Teck’s Quebrada Blanca turnaround lifts hopes for $53B Anglo American merger

Teck Resources’ Quebrada Blanca mine rebound strengthens confidence in its $53B merger with Anglo American, paving the way for a new global copper leader in Chile’s Atacama region.

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK) said on Monday that its Quebrada Blanca (QB) copper operation in northern Chile is showing clear signs of recovery after months of underperformance, boosting confidence in the mine’s role within the company’s planned $53 billion merger with Anglo American (LON: AAL).

QB action plan stabilizes operations

According to Teck, mill throughput and copper recoveries at QB are now meeting expectations, following the implementation of an operational improvement plan launched in August and a full-scale review in September.

The so-called “QB Action Plan” involved upgrades to tailings infrastructure, with 59% of the mine’s cyclones already replaced and full completion expected by the end of 2025. The miner also finalized three new rock benches, with two more scheduled for mid-2026.

Teck expects to complete a critical tailings component known as the sand wedge in the first half of 2026, paving the way for steady-state operations later that year.

The company emphasized that the current mine plan utilizes just 15% of QB’s total resource base, positioning the asset as a long-term growth platform with multiple expansion pathways.

Integration with Collahuasi: a new copper giant

The turnaround comes as Teck and Anglo American advance toward a transformative merger that could create the world’s largest copper mine by the early 2030s — potentially surpassing BHP’s Escondida in Chile.

“Completion of the merger will create a leading, growth-oriented copper investment vehicle with resilience and capacity to realize significant value across the combined portfolio,” said Teck President and CEO Jonathan Price during an investor presentation in Chile.

A central element of the merger is the integration of QB with Anglo’s Collahuasi mine, located just 15 kilometers away. Industry analysts estimate that the combined QB-Collahuasi complex could produce around one million tonnes of copper per year.

A proposed conveyor system linking Collahuasi’s high-grade ore to QB’s processing facilities could add an estimated 175,000 tonnes of annual copper output between 2030 and 2049, at a lower cost and faster timeline than developing a new standalone mine.

Teck said the integration represents one of the most compelling industrial synergy opportunities in the copper sector today, with potential to deliver up to $1.4 billion in additional annual EBITDA and $800 million in pretax synergies through operational efficiencies and streamlined procurement.

Merger would create a new copper powerhouse

Analyst firm Wood Mackenzie currently values Teck at $10.8 billion on a post-tax, sum-of-the-parts basis, including $13.8 billion from copper assets. That valuation excludes the expected synergy gains from the Anglo deal but factors in QB’s operational risks.

If completed, the Anglo-Teck merger would catapult the combined company into the world’s top five copper producers, with annual output of 1.35 million tonnes, surpassing Escondida’s 2024 production of 1.28 million tonnes.

The transaction would also stand as the largest mining deal of the decade, reshaping the global copper landscape at a time when the energy transition continues to drive unprecedented demand for the red metal.