Global miner Teck Cominco Ltd. plans to invest in base metals exploration in China within the next year, said Doug Horswill, senior vice president for Environment and Corporate Affairs.

Its plans are driven in part by expectation that China's rapid urbanization will bring increased demand for copper and zinc as well as other base metals. Teck Cominco predicts zinc will remain in deficit next year and probably after that, Horswill said.

Teck Cominco established an office in Beijing this year to seek potential Chinese partners for investments in China and internationally.

"Over the next year, we hope to realize opportunities to actually put dollars in the ground," Horswill said in a speech at a mining conference in Beijing on Tuesday. He did not specify which Chinese firms could be potential partners.

Teck Cominco is particularly interested in exploration in China for copper, zinc and gold.

The company is also talking to potential Chinese partners about investing together in overseas projects.

"We are interested in seeing if we can partner on grassroots projects," Horswill said.

However, he said that so far, most potential Chinese partners are interested in investing in existing projects.

Zinc <MZN3> has outperformed other base metals this year, rising by 138 percent to a high of $4,580 on November 10. It has been driven by falling stocks in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange.

Stocks "are virtually getting toward exhaustion," Horswill said, adding that zinc inventories in New Orleans are of a shape unsuitable for galvanizers.

Copper <MCU3> peaked in May this year, at $8,800 a tonne, but has since retreated as Chinese imports have slowed due to sales from national reserves and higher domestic output.