TORONTO - Metals miner HudBay Minerals Inc. says its copper production is expected to fall in 2012 due in part to the closures of its Trout Lake and Chisel North mines in Manitoba.

The company, which also unveiled its capital budget plans on Monday, said that it remains on track for its 2011 copper production, but expects to see output drop to 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes next year.

The impact is mostly from the winding down of the two mines, which are reaching the end of their productive life spans.

Production of both precious metals and zinc are predicted to hold steady with the levels in 2011, it said.

HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM.TO - News) approved a capital spending budget of $391 million for 2012, up from $296 million.

The spending has gone towards growing the company's production profile.

It said that includes "the commencement of development of the Reed copper project, the ongoing construction at Lalor and continued procurement and engineering activities at Constancia, where we expect to make a full project decision in the first quarter of 2012."

HudBay's main operations are in northern Manitoba where it operates ore concentrators and zinc production facilities along with three underground mines, including its flagship 777 mine in Flin Flon. It also owns the Lalor project, near Snow Lake. It also owns the development-stage Constancia project in Peru.

The company has said it expects those three major assets to boost copper production by 155 per cent, gold production by 105 per cent and zinc production by 60 per cent over the next five years.

Shares in the company fell 13 cents or 1.3 per cent to $9.76 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.