Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Hudbay) operates as a copper-focused critical minerals company with three long-life operations and a pipeline of copper growth projects in tier-one mining jurisdictions.
The company’s operating portfolio includes the Constancia mine in Cusco (Peru), the Snow Lake operations in Manitoba (Canada), and the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia (Canada). Copper is the primary metal produced by the company, which is complemented by meaningful gold production and by-product z...
Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Hudbay) operates as a copper-focused critical minerals company with three long-life operations and a pipeline of copper growth projects in tier-one mining jurisdictions.
The company’s operating portfolio includes the Constancia mine in Cusco (Peru), the Snow Lake operations in Manitoba (Canada), and the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia (Canada). Copper is the primary metal produced by the company, which is complemented by meaningful gold production and by-product zinc, silver and molybdenum. The company's growth pipeline includes the Copper World project in Arizona (United States), the Mason project in Nevada (United States), the Llaguen project in La Libertad (Peru) and several expansion and exploration opportunities near its existing operations.
Strategy
Hudbay's successful development, ramp-up, and operation of the Constancia open-pit mine in Peru, its long history of underground mining and full life-cycle experience in northern Manitoba, its track record of reserve expansion through effective exploration, and its organic pipeline of copper development projects, including Copper World and Mason, provide it with a competitive advantage to deliver sustainable value relative to other mining companies of similar scale.
The company has four material mineral projects:
The company’s 100% owned Constancia mine, an open pit copper mine in Peru, which achieved commercial production in the second quarter of 2015;
The company’s 100% owned Snow Lake operations, including the Lalor mine, an underground gold, zinc and copper mine near Snow Lake, Manitoba, which achieved commercial production in the third quarter of 2014;
The company’s 75% owned Copper Mountain mine, an open pit copper mine in southern British Columbia, which also produces gold and silver as by-product metals (with an agreement in place to acquire the remaining 25% interest pursuant to the MMC Transaction); and
The company’s 100% owned Copper World project, a copper development project in Pima County, Arizona.
In addition to mining properties in northern Manitoba and the Copper Mountain mine in southern British Columbia, Hudbay owns and operates a portfolio of processing facilities in Canada. This includes the Stall concentrator in Snow Lake, Manitoba, which produces zinc and copper concentrates, the New Britannia mill in Snow Lake Manitoba, which produces copper concentrate and gold/silver doré, and the processing facility at the Copper Mountain mine in Princeton, British Columbia, which produces copper concentrate. Hudbay also owns a number of other properties in the Snow Lake, Manitoba region within trucking distance of the Stall and New Britannia mills that have the potential to provide additional feed for the company’s Snow Lake operations.
In Peru, Hudbay owns and operates a processing facility at Constancia, which produces copper and molybdenum concentrates from Hudbay's Constancia and Pampacancha deposits. Hudbay also owns a large, contiguous block of mineral rights within trucking distance of the Constancia processing facility, including the past producing Caballito property and the highly prospective Maria Reyna property. In addition, Hudbay owns a 100% interest in the Llaguen project in La Libertad, Peru, a greenfield project located close to existing infrastructure.
In Nevada, the company owns a 100% interest in the Mason project, an early-stage copper project with a substantial mineral resource and a robust PEA.
Material Mineral Projects
Constancia
Constancia is the company’s 100% owned copper mine in Peru. It is located in the Province of Chumbivilcas in southern Peru and consists of the Constancia and Pampacancha deposits.
In 2024, the Constancia operations delivered 99,001 tonnes of copper net of by-products. Full year production of gold and molybdenum in 2024 was 98,226 ounces and 1,323 tonnes, respectively. Production of silver was 2,708,262 ounces, representing an increase from 2023 due to higher silver grades from Pampacancha. The company continues to evaluate opportunities to further increase mill throughput after the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines approved a regulatory change in June 2024 to allow mining companies in Peru to increase throughput by up to 10% above permitted levels. In March 2024, the company increased mineral reserve estimates at Constancia to include the addition of a tenth mining phase in the Constancia pit after conducting positive geotechnical drilling and studies in 2023. This extended the expected mine life at Constancia by three years to 2041.
