Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources said its Elkview met coal operation in British Columbia’s Elk Valley will be closed for one to two months for repairs at its plant.
Officials have confirmed a structural failure of the plant feed conveyor belt. In the meantime, it will reschedule its planned plant maintenance at the operation to take advantage of the downtime, instead focusing on pre-stripping during the outage period.
Teck said, presuming the stoppage of operations will last the full two months, it will lose coal production of about 1.5 million tonnes.
“When also factoring in the impact of the recent labour action at Westshore Terminals, Teck’s third quarter steelmaking coal sales are now expected to be between 5.5-5.9 Mt versus our previously announced guidance range of 5.8-6.2 Mt,” the miner added, referring to a recent walk-off by union workers at the terminal that has left it currently idled.
Elkview, located near Sparwood, is one of four steel coal operations in the Elk Valley that Teck holds. It has a 95% partnership interest in the complex, with the 5% balance being equally held by Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal along with Korean steel producer POSCO.
Teck also produces copper and zinc at its portfolio assets in Canada.
Source: Teck Resources