Teck CEO Don Lindsay to retire after 17 years

Article content

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive Don Lindsay announced his retirement after 17 years at the helm of one of Canada’s leading mining companies.

Article content

During Lindsay’s tenure, Teck delivered “record financial and operational results and returned significant capital to shareholders,” the Vancouver-based company said in a press release on July 26. Under Lindsay, who was appointed CEO in 2005, the diversified miner also built a strong copper pipeline and marked the start of its ambition to rebalance its portfolio towards metals as opposed to coal and oilsands operations.

“I am extremely proud of what has been achieved during my tenure,” Lindsay, who will retire on September 30, said in the press release. “Together we have built Teck into an industry leader in sustainable resource development, with world-class operations, and an unmatched copper growth profile.”

Article content

Jonathan Price, currently the company’s CFO, will ascend to CEO, while Harry Conger, Teck’s executive vice-president and COO, will inherit Lindsay’s duties as president. The executives said they aim to continue Teck’s strategy of boosting its copper resources and other essential metals in the coming years.

Teck, which hopes to achieve its net-zero scope 2 emissions by 2025, currently runs at least four steelmaking coal operations in British Columbia and holds a 21.3 per cent stake in the Fort Hills Energy oilsands operation in Alberta, apart from a couple of copper and zinc mines. Its coal operations contributed more than half of its total revenues in the first quarter of this year.

However, the company is gradually shifting its focus towards copper, a metal that’s crucial for the world to meet its decarbonization goals by 2050. Through its Quebrada Blanca phase 2 (QB2) project in Chile, which is still under construction and is expected to start producing by the end of 2022, Teck hopes to double its copper production.

Article content

Bank of Montreal analyst Jackie Przybylowski, who follows Teck, described Lindsay’s retirement as “unexpected,” but “not a surprise in the greater context.”

“We had assumed that Mr. Lindsay would remain in the post until completion of QB2 — and he will in some capacity,” Przybylowski wrote in a research note to clients on July 26.

“In our view, the announcement is viewed as a negative given the success Teck has enjoyed in terms of QB2 project execution… and the shareholder-friendly capital returns. Investors are also generally cautious of management changes in the short term until the new CEO is familiar to investors,” she added.

Article content

Bank of Nova Scotia analyst Orest Wowkodaw echoed the sentiment. “We did not anticipate the near-term departure of Mr. Lindsay,” he said in a note.

Teck also provided an update on the construction of its QB2 project, where about 13,000 workers are employed and said that its capital cost guidance for COVID-19 impacts increased to US$1.4 to US$1.5 billion, from US$900 million to US$1.1 billion due to absenteeism and inflation on labour costs.

As a result, the company said that production at QB2 might be pushed to January 2023, as opposed to its current target of Q4 2022.

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: naimonthefield

Listen to Down to Business for in-depth discussions and insights into the latest in Canadian business, available wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the latest episode below: