Crystal Prystai was only a few months into her role as chief financial officer for Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B, NYSE:TECK) when the mining company experienced some seismic corporate shocks, including an attempted hostile takeover by Swiss mining giant Glencore, followed by the sale of its multibillion-dollar coal mining business.
Suffice to say, her job as CFO has not been boring.
“Those were a lot of challenges, over the last two years, in the CFO roles when all those things happened,” Prystai said. “I think that was also, I would say, an opportunity.”
A chartered accountant with a bachelor’s degree in commerce, Prystai went to work for Teck in 2008 as director of finance, reporting and compliance—a role she held for a decade. Before that, she was director of financial reporting for CHC Helicopter Corp.
In 2018, she was appointed as Teck’s vice-president and corporate controller, and then in July 2022, she was tapped as interim CFO, after former Teck CFO Jonathan Price stepped up to replace Don Lindsay as CEO upon Lindsay’s retirement.
In November 2022, Prystai was officially appointed senior vice-president and CFO for Teck—one of the largest companies in British Columbia and one of Canada’s largest miners—and then executive vice-president and CFO in September of this year.
“I’ve been given a lot of opportunities while I’ve been here at Teck to work on different projects and different initiatives and, I think, through that, built really good relationships in—and a reputation in—the company,” she said, in explaining her relatively rapid move up the company’s corporate ladder since 2018.
“As a female in a traditionally male-dominated industry, to progress to a CFO role of a major mining company is a big deal,” she said. “I’m proud of that. I’m a mom, as well, so I think my daughter being able to see that women could do those kinds of roles is something to be really proud of.”
A few months after her appointment as CFO, Teck experienced a major shakeup.
In February 2023, the mining giant announced a restructuring plan that would have included hiving off its metallurgical coal mines into a separate company and phasing out its dual-class structure. That plan got derailed when Glencore swept in with a US$23 billion hostile takeover bid. Teck resisted the full takeover, but eventually ended up selling its metallurgical coal mining business to Glencore and Nippon Steel Corp. for $12 billion (US$9 billion), leaving Teck a pure-play base metals mining company.
“That was a tough time,” Prystai said. “It was uncertain whether we would be successful.
“We went through what I thought was a really good plan, an initial plan to separate the coal business. In the end, I think it was too complicated for the market. But amidst that work leading up to that, which was already very intense, we launched what we think is a very good transaction.”
As for her leadership style, Prystai said she puts a lot of stock in authenticity.
“I would say I’m very authentic,” she said. “I struggle to be anything but myself.
“I love building good relationships. I think collaboration is very important. And I want to create a culture where people feel like they can be who they are. They can tell me what they think, even if it’s something that might not be popular. I want them to feel comfortable, and so I think to be able to enable that, you also have to be transparent and a good communicator and authentic to who you are.”
