By Mrinalika Roy
(Reuters) -Canadian miner Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) reported a 74% rise in quarterly copper production on Thursday, helped by a ramp-up at its Quebrada Blanca (QB) mine in Chile, sending its shares up 6%.
Teck last year announced the sale of its coal business to Swiss miner Glencore (OTC:GLNCY) Plc as it looks to build its copper business.
"We had strong first quarter performance...with steadily increasing quarterly copper production as QB ramp-up advances," CEO Jonathan Price said in a statement.
The company produced 99,000 tonnes of copper in the first quarter and reaffirmed its full-year production guidance of 465,000 to 540,000 tonnes, above 296,500 tonnes produced in 2023.
All outstanding major construction at QB operations was completed and the molybdenum plant will be ramped up in the second quarter, it added.
"Proposed BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) offer for Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) highlights appetite for major mining companies to add copper to their portfolios and following sale of the coal business, we believe Teck's portfolio of copper assets remains an attractive target," NBCFM analyst Shane Nagle said.
Steelmaking coal production in the first quarter came in at 6 million tons, the same levels seen in the year-ago period, impacted by extreme freezing temperatures in mid-January that resulted in frozen plant components and unplanned downtime.
Teck's first-quarter steelmaking coal sales were 5.9 million tons, compared with 6.2 million tons last year.
The Vancouver-based company reported an adjusted profit of C$0.75 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of C$0.85 per share, according to LSEG data.