Hudbay also controls a large, contiguous block of mineral rights with the potential to host mineral deposits in close proximity to the Constancia processing facility, including the past producing Caballito property and the highly prospective Maria Reyna property. The company commenced early exploration activities at Maria Reyna and Caballito after completing a surface rights exploration agreement with the community of Uchucarcco in August 2022. As part of the drill permitting process, an EIA was submitted for the Maria Reyna property in November 2023 and for the Caballito property in April 2024.
Lalor and 1901
The company’s 100% Snow Lake operations near the town of Snow Lake, Manitoba consist of the Lalor gold-copper- zinc mine, the 1901 zinc-gold deposit and several satellite deposits. The Lalor mine achieved commercial production in 2014 and the production rate has steadily ramped-up since that time. The expected mine life of Hudbay's Snow Lake operations has been adjusted to 2037, with its production schedule optimized for higher mill throughput rates at New Britannia, maximizing gold production and cash flows.
The Snow Lake operations in Manitoba continued to deliver strong operational performance during 2024, exceeding expectations in both production and efficiency. A significant milestone was achieved in December 2024 with the recovery of the one millionth ounce from the Lalor mine, reflecting the success of the company’s strategy to maximize gold production from the Snow Lake operations. Record annual gold production of 214,225 ounces in 2024 was also achieved through a combination of higher metallurgical recoveries at the New Britannia and Stall mills, despite processing lower gold grades year-over-year, and the strategic allocation of more gold ore feed to the New Britannia mill, as noted above.
In 2024, Hudbay completed the largest Snow Lake exploration program in its history with the goal of extending known mineralization near the Lalor deposit to further extend mine life as well as to find a new anchor deposit within trucking distance of the Snow Lake processing infrastructure.
Copper Mountain Mine
The company’s 75% owned Copper Mountain mine is an open pit copper mine in southern British Columbia, which also produces gold and silver as by-product metals. Hudbay acquired Copper Mountain as part of the CMMC Transaction and holds a 75% interest in Copper Mountain Mine (BC) Ltd., which is the legal entity that owns the Copper Mountain mine. The remaining 25% interest in Copper Mountain Mine (BC) Ltd. is indirectly held by MMC. On March 26, 2025, Hudbay entered into an agreement with MMC to acquire MMC’s 25% minority interest in Copper Mountain Mine (BC) Ltd., with such transaction expected to close during the second quarter of 2025. Once completed, Hudbay will be the 100% owner of the Copper Mountain mine.
Hudbay's operations at the Copper Mountain mine include a series of open pits, an ore processing plant, waste rock facilities, a tailings management facility, and other ancillary facilities that support the operations. Since acquiring Copper Mountain in June 2023, Hudbay has been focused on advancing operational stabilization plans, including opening up the mine by re-activating the full mining fleet, adding additional haul trucks, adding additional mining faces, optimizing the ore feed to the plant and implementing plant improvement initiatives that mirror Hudbay's successful processes at Constancia.
Hudbay has participation agreements in place with each of the USIB and LSIB in respect of the Copper Mountain mine. Over the past several months, Hudbay has been deeply engaged with the Upper Similkameen Indian Band (USIB) and Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) to amend such agreements to address Hudbay's updated life of mine plan, certain permitting and environmental matters related to the proposed development of New Ingerbelle and to ensure the long-term financial benefits of the mine and the associated employment and business opportunities are shared with the USIB and LSIB.
Copper World
The company’s 100% owned Copper World project is a copper development project located in Pima County, Arizona, approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Tucson.
Now that the major permits for Copper World have been received, Hudbay commenced a minority joint venture partner process in the first quarter of 2025. It is anticipated that any minority joint venture partner would participate in the funding of definitive feasibility study activities in 2025 as well as in the final project design and construction for Copper World.
Hudbay's ownership in the Copper World project is subject to a precious metals stream agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals. Under such agreement, Hudbay is entitled to receive a deposit payment against delivery of 100% of the payable gold and silver that is produced from the Copper World project and sold to third party purchasers, assuming a fixed payable rate of 92.5%. Hudbay and Wheaton Precious Metals have engaged in discussions regarding a possible restructuring of the stream agreement based upon the new mine plan and processing plant design.
