Hot Chili's Shallow High-Grade Copper Hits in Chile Boost Costa Fuego Project
Hot Chili is intensifying exploration at its La Verde copper-gold discovery in Chile, delivering a new batch of shallow high-grade results that strengthen the case for a potential higher-grade starter pit within its flagship Costa Fuego development. Fresh assays from two diamond tail extension holes have confirmed a broad, near-surface zone of robust copper-gold mineralisation spanning a 400m by 400m area.
Shallow Intercepts and Cost-Effective Potential
One extension hole yielded a massive intercept of 150m at 0.52 per cent copper equivalent, including 0.37 per cent copper and 0.21 grams per tonne gold from just 30m depth, with a notable 38m section grading 0.70 per cent copper equivalent from 117m. The second hole returned a hefty 220m at 0.47 per cent copper equivalent from 38m depth, including a solid 68m at 0.64 per cent copper equivalent from 187m. These results sit beneath shallow gravel cover, suggesting future overburden removal could be simple and cost-effective, enhancing early mine scheduling.
Deeper Drilling and Expanding Core
Deeper drilling is now targeting an expanding high-grade core, with one recent hole showing visual copper porphyry-style mineralisation over about 150m between 580m and 730m depth. Geologists logged chalcopyrite at an average abundance exceeding 1 per cent, with zones above 3 per cent, indicating potential high grades. Assays for this hole are pending until April, but the visual intensity suggests La Verde's core may be thickening at depth, a classic porphyry signature that could underpin scale.
Project Context and Strategic Importance
La Verde is located 30km south of Hot Chili's planned central processing hub for Costa Fuego in Chile's coastal Atacama region, known for giant porphyry deposits. The discovery could serve as a sweetener to broader development plans, with management noting a higher-grade starter pit might reduce payback and improve financial metrics from a March 2025 pre-feasibility study. Additional drilling has expanded the system laterally, pushing the mineralised footprint further east.
Accelerated Exploration and Resource Scale
With these results, Hot Chili is accelerating its phase two program, implementing double-shift diamond drilling and expecting a second reverse circulation rig to start soon. Costa Fuego hosts a colossal 798-million-tonne resource grading 0.45 per cent copper equivalent, containing 2.9Mt of copper, 2.6 million ounces of gold, 12.9 million ounces of silver, and 68,000t of molybdenum. Metallurgical test work using seawater indicates recoveries similar to Cortadera, supporting integration into existing plans.
Market Implications and Future Outlook
Conceptual open pit shells at copper prices of US$3.50/lb and US$6.00/lb illustrate potential scale, though these are exploration targets. As copper prices rise due to AI and electrification and gold trades near record highs, La Verde is emerging as more than a satellite discovery. If ongoing drilling continues to grow the shallow high-grade footprint and thicken the deeper core, Hot Chili could significantly enhance the Costa Fuego copper-gold narrative.
