Top executives at Vancouver miner Teck Resources Ltd. and London-based global heavyweight Anglo American PLC have been adamant that the company emerging from their planned combination will maintain a distinctly Canadian flavour.
But one mining industry expert questions whether it was accurate to think of Teck as a “Canadian champion” well before the $70 billion tie-up was announced Tuesday.
“I find it a bit of a fallacy to call them the Canadian champion,” said Dennis da Silva, senior portfolio manager at Middlefield Group.
Da Silva figures only about 25 to 30 per cent of Teck’s net asset value comes from its British Columbia operations, with most of its growth expected to come from its international business, which includes mines in South America and the U.S.
“The mind is here, but the soul is elsewhere.”
Teck and Anglo American are pitching the deal as a “merger of equals” with plans for roughly even representation across upper management and the board of directors.
The headquarters of the proposed new company — Anglo Teck — is to be in Vancouver and top executives with Anglo American plan to relocate to that city. The deal also includes $4.5 billion in spending commitments in Canada over five years, but it’s not clear how much of that is new.
Anglo Teck would maintain its listings on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges and also apply for listings on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.
The plan is to keep the company incorporated in London, which would mean the S&P/TSX composite index would lose Teck from its listings, since companies need to be based in the country to be included.
The deal will be subject to review under the Investment Canada Act, which can be used to block deals deemed not in the national interest.
Da Silva said he doesn’t see the Teck-Anglo American combination as much of a loss for Canada.
“I don’t look at it like an Inco or Falconbridge decades ago, where you sort of had a gut wrenching of the core of Canadian mining, and I don’t think it’s ever been the same since,” he said.
“I think we’ll survive Teck.”
Canadian miners Inco and Falconbridge had tried to merge about 20 years ago, but in the end, Inco was absorbed by Brazil’s Vale and Falconbridge by Switzerland’s Xstrata.
In the copper space, da Silva doesn’t see a Canadian company emerging as a global champion, since most of the growth in the production of that critical mineral is coming from elsewhere in the world.
Gold is another matter.
Da Silva considers Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. fitting the bill, as around 80 per cent of its net asset value is in Canada and it operates two of this country’s largest gold mines.
“There’s more ingredients than just where’s the head office and where’s the primary (stock) listing,” said da Silva. “I think it’s who is actually creating jobs in Canada, spending money in Canada in a meaningful way.”
Katherine Wetmore, a partner in consulting firm KPMG’s mining practice, said it seems there’s a true commitment to the Canadian market from Teck and Anglo American.
For that reason, she doesn’t see the blockbuster deal having a huge impact on Canada’s mining sector as a whole and notes some of the most valuable names on the TSX will continue to be from that industry.
“Largely, this is not, in my view, a huge change,” she said.
“In fact, it’s a net positive because it’s a larger company that will remain in Canada with its head office, and its investments and presence.”
Wetmore said she’s expecting to see continued deal activity in the Canadian mining space.
“The mining industry is very strong in Canada. There’s a lot of high potential players and projects, both in the precious metals space as well as in the critical minerals space.”
John Steen, director of the Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining at the University of British Columbia, is also expecting a surge in takeovers, especially with gold and copper prices hovering around record highs.
“It may even be that the combined Teck-Anglo business could become a takeover target from a much larger company like BHP or Rio Tinto or Glencore.”
Past hostile takeover attempts have not panned out for some of those major global names in Canada. Australia-based BHP’s bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (now known as Nutrien) was rejected by the federal government in 2010. Swiss-based Glencore tried to acquire Teck in 2023, but ended up just buying the Canadian company’s coal business after a protracted fight.
Anglo American has been the subject of a BHP takeover attempt.
Both Teck and Anglo American have faced their own challenges. Teck has struggled to start up a major mine high in the Chilean Andes. Anglo has been contending with the rise of manufactured diamonds and struggles with its platinum business in Africa, Steen said.
“It’s certainly not a hostile takeover where we see the hollowing out of the Canadian mining industry again. It’s the case where we actually end up with a stronger Teck in conjunction with Anglo American,” he said.
“It’s actually better for the industry in Canada and for Canada’s stature in the global stage.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TECK.B) (TSX:AEM)
