UPDATE 1-Teck Resources expects to close coal unit sale to Glencore by Q3, CEO says

(Adds details from interview)

By Divya Rajagopal

TORONTO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd plans to close the sale of its steel-making coal unit to Glencore no later than the third quarter of 2024, CEO Jonathan Price told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Teck, one of the leading producers of steel-making coal, last year announced the sale of the business to Swiss miner Glencore Plc for $9 billion and said it was shifting its strategy towards building its copper business. The deal needs approval from the Canadian government.

"The regulatory process is still going well, we are still confident of closing that transaction no later than the third quarter of 2024. So all on track at this stage," Price said.

When asked whether Teck was having any conversations with Glencore regarding the sale of its copper business, Price said the company's focus now is to ramp up its QB2 mine in Chile to full production and to invest in current copper projects in Mexico, Peru and British Columbia, Canada.

Besides copper and coal, Teck is also the biggest producer outside China of the rare earth metal germanium, from its Trail Operations in British Columbia. Export restrictions imposed by China on gallium and germanium have had a positive impact on the company.

"We have always been able to sell the production that we generate from that facility," Price said, adding that pricing had improved as a result of some of the Chinese restrictions. "So it's been a positive development for us."

On Thursday Teck Resources beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, helped by an increase in steel-making coal sales and record copper production.

Shares of Teck closed at C$52, up by 1.6% at the TSX. (Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Ismail Shakil and Daniel Wallis)