Other Assets
Mason Project
The Mason project is a large greenfield copper deposit located in the historic Yerington District of Nevada and is one of the largest undeveloped copper porphyry deposits in North America. The Mason project's measured and indicated mineral resources are comparable in size to Constancia. The company views the Mason project as a long-term future development asset as part of its pipeline of high-quality copper growth opportunities.
Since acquiring Mason, Hudbay has consolidated a prospective package of patented and unpatented mining claims contiguous to the Mason project and has advanced a number of technical studies, including a revised resource model and the completion of a preliminary economic assessment (the Mason PEA).
Llaguen Project
The Llaguen project is 100% owned by Hudbay and is located near the city of Trujillo, the third largest city in Peru. The Llaguen property is at moderate altitude and in close proximity to existing infrastructure, water and power supply, including the port of Salaverry.
The Llaguen copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit is located on the western margin of the Miocene epithermal-porphyry copper-gold belt of northern Peru. Hudbay optioned the Llaguen property from a Vale subsidiary in 2017 and has since completed an exploration agreement with the local community, conducted additional geological mapping and geochemical sampling, and completed a 28-hole confirmatory drill program during 2021 and 2022, which confirmed and extended the footprint of the known mineralization and highlighted the existence of a high-grade zone in the center of the deposit.
Hudbay's tenement comprises 12 mining concessions totaling 8,900 hectares and the mineralization is fully contained within these 100%-controlled tenements. There are no Indigenous communities in the area, and therefore, community agreements are not subject to Peru's Consulta Previa (prior consultation) process.
Processing Facilities
The company's processing plant at Constancia has a nominal throughput capacity of 90,000 dry metric tonnes per day at 94% plant mechanical availability and averaged approximately 87,000 tonnes processed per day in 2024. The principal product of the concentrator is copper concentrate, although it also produces molybdenum concentrate. The primary crusher, belt conveyors, thickeners, tanks, flotation cells, mills, and various other types of equipment are designed and constructed to be open to the environment. The concentrate filtration and storage building is enclosed. The tailings are pumped to the tailings management facility for storage and water is returned via parallel piping to the process plant for reuse. The Constancia processing plant achieved record copper recoveries of 88% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Manitoba
The New Britannia mill produces gold/silver doré and copper concentrates and achieved commercial production on November 30, 2021, after reaching the required recoveries and production output in the copper and gold circuits. The New Britannia mill consistently achieved its nameplate capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day throughout 2022 and achieved record throughput levels averaging 1,650 and over 2,000 tonnes per day in 2024, respectively. In the first quarter of 2024, Hudbay received a permit approval to increase the production rate at New Britannia to 2,500 tonnes per day, which will provide the opportunity to process more Lalor ore at the New Britannia mill and create additional processing capacity for potential new regional discoveries in Snow Lake.
British Columbia
The processing facility has a current throughput capacity of 45,000 tonnes per day. Several mill initiatives were implemented in 2024, including, recovery improvements, reprogramming the mill expert system, installation of advanced semi-autogenous grinding control instrumentation, redesigned SAG liner package and updated operational procedures intended to remove magnetite from the pebble stream. In January 2025, the company completed feasibility engineering to debottleneck the mill through a conversion of the third ball mill to a second SAG mill. The SAG mill conversion project is expected to increase the nominal plant capacity to its permitted capacity of 50,000 tonnes per day earlier than contemplated in the most recent Copper Mountain mine technical report. In 2024, the mill at the Copper Mountain mine processed approximately 12.66 million tonnes of ore.
Tailings Management Facilities
The company has five tailings’ structures and facilities, three (including two inactive) in Manitoba, one at the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia and one at the Constancia mine in Peru. The FFTIA is the only one with partial construction using the upstream construction design method. More recent dam expansions at the FFTIA have been constructed using the downstream method. The company’s Anderson tailings management facility in Snow Lake uses subaqueous deposition of tailings, and it has received permit approval to transition to subaerial deposition to improve operating efficiency.
Tailings Reprocessing
During 2024, the company continued to evaluate the economic feasibility of reprocessing the tailings in the FFTIA, which holds more than 100 million tonnes of tailings.
