CIM Connect and Teck on Canada’s mining bottlenecks: key permitting and power lessons
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Teck Resources CEO Jonathan Price warned at CIM Connect in Vancouver that Canada risks missing the next wave of critical-minerals investment unless it compresses decade-long mine permitting timelines and builds shared infrastructure such as the proposed North Coast Transmission Line in northwestern British Columbia. He cited global power demand rising about 4% annually, a need for roughly 60 million km of new or replacement transmission lines by 2035, and electrification-driven copper demand climbing by about half from 2025 to 2040, with AI data centres further intensifying copper use. A panel featuring Rio Tinto’s Lucy Potter, Wheaton Precious Metals’ Randy Smallwood, Lundin Group’s Adam Lundin and Teck director Catherine McLeod-Seltzer stressed that predictable permitting, multi-user corridors and squeezing more metal from existing footprints matter more than governments trying to “pick winners”.
Technical Brief
- Price contrasted nine‑month data centre builds with ≥10‑year mine development, framing permitting as schedule risk.
- He singled out northwestern B.C. where lack of grid power, roads and ports blocks otherwise attractive copper deposits.
- The proposed North Coast Transmission Line was cited as a multi-user corridor to unlock stranded resources in that region.
- Germanium, gallium and rare earths were flagged as critical but too small and volatile to attract standalone private finance.
- Wheaton’s Randy Smallwood argued governments should fund shared infrastructure to cut opex, not subsidise individual mine CAPEX.
- Smallwood also urged operators to debottleneck and improve recoveries at existing sites to extend mine life before greenfield builds.
- Catherine McLeod‑Seltzer stressed that consistent, time‑bound permitting frameworks would mobilise capital without governments “picking winners.”
Our Take
Teck Resources’ push on Canadian permitting and power lines comes as our database also tracks it expanding copper exposure in the US Southwest via the Kay Copper amalgamation with Kodiak Copper, signalling a strategy to secure multiple regional copper pipelines rather than relying on a single jurisdiction.
Being flagged by Morgan Stanley’s “Space 60” framework for copper, aluminium and rare earth elements positions Teck as one of the few Canadian-linked miners that can directly leverage any federal critical-minerals incentives tied to aerospace and defence supply chains, which heightens the importance of reliable power and transmission in British Columbia.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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