Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, may consider acquisitions in copper mining to help offset an expected decline in the company’s output of the metal, Chief Executive Officer Don Lindsay said.

“Copper is a priority for us with declining production for the next couple of years,” Lindsay said today on a conference call to discuss the Vancouver-based company’s fourth-quarter results. “Something that might fill the gap would be of interest to us.”

“With change in leadership at some of the large companies -- the major ones in the industry -- there may be some reviews of their portfolios and some assets may shake out,” Lindsay said on the call. “We’re already aware of some things that will now be for sale or where they are looking for partners.”

“We do face declining grade issues, as do most mining companies these days, and production will tail off from this level until our next significant growth project comes online,” Lindsay said.

While Teck is actively evaluating potential deals, the company doesn’t want to jeopardize its credit rating by taking on too much debt for acquisitions, Teck Chief Financial Officer Ron Millossaid.

“We want to maintain the debt at a level that allows us to maintain our mid-triple B investment-grade credit rating,” Millos said on the conference call.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-07/teck-may-consider-copper-acquisitions-to-offset-output-decline.html