Hudbay Minerals is planning to invest about $1bn in the development of Constancia copper project in Peru.

The project is expected to produce about 85,000t of red metal per year starting in 2016, and also contains gold, silver and molybedenum resources.

HudBay Minerals will begin the construction of the project on receipt of approval from its board in the first quarter of 2012.

HudBay Minerals CEO David Garofalo told Reuters that the firm is also looking out for new investment opportunities in exploration-stage projects in Peru, Colombia and Chile.