Teck: Antamina shifts to copper-only ore in Q2, cuts zinc output by 62%
Antamina increases focus on copper-rich ore
The Antamina joint venture in Peru raised the share of copper-only ore in its mill feed to 67% in the second quarter, from 23% in the same period a year earlier, Teck said. The balance of copper-zinc ore fell to 33% from 77%.
Copper production rose to 108,500 tonnes on a 100% basis, up by 43,500 tonnes year on year, while zinc production fell to 54,000 tonnes from 142,000 tonnes, a decline of about 62%, according to the company.
Teck holds a 22.5% interest in Antamina and consolidates its proportionate share, which it reports as approximately 24,400 tonnes of copper. Antamina in Peru is owned as a joint venture by BHP (33.75%), Glencore (33.75%), Teck Resources (22.5%), and Mitsubishi Corporation (10%).
Teck attributed the shift in mill feed to its mine plan. It also said Antamina had shut down in the second quarter of 2025 following a fatality on April 22, which contributed to the comparatively lower base for the year-on-year copper comparison, and that copper grades were higher this year as expected in the mine plan.
Pipeline outage weighs on zinc concentrate sales
Zinc concentrate sales from Antamina were further reduced by a shutdown of the pipeline running from the site to the port, Teck said.
During the second quarter of 2026, Teck Resources experienced a temporary shutdown of the 302-kilometer slurry pipeline at Antamina, which carries copper and zinc concentrates from the mine to the port for shipment.
Asked on the earnings call when it would restart, chief executive Jonathan Price said the pipeline was “now fixed” and “back in operation.”
Tight copper concentrate market supports strategy
The shift comes as the copper concentrate market remained tight through the quarter.
Teck said spot treatment and refining charges fell to new record lows in the second quarter and that global smelter utilization stayed below the average level of the past decade.
It linked the pressure in part to higher sulfuric acid prices following disruption to Middle East sulfur supply, which it said gave smelters an incentive to maximize output and a willingness to accept lower charges to secure raw material.
Fastmarkets calculated the weekly copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific – the midpoint between smelter and trader buying levels – at $(193.20) per tonne on Friday, down by $14.00 per tonne from $(179.20) per tonne a week earlier.
Fastmarkets’ twice-monthly assessment for zinc concentrate spot TC, cif China, was unchanged at $(70)-(120) per tonne on July 10. The assessment has fallen by more than 250% from $40-60 per tonne on January 9, a swing of about $145 per tonne on a midpoint basis.
Group copper production rises despite zinc weakness
Across all its operations, Teck’s group copper production rose by 25% year on year to 135,900 tonnes in the quarter, with increases at each of its four copper mines, the company said. It left its 2026 copper production guidance unchanged at 455,000-530,000 tonnes.
Teck reported more than triple adjusted EBITDA of C$2.2 billion ($1.6 billion) and what it described as a record quarterly average copper price during its earnings call on Thursday July 23.
From: Fastmarkets
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