Name of the Project
Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) copper project.

Location
Tarapacá region, in northern Chile.

Project Owner/s
On March 29, 2019, Teck Resources concluded a transaction where SMM/SC subscribed to a 30% indirect interest in QBSA, which owns the QB2 copper development. SMM/SC contributed $966-billion to QBSA on closing the transaction and a further $336-million over the remainder of 2019, including $38-million for interest on the loan advances during 2019.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, Teck closed the $2.5-billion limited recourse project financing to fund the development of QB2.

Project Description
QB2 is one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper resources.

The project proposes to develop the hypogene resource at Quebrada Blanca to increase yearly copper production and extend the mine’s production life by more than 25 years.

The project is expected to include the construction of a 140 000 t/d concentrator, tailings storage facility, concentrate pipeline, water supply pipeline, desalination plant, concentrate filtration plant and port to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates.

QB2 is expected to produce 316 400 t/y of copper equivalent for the first five years of mine life. The project is expected to have an initial 28-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
About 15 000 people are working on the QB2 project, with 2 000 ongoing direct and indirect jobs during operation.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
$5.26-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
QB2 will start up in the second half of 2022, doubling Teck’s consolidated copper production by 2023.

Latest Developments
Teck Resources is studying further copper expansions beyond Phase 2 of its Quebrada Blanca mine and has said that it is up to Chile, which is considering new tax and royalty structures, to offer an attractive investment environment.

CEO Don Lindsay has noted that Teck will “wait and see” what the final rules are before sanctioning a further investment at the QB2 project.

Teck VP corporate affairs and sustainability South America Amparo Cornejo has indicated that there is no indication that the mining royalty deal under discussion will have an impact on the stability of agreements already in place.

“International agreements and commitments will be respected,” he has said.

Commenting on the Constitutional Convention process under way, Cornejo has said that discussions about environmental issues or others that could have an impact on mining are expected to be voted on by mid-March.

Teck is ramping up work at QB2, which will start producing copper concentrate in the second half of 2022.

The next phase of development will be the Quebrada Blanca Mill Expansion (QBME), which will entail an increase in concentrator throughput of about 50%, with the addition of one identical, semiautogenous grinding line.

Lindsay has said that Teck’s expansion proposal should fall under the current tax stability agreement and within the current permitting for some infrastructure that is already there.

The QBME prefeasibility study (PFS), including environmental baseline activities, started in the final quarter of 2021 and will be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. First production is targeted for 2026.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Teck Resources senior communications specialist Chris Stannell, tel +1604699 4368 or email Chris.Stannell@teck.com.
Teck Resources investor relations, tel +1604699 4257 or email investors@teck.com.