The Vancouver-based mining company proposing to build the massive Frontier oilsands mine in northeastern Alberta has set a target to be B次元官网网址渃arbon neutralB次元官网网址� by 2050.
Teck Resources Ltd., which is awaiting a decision from the federal government on Frontier expected this month, says it will try to achieve its goal by first avoiding the production of emissions and then by minimizing or eliminating what it does produce.
It says it will look at alternative ways of moving materials at its mines, using cleaner power sources and implementing efficiency measures, while producing more metals including copper for electric vehicles and renewable power generation.
B次元官网网址淪etting the objective to be carbon neutral by 2050 is an important step forward in our commitment to reducing emissions and taking action on climate change,B次元官网网址� Teck CEO Don Lindsay said Monday in a news release.
B次元官网网址淐limate change is a global challenge that our company and our industry need to contribute to solving.B次元官网网址�
Lindsay wasnB次元官网网址檛 available for an interview.
At an investment conference last week in Banff, Lindsay said winning federal approval for the Frontier project doesnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily mean it will be built B次元官网网址� the company will also need adequate pipeline access, the right commodity prices and a partner to share costs before proceeding.
He defended TeckB次元官网网址檚 environmental record at the event, noting money manager BlackRock Inc. is one of its top investors and it has the support of CEO Larry Fink, who wrote recently that B次元官网网址渃limate change has become a defining factor in companiesB次元官网网址� long-term prospects.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e have carbon, no question about it. We have coal and we have oil,B次元官网网址� Lindsay said in Banff.
B次元官网网址淏ut the distinction is we have the good coal, not the bad coal. I talked to Larry Fink last week and BlackRock has made their announcements, but itB次元官网网址檚 about thermal coal. We have 99 per cent high-quality hard coking coal, steelmaking coal B次元官网网址� that institution is one of our top five shareholders and they still are and they wonB次元官网网址檛 be selling.B次元官网网址�
Teck separately announced Monday it and its partners have signed a long-term power purchase agreement for their new copper mining project in Chile, which will result in about half of its operating needs being satisfied by renewable energy sources.
TeckB次元官网网址檚 ownership of 21.3 per cent of the Fort Hills oilsands mining project operated by Suncor Energy Inc., and its pursuit of the Frontier project makes its pledge hollow, said Greenpeace Canada campaigner Keith Stewart on Monday.
B次元官网网址淚f Teck is serious about this commitment, then they need to get out of the oil business,B次元官网网址� he said in an email.
B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 promise to stop using internal combustion engines in your own operation as part of being zero-emissions, and then go out and invest $20 billion to build a new 260,000 barrels per day oilsands mine to put gas and diesel in other peopleB次元官网网址檚 vehicles for the next half-century.B次元官网网址�
The Frontier mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., is expected to produce about four million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year for more than 40 years.
READ MORE:
Dan Healing, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on
