ZINC-LEAD: Teck sells interest in Waneta Dam for $1.2B

BRITISH COLUMBIA – Vancouver-based Teck Resources has agreed to sell its two-thirds interest in the Waneta hydroelectric dam and related transmission assets to Fortis Inc. for $1.2 billion cash. [caption id="attachment_1003718442" align="alignright" width="298"] Teck’s Trail complex is one of the world’s largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining operations.[/caption] Power from the Waneta Dam is used at Teck’s Trail, B.C., metallurgical complex. To ensure the electricity continues to flow, Fortis has granted Teck Metals a 20-year lease for two-thirds of the annual electricity output. Payments will begin at $75 million per year and rise 2% each year, equivalent to an initial power price of $40 per MWh. Teck Metals will have an option to extend the lease for a further 10 years. Om 2016, Teck’s Trail operations produced and sold 312,000 tonnes of refined zinc and generated $2.05 billion in revenues. Details available at www.Teck.com.