Teck Supplies Metal For Olympic Medals

VANCOUVER — The medals that will be awarded at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver are some of the heaviest in the history of the Games and all the metal used in making the big, beautiful medallions was produced by Teck Resources.

The Vancouver-based major provided the Royal Canadian Mint, which is currently making the medals, with 66 oz. gold, 62,690 oz. silver, and almost a tonne of copper, all sourced from its own operations. For the first time, a small amount of the metal used in the medals was recovered from end-of-life electronics.

Olympic and Paralympic gold medals are actually 92% silver, and covered with a layer of gold. The gold came from three of Teck’s North American operations: the Pogo mine, near Fairbanks, Alaska; the Hemlo mine, near Marathon, Ont.; and the Trail smelter in British Columbia. The Trail facility smelts ore from various sources, producing precious metals as a byproduct, and combines the precious metals from smelting with those recovered from electronic waste to produce dor bars.

Pure silver is too soft to be used for medals, so instead the pendants are made of sterling silver, which is 92% silver and 8% copper. The silver needed to produce the gold and silver medals was sourced from Teck’s Trail operations, where silver is produced as a byproduct from lead concentrates.

And the Olympic bronze medals are made of copper, which comes from several locations. Teck used copper from cathode production at its Carmen de Andacollo and Quebrada Blanca operations in Chile and from concentrate production at its Duck Pond operation in Newfoundland, its Highland Valley mine in B. C., and the Antamina mine in Peru.

At its Trail facility, Teck also recovers metals from end-of-life electronics such as televisions, computers and keyboards. The process involves shredding electronic components, separating metal and plastic, and heating the metal portions to recover the metal. The 2010 medals are the first Games medals to incorporate recycled metals, but the amounts are still low — recycled metal accounts for 1.5% of the gold, 0.12% of the silver and 1.1% of the copper.

The finished medals weigh between 500 and 576 grams and are undulating, rather than flat, to reflect British Columbia’s ocean waves, drifting snow, and mountains. The artistic designs are based on two large master artworks of an orca whale and a raven, created by aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt. Each medal will feature a unique hand-cropped section of the abstract art; medal recipients will also receive a silk scarf showing the master artwork so they can see how their medals fit into the larger design.

The Royal Canadian Mint will produce 615 Olympic and 399 Paralympic medals at its headquarters in Ottawa.