Canada Says Anglo American's Pledges to Secure Teck Resources Deal Not Enough — 2nd Update

By Paul Vieira and Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said she aims to deliver a decision in coming months on whether Anglo American can proceed with its takeover of Teck Resources, but warned that the British miner's pledges to date aren't enough.

Under a revised Canadian industrial strategy, the government wants to maintain homegrown global companies with big Canadian headquarters, Joly said.

"What I've said is that what Anglo Teck was offering was not enough. And I think that Canadians should get more out of this merger of equals, and the process is continuing," she said.

A spokeswoman for Joly contacted The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 25 to say that the minister on Nov. 18 had told reporters in the legislature that her goal is to make the decision "in the next months"; the spokeswoman said a transcript of Joly's remarks, distributed by the Ottawa-based Parliamentary Press Gallery, which said "next month" was incorrect. A separate spokeswoman for Joly on Nov. 18 had declined to comment about what else the minister would like Anglo and Teck to propose to secure government approval.

A spokesman for Teck said the companies continue to engage with the government about what is an opportunity to strengthen the country's critical minerals sector. "This merger of equals will create a Canadian-based global critical minerals champion, with significant economic, social and strategic benefits for Canada," he said.

A spokesman for Anglo declined to comment and said the company wouldn't offer running commentary on discussions with the government regarding the deal.

As industry minister, Joly is responsible for enforcing Canada's foreign-investment laws, which require government approval for foreign-led mergers and acquisitions to ensure they are in the national interest.

Anglo and Teck in September reached a deal to create one of the world's largest copper producers with a combined market value of more than $53 billion. Anglo has estimated the transaction values Teck at more than $17 billion, and projected the merger would close within 18 months.

The deal, one of the biggest ever in the mining industry, proposes the creation of company named Anglo Teck that would be based in Vancouver, British Columbia, with Anglo Chief Executive Duncan Wanblad leading the merged company and Teck CEO Jonathan Price becoming deputy chief executive. Anglo shareholders are set to own about 62% of the combined business, with Teck shareholders owning just under 38%.

The tie-up would create a copper producer with annual output of some 1.2 million metric tons and key assets in Chile, Peru and Canada. It comes as demand for the metal is rising amid a shift to greener sources of energy and with a growing need for a key component of electric cars and AI data centers.

Canada last year approved the sale of Teck's coal assets to Glencore, although at the same time cautioned that pending approval of foreign-led deals involving critical minerals, including copper, would only be granted in the most exceptional of circumstances.

Joly said the vision for Canada's industries is to create national champions, and more homegrown companies in Canada.

In addition to assets in Peru, Chile and the U.S., Teck operates the Highland Valley copper and molybdenum mining operation in south-central British Columbia. The company has plans to extend the life of the Canadian operation to 2046 from 2028, which it estimated would create about 2,900 jobs during construction and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual gross domestic product.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com and Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This article was corrected on November 20, 2025 to clarify the name of Teck Resources' Highland Valley mining operation. An earlier article misstated the name as Highlight Valley.

This article was corrected on Nov. 25, 2025. Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said she aims to deliver a decision in the coming months on whether Anglo American can proceed with its takeover of Teck Resources. A spokeswoman for Joly said on Nov. 25 that the minister on Nov. 18 had told reporters in the legislature that her goal is to make the decision "in the next months"; the spokeswoman said a transcript of Joly's remarks, distributed by the Ottawa-based Parliamentary Press Gallery, which said "next month" was incorrect. The original version incorrectly said Joly is aiming to deliver a decision next month.

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November 18, 2025 14:25 ET (19:25 GMT)