TORONTO – Hudbay Minerals has taken a look into the future and decided that 2013 will be an even better year than 2012. Zinc in concentrate output is expected to be 85,000 to 100,000 tonnes, up from 80,866 this year. Gold and silver together will reach the 85,000 to 105,000 oz range in 2013, compared to 101,059 oz this year. Copper output is expected to drop an insignificant amount to between 33,000 and 38,000 tonnes from 39,587 tonnes in 2012.
Both the Trout Lake and Chisel North mines in Manitoba were closed during 2012, but a vigorous development schedule will see three more mines come on stream by 2015.
Hudbay's 2013 capital expenditures will total $1.24 billion, much of which is earmarked for the Constancia copper-molybdenum project in Peru ($901 million). Other commitments include Lalor gold-zinc mine ($163 million) and Reed copper project ($44 million) in Manitoba. The company has also made provision for capitalized interest and other ($49 million) and sustaining capital ($78 million). Commercial production from the initial workings at Lalor is expected to be declared in Q2 2013. Lalor ore is being processed at the Snow Lake concentrator until its own mill and production shaft are completed in late 2014. The Reed mine will begin production this year and reach full production at 1,300 t/d by Q1 2014. Initial output from Constancia is expected in late 2014 and full production in Q2 2015.
Hudbay is planning $40 million in exploration spending during 2013, roughly half ($20.2 million) will be spent in Manitoba. Another $18.2 million will be spent in South American and the remaining $1.6 million in North America exclusive of Manitoba.
Details of production guidance for individual mines are available at HudbayMinerals.com.
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