Dec 19 (Reuters) - Mineral explorer VMS Ventures Inc said joint venture partner HudBay Minerals Inc has approved the C$71 million ($68.5 million) capital expenditure required to start construction of the Reed copper project in Manitoba.

VMS Ventures shares rose 25 percent to more than one-month highs of 38 Canadian cents in morning trading on the Toronto Venture Exchange.

The Reed copper project, which is 30 percent owned by VMS venture, is expected to be operational by late 2013.

Earlier on Monday, HudBay said it expected copper production to fall next year, hurt by the closures of its Trout Lake and Chisel North mines in Manitoba.

The Reed copper project is expected to produce daily ore of about 1,300 tonnes by 2013-end. ($1 = 1.0360 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)