The company is advancing a range of proposals with a number of counterparties.

Canadian miner Teck Resources will push to make a call on separating its metals and coal business by the end of the year according to Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Price.

Teck has dominated the headlines this year as it contemplates selling its coal business as part of a comprehensive business review. This followed the company’s rejection of an unsolicited approach from Glencore in March, which planned to merge and simultaneously demerge their combined metals and coal businesses. Earlier in the year, Teck revealed plans to change its name to Teck Metals, focusing on copper and other base metals and spin off its metallurgical coal business into Elk Valley Resources. However, by April, Teck’s board was forced into a reversal after failing to win enough investor support for a plan to split the company.

While Teck has been approached by Vale, Anglo American and Freeport-McMoRan amongst others exploring deals for its base metals business, it has also seen interest from a Canadian mining investor Pierre Lassonde and India’s JSW Steel for its steelmaking coal unit.

As investors increasingly identify high value in good ESG practice, miners have sought to restructure businesses, placing priority on commodities that are crucial to the rollout of clean energy applications. This is evidenced by BHP’s move to dump stakes in coal mines, offload its oil and gas division and its purchase of Australian copper producer Oz Minerals in May. Teck will work towards presenting an attractive proposal that offers maximum value for its shareholders, while it readies itself to make a call on the direction of the company by the end of the year. Merger and acquisition activity will likely accelerate over the next year as the majors look to secure the critical materials required to enable the energy transition.