"Hopefully we're not talking about a single acquisition, hopefully we're talking about a series of significant (deals) and hopefully to go with that some lesser acquisitions, joint ventures, et cetera," [Peter Jones] said after the company's annual meeting Friday,

HudBay will focus on copper, zinc and nickel assets with low operating costs and "lower risk opportunities, with higher returns required in exchange for projects with higher risk."

HudBay is also focused on internal growth, particularly through the "aggressive" development of the Lalor zinc project in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt of northern Manitoba.