From the now retired Chairman of Teck Resources (started 1963, CEO/Chairman 1981-2019) - $15bn market cap

Never Rest on Your Ores: Building a Mining Company, One Stone at a Time

NORMAN B. KEEVIL

There is an adage in the mining business that mines are made, not found. History abounds with tales of gold or copper showings that have been known for years, ones that stayed little explored and undeveloped until imaginative entrepreneurs, geologists, or engineers came along and found a way to make them into mines.

Mines, once built, may appear to have been reasonably obvious, just waiting for someone to make them happen. But reality is somewhat more complicated.

The 1970s were the best of times, and the worst of times, as the saying goes. We in Teck actually accomplished a lot, in spite of an external environment that was tending toward entropy, or disorder.

There are some years when a few eventful new things happen, and others in between when nothing much does. In Teck’s long history, it has seemed that things that turned out to make a real difference have tended to occur two or three years apart, on average, although sometimes they were bunched together and at other times were further apart. When exceptional opportunities do occur, they need to be grasped or they will just be watched as they pass by. Conversely, as in fishing, there are times to throw the little one back and wait patiently for the good ones....