BACK FROM THE BRINK

As the CEO of Vancouver's Teck Resources Ltd, which produces and develops coal, copper, gold and energy, Don Lindsay watched his company go into free fall after a major deal he orchestrated appeared to backfire. Last July, with the markets red-hot and coal at a record $300 per tonne, Teck revealed it would acquire Fording Canadian Coal Trust for about $14 billion. By early May, Teck shares climbed back to more than $16, thanks to Lindsay's continued deal-making. But he says that even though the shares have jumped nearly 400%, there's still work ahead. To start things off, he emphasizes that to understand the Fording deal you have to understand demand for a certain kind of coal. And that means knowing that China's steel industry is in the process of consolidating. Lindsay's focus was to show investors and bank chiefs that Teck had long-life mines, solid cost curves, and it generated cash flow.