Australian mining company Hot Chili has struck what could be a game-changing copper and gold discovery in Chile, intercepting a massive 529-metre mineralised zone that promises to significantly boost its flagship Costa Fuego project.
Record-Breaking Drill Results
The company's diamond drilling program at the emerging La Verde copper-gold porphyry discovery in Chile's prolific Atacama region has yielded spectacular results. The standout hole returned an intercept grading 0.41 per cent copper and 0.21 grams per tonne gold across 529 metres, demonstrating the substantial scale of the mineralised system.
This impressive result follows an earlier 305-metre hit grading 0.5 per cent copper and 0.3g/t gold from 46 metres depth. Together, these findings have pushed the high-grade core down to 600 metres depth and extended the strike length both east and west, confirming La Verde as a significant gold-rich copper zone.
Expanding Mineralisation Potential
Hot Chili's exploration success extends beyond the diamond drilling results. The company has completed five reverse circulation drillholes, with all five intersecting porphyry-style copper mineralisation beyond the limits of previous drilling campaigns.
Notably, over half of these holes, along with the diamond hole, ended while still in mineralisation, indicating the system remains wide open for further depth extensions. This suggests the actual size of the deposit could be substantially larger than currently defined.
Management has identified three additional targets from magnetic modelling that align along a weak magnetic trend running north-northeast to south-southwest. These new targets exhibit similar characteristics to the La Verde discovery, raising the possibility that the area could host multiple porphyry deposits rather than just a single occurrence.
Strategic Location and Project Economics
The La Verde discovery holds particular significance due to its strategic positioning within Hot Chili's Chilean portfolio. Located just 30 kilometres south of the company's planned processing plant, the discovery is shaping up as a substantial addition to the company's inventory.
La Verde has the potential to add significant open-pit material to the nearby Costa Fuego copper-gold porphyry project and could bulk up the front end of the 20-year mine plan. This would substantially improve the project economics outlined in the March pre-feasibility study.
That study revealed impressive numbers, including a post-tax net present value of US$1.2 billion (A$1.8 billion) using copper prices of US$4.30 per pound and gold at US$2280 per ounce. Costa Fuego is projected to produce approximately 116,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal annually for its first 14 years, comprising 95,000 tonnes of copper and 48,000 ounces of gold.
The broader Costa Fuego project hosts a 798-million-tonne resource grading 0.45 per cent copper equivalent, containing 2.9 million tonnes of copper, 2.6 million ounces of gold and 12.9 million ounces of silver.
All of Hot Chili's resources, including Productora, Cortadera, Alice and San Antonio projects, sit within about 10 kilometres of each other and benefit from proximity to the Pan-American Highway, existing infrastructure in the Huasco Valley, and the nearby Las Losas port.
The discovery at La Verde demonstrates the effectiveness of modern geophysical and geochemical tools in uncovering new deposits and could cement Hot Chili's position among the world's most promising copper-gold developers, particularly during a period of strong copper and gold prices.
