February 11, 2025 | Stockhead

• Hot Chili drilling intersects more broad zones of copper-gold mineralisation at La Verde
• Results highlight potential to be the company’s next major copper-gold discovery
• Assays pending for a further seven holes while step-out drilling is underway

Special Report: Hot Chili now has multiple new significant drill intersections from a further 10 holes to prove that its La Verde project in low elevation coastal Chile is a major copper-gold porphyry discovery.

The company first received a taste of the project’s potential back in mid-December 2024 after announcing very thick copper-gold intersections from its first two drill holes.

Hole DKP001 got the show on the road with a 174m intersection grading 0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold from a down-hole depth of just 36m before DKP002 quickly blew Hot Chili’s (ASX:HCH) expectations out of the water with a stunning 308m interval at 0.5% copper and 0.3g/t gold from 46m to end of hole.

DPK002 also hosts a higher grade zone of 202m at 0.6% copper and 0.3g/t gold from 70m, which is encouraging from a development standpoint as its places the richest resources closer to surface.

A fantastic start no matter how you look at it and one that just got a whole lot better.

Assays from another 10 holes have now returned broad, consistently mineralised intersections extending over 300m vertically that start from shallow depths.

Notable intersections from the rapidly growing oxide and sulphide find are:

• 320m at 0.3% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 34m to EOH including 134m at 0.4% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 180m and 56m at 0.5% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 258m (DKP009)
• 200m at 0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 48m to EOH including 38m at 0.5% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 68m (DKP005); and
• 172m at 0.4% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 48m including 20m at 0.5% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 62m with a separate intersection of 78m at 0.5% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 228m to EOH including 32m at 0.6% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 232m (DKP012).

Major discovery

The new drill results outline La Verde’s potential scale with managing director Christian Easterday saying the project is shaping up to be the company’s next major copper-gold discovery that could lift the scale of its Costa Fuego project.

“With primary copper supply declining, copper and gold prices rallying, and a PFS on each of our planned businesses (copper-gold and water) nearing completion – momentum is building fast,” Easterday said.

“Following in the footsteps of our successes at Cortadera and Productora, we’ve secured full control of La Verde after years of strategic consolidation, finally allowing us unrestricted access to test this historically overlooked porphyry system.

“Drill results have exceeded expectations, revealing a much larger porphyry system than first recognised, with broad, consistent copper-gold mineralisation extending from shallow depths and largely hidden below shallow gravel cover.

“This discovery has all the signs of becoming our third bulk-tonnage, copper-gold deposit, and is open in all directions and growing fast. We’re also preparing to deploy AI-powered exploration to fast-track our nearby exploration growth pipeline, leveraging 16 years of expertise in Chile.

“With La Verde’s scale potential and the Costa Fuego copper-gold hub expanding, we’re at a major inflection point in Hot Chili’s growth story.”

The project, which hosts the historical La Verde copper mine, is at the core of the historical Domeyko mining district and in the centre of the company’s recently consolidated and larger Domeyko landholding.

La Verde drilling

To date, HCH has drilled 19 holes totalling 5700m at La Verde and received assays from 12 holes.

This has defined a discovery footprint measuring 550m by 400m that remains open in all directions.

Mineralisation starts from shallow depths and extends to more than 300m below surface with indications that its deeper potential remains untapped as eight of the holes reported to date ended in mineralisation.

Adding further interest, the gravel cover at La Verde could mask a much larger porphyry system with the company noting that step-out drilling is now underway.

Drill testing of the historical oxide copper open pit at the project is also pending.

HCH is now awaiting assays from seven additional reverse circulation holes.

It is also planning to carry out diamond drilling to test potential for deeper, higher-grade zones at depth and to test potential for +1km vertical depth extent, typical of other recent major porphyry discoveries, such as the company’s Cortadera discovery and BHP/Lundin Mining’s Filo del Sol find.

December 18, 2024 | Stockhead

• Hot Chili’s thick copper-gold intersections validate historical drilling at its La Verde project
• Second hole’s 308m intersection at 0.5% copper and 0.3g/t gold exceeds expectations
• It also highlights La Verde’s potential to host a higher-grade copper-gold zone

Special Report: Hot Chili’s initial drilling at La Verde has validated its decision to acquire the historical copper mine in Chile after returning thick copper-gold intersections.

While the first hole – DKP001 – provided a good show with a 174m intersection grading 0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 36m, the second hole about 120m to the southeast really upped the ante after recording a 308m interval at 0.5% copper and 0.3g/t gold from a down-hole depth of 46m to the end of hole.