The company has also advanced metallurgical test work and evaluated metallurgical technologies. In 2024, such metallurgical test work continued following positive results from the initial confirmatory drill program in the section of the tailings facility that was utilized by the zinc plant for 25 years.
Additionally, the Anderson tailings impoundment area at the company's Snow Lake operation also contains significant amounts of gold deposited over many years. Given the company's enhanced gold processing capacity in Snow Lake, it intends to conduct a similar evaluation of reprocessing the Anderson tailings.
Exploration
As of December 31, 2024, Hudbay had an exploration portfolio of owned or optioned mineral properties which consists of approximately 747,293 hectares across Canada, Peru, the United States and Chile.
Peru
Hudbay controls a large, contiguous block of mineral rights with the potential to host mineral deposits in close proximity to the Constancia processing facility, including the past producing Caballito property and the highly prospective Maria Reyna property. The company commenced early exploration activities at Maria Reyna and Caballito after completing a surface rights exploration agreement with the community of Uchucarcco in August 2022. As part of the drill permitting process, an EIA was submitted for the Maria Reyna property in November 2023 and for the Caballito property in April 2024. The EIA for Maria Reyna was approved by the government in June 2024 and the Caballito EIA was approved by the government in September 2024. This EIA approval process represents one of several steps in the drill permitting process, which is expected to be completed in 2025. Surface mapping and geochemical sampling confirm that both Caballito and Maria Reyna host sulfide and oxide rich copper mineralization in skarns, hydrothermal breccias and large porphyry intrusive bodies.
Manitoba
In Manitoba, Hudbay continues to conduct drilling activities in the Snow Lake area and infill drilling at the Lalor mine. In 2025, exploration activities in Manitoba are expected to focus on completing the largest geophysics program in Hudbay's history, including 800 kilometres of ground electromagnetic surveys and an extensive airborne geophysics survey. In addition, Hudbay plans to continue drilling activities at several regional targets in 2025, including the Cook Lake properties, following up on encouraging results in 2024. The company is also continuing to explore its expanded land package in hopes of finding a new anchor deposit to maximize and extend the life of the Snow Lake operations beyond 2037.
Products and Marketing
The company’s principal products are copper concentrate, which contains payable copper, gold and silver, zinc concentrate, gold and silver doré and molybdenum concentrate.
In 2024, the company produced 137,943 tonnes of contained copper in concentrate (99,001 tonnes in Peru, 12,536 tonnes in Manitoba and 26,406 tonnes in British Columbia (on a 100% ownership basis of Copper Mountain)), 332,240 ounces of gold (98,226 ounces in Peru, 214,225 ounces in Manitoba and 19,789 ounces in British Columbia), 3,983,851 ounces of silver (2,708,262 ounces in Peru, 995,090 ounces in Manitoba and 280,499 ounces in British Columbia), 33,339 tonnes of contained zinc in concentrate (all produced in Manitoba), and 1,323 tonnes of contained molybdenum concentrate (all produced in Peru).
In 2024, the company’s copper concentrate production was sold through a mix of benchmark related sales, and spot sales. Manitoba copper concentrate production was sold for delivery to a smelter in Canada, Peru copper concentrate production was primarily sold for delivery to smelters in Asia, and British Columbia copper concentrate production was sold to MMC pursuant to a concentrates sale and purchase agreement previously entered into by Copper Mountain and MMC prior to the CMMC Transaction.
Molybdenum concentrate production in 2024 was sold to customers in Asia and North America.
Zinc concentrate production in 2024 was sold mainly to smelters in Europe.
Gold/silver doré production from the New Britannia mill is sent to a refinery in Canada, and the outturned precious metals are sold to Canadian financial institutions. In addition, the company sells gold and silver equal to the deliverable portion of payable gold and silver produced from its Constancia mine to Wheaton Precious Metals pursuant to the terms of the precious metals stream agreement in respect of its Constancia mine.
Health, Safety and Environmental Policies
The company’s producing operations in Manitoba and Peru have management systems certified to Safety and Environmental Management System Standards ISO 45001 and ISO 14001.
