the asset. We've communicated 230-270 again today because we have confidence in delivering within that range, albeit at the lower end. Thanks, Myles.

[Operator]

The next question is from Matthew Murphy with BMO Capital Markets. Go ahead.

[Matthew Murphy, Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets]

Hi, Jonathan. Just would like to dig a little deeper on the understanding the tailings issue in sand drainage. Is that referring to how wet the sand is?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

It's essentially referring to how long it's taking that sand to dry might be a better way of thinking about it. Yes, it is to do with the moisture in the sand and the time that it's taking for those moisture levels to reduce.

[Matthew Murphy, Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets]

Okay.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

No, it's really a separate issue there. I mean, ultimately, what you need to be able to do is to compact the sand. To compact the sand, you need it to drain. We think the source of some of these slower drainage times has been a function of clay and fines in the sand, which have to be separated. That separation happens through the cyclones. We've recently made some modifications to those cyclones.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

The initial results from those modifications are positive, again, which is part of what gives us confidence that we move through this issue by the third quarter of the year.

[Matthew Murphy, Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets]

Okay. The last of all, the need to take maintenance shutdown, is it because you're currently constrained on tailings capacity? You're waiting for these lifts to be ready to let the mill go do what it can do? Is part of the shutdown also on the mill?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

We have our regular shutdowns on the mill for mill relining and other work. There is nothing different at the mill over and above what we would consider to be our sort of routine quarterly work. The reason that we point towards the low end of the guidance range is that the work we have to do on the tailings facility does create a constraint to production.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Again, factoring in the range of outcomes there that we can foresee for this year, we maintain the range at 230-270.Thank you very much, Matt.

[Operator]

Question is from Lawson Winder with Bank of America Security. Please go ahead.

[Lawson Winder, Stock Analyst at Bank of America]

Operator, thank you very much. Good morning, Jonathan and team. Thank you for the update today. Maybe I'll ask again about QB2 and just going back to one of the challenges that was experienced last year, that was the stabilization of the mix of clay in the feed. Is the asset now on track to be able to deliver that consistency in the second half? Also, on that geotechnical issue, the fault in the slope on the ramp, does the work to date in the mine now confirm that that was, in fact, localized?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. There is no ongoing manifestation of that geotechnical issue.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

That's very much behind us, Lawson. In terms of the clays, as we go through this year, we've started the year processing a lot of transition ores, which is why you've seen some lower recoveries in the first quarter. As the year progresses, we expect to have less transition ore and therefore less clay and therefore better recoveries. All of those things are connected. That's been in the plan for this year. It's why we've expected, or partly at least why we've expected to see quarter-over-quarter improvements through the year. Nothing different from what we've communicated previously there, Lawson.

[Lawson Winder, Stock Analyst at Bank of America]

Thank you. The guidance suggests that grade would improve in the second half. Actually, I mean, you guys have really solid grades. QB2, I think it was about 0.61%. You're guiding to a 0.6% average grade.

[Lawson Winder, Stock Analyst at Bank of America]

I mean, is there some room in there for grade to potentially do better? Is that part of what's driving your confidence in staying within the guidance range?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

No, look, we still expect grade for the full year to be approximately 0.6. With the mine plan, we ended up processing a little bit of higher grade in March that was previously expected to come through in April. There are always a few sort of puts and takes in this. As we look at this for the year as a whole, the average of 0.6 is still the right number. We are not relying on grade to deliver the guidance if that's the question, Lawson.

[Lawson Winder, Stock Analyst at Bank of America]

Yeah. No, that was it. Perfect. Thanks very much, Jonathan.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Thank you, Lawson.

[Operator]

The next question is from Bill Peterson with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

[Bill Peterson, Equity Research at J.P. Morgan]

Yeah. Hi, good morning. And thanks for taking the question.

[Bill Peterson, Equity Research at J.P. Morgan]

On second, I guess, on scale specifically, next down to profitability. I guess, how should we think about profitability in the second quarter and back half of the year? Yes. I think we do expect the byproducts to repeat in the quick quarters. And then maybe beyond that, what initiatives do you have that maybe can drive improved profitability or further improvements there?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. Thanks for that, Bill. I'll ask Crystal to just respond on the outlook for Trail for the balance of the year.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

Thanks, Bill. Nice to hear from you. Look, in Q1, as you mentioned, we had very strong performance at Trail. We generated $80 million of gross profit before depreciation and amortization. That was really the result of that implementation of initiatives to improve cash flows. Those have been fully embedded now, and we expect those to continue through the rest of the year.

[Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO at Teck Resources]

We will continue to realize the benefit of those. In terms of the contribution from byproducts such as silver, germanium, and indium, the FX rate has an impact. We built up a stockpile of materials during the period when we had the Kivset boiler under repair in 2023. We are progressing treating those materials, which is where you are seeing the benefit of some of those metals coming through and supporting the profitability. We expect that to continue through this year. Of course, that is not a long-term solution. The TC environment for Trail continues to be challenging. The cost structure changes that we have made there have led to some improvement that we are seeing come through, and we expect that to continue.

[Bill Peterson, Equity Research at J.P. Morgan]

Okay great, thanks for that.

[Bill Peterson, Equity Research at J.P. Morgan]

I guess for us analysts out of the border, I guess, any thoughts on the upcoming presidential election? Any potential impact to the industry in Canada? Research for QB or basically FDI?

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Look, nothing in particular. I mean, there's obviously an election early next week. We will know who the Prime Minister will be at that point in time. I think what we can say is that both sides of politics here are very, very supportive of the resources industry. That's been a key part of their platforms, whether that's about deregulation and simplification, whether that's about actually putting in place investment vehicles to help with the development of the industry here. I think there's a lot of support for resources.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Canada is recognizing that as a real potential competitive advantage and a great lever through which to engage with the US on something that's clearly very important to them. We hope to see that progress, Bill, in the weeks and months ahead. I think, however the election works out, Canada will remain very focused on its mining industry, on its critical minerals. We do expect to see supportive legislation to help ease doing business, essentially, in the country. I think the outlook is positive from that perspective. Thanks, Bill.

[Operator]

Thank you. We are out of time for further questions. I'd now like to hand the call back over to Jonathan Price for closing remarks.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

Yeah. Thank you, Operator. Apologies once again for the issues with the call today. I hope you were able to hear everything you needed to hear.

[Jonathan Price, CEO at Teck Resources]

If not, as ever, please follow up with Emma and the investor relations team. I would just close off by saying the business is in really good shape. We are very resilient. We're managing very well through these turbulent times, both through our commercial strategy and through the strong balance sheet we have. We will continue returning capital to our shareholders per our commitment of balancing that with growth. We've discussed QB extensively on this call. We will get past this tailings situation by the third quarter of this year, move on to steady state operations. As I said, we see no changes to guidance this year or in the coming years. Thank you very much for joining us all today, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Participants

Executives

• Jonathan Price, CEO
• Emma Chapman, VP of Investor Relations
• Crystal Prystai, EVP and CFO

Analysts

• Matthew Murphy, Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets
• Carlos de Alba, Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Morgan Stanley
• Liam Fitzpatrick, Managing Director at Deustche Bank
• Myles Allsop, Research Analyst at UBS
• Lawson Winder, Stock Analyst at Bank of America
• Unknown Speaker 2
• Unknown Speaker 1
• Orest Wowkodaw, Equity Analyst at Scotiabank
• Bill Peterson, Equity Research at J.P. Morgan
• Craig Hutchison, Equity Analyst at TD Securities