Not only did DKP002 exceed the company’s expectations and end in mineralisation, it also intersected a higher grade zone of 202m at 0.6% copper and 0.3g/t gold from 70m.

The results are hugely encouraging for Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) as the La Verde porphyry footprint measures about 850m by 700m, which is roughly comparable to its higher-grade Cortadera Cuerpo 3 copper-gold porphyry about 30km to the north.

Cuerpo 3 is also the largest porphyry at Cortadera with a higher confidence indicated resource of 798Mt grading 0.45% copper equivalent, or contained metal of 3.6Mt copper and 3Moz gold, and inferred resources of 203Mt at 0.31% CuEq.

What this means is that further drilling successes could unlock another resource of similar size, which will in turn provide a substantial boost to the company’s Costa Fuego copper hub.

La Verde mine

The historical La Verde open pit mine in the Domeyko mining district, which the company acquired in November 2024, was previously exploited by private interests for shallow porphyry copper-style oxide mineralisation with limited drill testing outside the central lease or at depth.

Importantly, it sits in the centre of the company’s recently consolidated and larger Domeyko landholding, secured in an option agreement back in April 2024.

This marks the first time the area has been consolidated, and provides the company with access to a much larger potential porphyry copper deposit footprint measuring around 1.4km by 1.2km.

HCH promptly launched and completed a 12-hole reverse circulation drill program totalling ~3150m with the first two holes designed to validate historical drill intercepts and test the interpreted northern extension of the porphyry from the open pit.

While DKP001 was successful in validating the most notable copper intercept from historical drilling, the assays from DPK002 really demonstrated the value of La Verde by highlighting its potential to host a higher-grade copper-gold zone.

The consistent higher-grade results confirm the extension of the porphyry system almost 400m to the northeast of the open pit, a significant step out considering the existing pit measures about 200m by 400m.

It is also located immediately beneath a gravel cover sequence which obscures the ultimate extent of the porphyry system.

Assays are pending for the remaining 10 holes though the success of the first holes has prompted HCH to expand the RC program by another 2000m of drilling, expected to be completed in late January 2025.

September 23, 2024 | Kristie Batten

One of Australia’s top mining journalists, Kristie Batten writes for Stockhead every week in her regular column placing a watchful eye on the movers and shakers of the small cap resources scene.

When BHP (ASX:BHP) and Lundin Mining Corporation announced a joint bid for Toronto-listed copper explorer Filo Corp in late July, it set pulses racing.

The C$4.1 billion cash and scrip bid represents a premium of 32.2% and will give the pair ownership of the Filo del Sol copper project.

BHP will also buy 50% of Lundin’s Josemaria project for US$690 million.

Both projects sit on the border of Chile and Argentina.

Goldman Sachs forecasts the two projects have the potential to produce a combined 400,000t of copper per annum, but could cost US$12-16 billion due to the infrastructure, which would include a desalination plant and concentrate pipeline.

Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) managing director Christian Easterday was quick to highlight the lack of large-scale copper projects outside the majors in his presentation to the Precious Metals Summit in Colorado this month.

“There’s not many of us out there and there’s not many that are meaningful and near-term,” he said.

“With Filo being taken over by BHP, the list just got shorter.”

In fact, according to Hot Chili, there are only a handful of projects with the potential to produce around 100,000tpa of copper sitting in companies outside the majors.

Hot Chili’s Costa Fuego in Chile is one. The others are SolGold’s Cascabel project in Ecuador, Los Andes Copper’s Vizcachitas project in Chile and McEwen Mining’s Loz Azules project in Argentina.

All are in South America, reaffirming the region’s position as a global hot spot for copper.

“The region hosts almost 20% of new copper supply,” Easterday said.

Capstone Copper is ramping up its Mantoverde copper project in Chile to the north of Costa Fuego, which Easterday says is similar to what Hot Chili is aiming to build.

Costa Fuego

Hot Chili, which has spent $220 million at Costa Fuego, completed a preliminary economic assessment for the project in 2023, outlining capital costs of US$1.05 billion.

Costs are low compared to the company’s copper peers due to Costa Fuego’s low elevation and proximity to the coast.

“It’s half the cost to build because we’re not up in the Andes,” Easterday said.

The project is projected to produce 112,000t of copper equivalent in the first 14 years at a C1 cash cost of US$1.33 per pound, net of by-product credits.

Using a US$3.85/lb copper price and US$1750 an ounce gold price, the project has a post-tax net present value of US$1.1 billion and internal rate of return of 21%.

