Hudbay Minerals Inc (HBM)

[NYBob]

HudBay says it has the equivalent of 3.1 million tonnes of copper reserves

By: The Canadian Press

Posted: 03/31/2011 5:55 PM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 03/31/2011 6:17 PM


TORONTO - HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSX:HBM) says its copper-equivalent reserve estimate has nearly quadrupled, to 39.2 pounds per common share from 11.3 pounds per share in 2010 — mainly due to a recent acquisition in Peru.

The copper-equivalent reserves, which include gold, silver and other metals as well as copper, have risen 288 per cent to 3.1 million tonnes this year, the Toronto-based mining company said Thursday.

HudBay said its estimates are based on proven and probable reserves at several mines but not nickel reserves at the Fenix project in Guatemala.

"As promised, we have systematically executed on our objective of growing our mineral exposure on a per-share basis through accretive acquisitions and exploration, which we believe will lead to a substantial value re-rating of HudBay over the course of this year," said David Garofalo, president and CEO.

"With one of the largest exploration budgets in our history in 2011, which has now increased to approximately $70 million, we expect to continue growing our reserves and resources on our existing properties."

Garofalo said much of the growth from the acquistion of the Constancia copper project in Peru, which added 1.8 million copper-equivalent tonnes of proven and probable reserves — about 42 per cent of HudBay's total.

HudBay acquired Constancia with its friendly takeover of Norsemont Mining Inc., a deal that was valued at$520 million when it was announced in January. HudBay had acquired 98 per cent of Norsemont's shares by mid-March.