“We are not special by grade, but we’re special by the location and that has directly led to these financial outcomes,” Easterday said.

A pre-feasibility study is underway and due for completion by the end of the year.

Copper is now trading at around US$4.26/lb, while gold is at a record of above US$2600/oz.

“Every US10c above US$3.85 (copper), we add about another US$100 million NPV after tax to the bottom line,” Easterday said.

Hot Chili’s “secret weapon” for funding the project is its new 80%-owned subsidiary, Huasco Water, a joint venture with Compañía Minera del Pacífico.

Huasco holds a maritime water permit and will aim to develop a multi-user seawater and desalinated water supply network for communities, agriculture and new mining developments in the Huasco Valley region of Chile.

The company will release a study on the water business in the coming months.

“The project is positioned for major catalysts at the end of this year,” Easterday said.

ASX unmoved

Despite owning the largest copper development project on the ASX outside the majors in the world’s hot spot for copper development and M&A, Hot Chili shares have fallen by 37% over the past year.

The company listed on the TSX in 2021, but it still underperforms against its Toronto-listed peers.

Of the four firms that issue research coverage on Hot Chili, three are based in Canada, further highlighting the disinterest in the Australian market.

That’s despite counting Glencore as its major shareholder.

“We’re in the early stages of a copper cycle,” Easterday said.

“It’s a very, very different cycle we’re moving into. It’s about lack of supply.”

Earlier this year, S&P Global Commodity Insights found that the average time from discovery to production was now 16.3 years.

“The timeframes of 17-20 years to develop these assets are very real,” Easterday said.

“We’re sitting at probably the precipice of an electrification future, where copper is the key ingredient, and we simply don’t have an answer about where the supply is going to come from.”

Easterday said the incentive price still needed to be higher for new large-scale copper mines.

“We’re like a large-scale iron ore producer when iron ore is sitting at US$20/t,” he said.

July 8, 2024 | STOCKHEAD

• Hot Chili forms water joint venture with Chilean iron ore company Compania Minera del Pacifico
• Huasco Water will develop a multi-user seawater and desalinated water supply network
• This will supply future water demand for communities, agriculture and new mining developments for the Huasco Valley region

Special Report: Water is a valued resource that is scarce in areas like the Atacama, which is why copper-gold developer Hot Chili is pairing up with Chile’s Compania Minera del Pacifico to form a water joint venture.

The Atacama region includes the Atacama Desert – the world’s driest nonpolar desert in the world – and is unsurprisingly one of the most water stressed regions of the world.

It is also where Hot Chili’s (ASX:HCH) Tier-1 Costa Fuego copper-gold project is located – specifically within the Huasco Valley that has a long history of mining.

Costa Fuego includes the outstanding Cortadera deposit with an indicated resource of 798Mt grading 0.45% copper equivalent for contained resources of 2.9Mt copper, 2.6Moz gold, 12.9Moz silver and 68,000t of molybdenum.

Costa Fuego also holds a further inferred resource of 203Mt @ 0.31% copper equivalent for 0.5Mt copper, 0.4Moz gold, 2.4Moz silver and 12,000t molybdenum.

Mines typically need considerable amounts of water to operate, a point highlighted by Hot Chili’s estimate the Huasco Valley may need up to 3,700 litres per second of desalinated water in the future for its new mine developments.

A water supply concept study released in February this year confirmed the potential for a large-scale, multi-user desalinated water network serving the entire Huasco Valley, which rather neatly aligns with the Chilean Government’s push for such networks in the Atacama.

Water supply security

Given how important a secure water supply is to mining developments – including Costa Fuego – agriculture and communities in the Huasco Valley, HCH and Chilean iron ore company Compania Minera del Pacifico have established a new water company HW Aguas para El Huasco SpA (Huasco Water).

The 80-20 joint venture will hold the maritime water extraction licence, water easements, costal land accesses and second maritime application previously held by Sociedad Minera El Águila SpA (SMEA), which is also jointly owned by the two companies.

Huasco Water aims to develop a multi-user seawater and desalinated water supply network to supply future water demand for communities, agriculture and new mining developments for the Huasco Valley region of Chile.

HCH and CMP will be foundation offtakers for Huasco Water with the former’s Costa Fuego project expected to consume some 700l/s of sea water while CMP’s Los Colorados iron ore mine will require about 200l/s of desalinated water.

Water offtake discussions are also underway with nearby mine developers and additional non-mining, desalinated water customers situated close to Costa Fuego.

Water infrastructure trends

The company noted that its approach towards potential outsourcing and development of shared infrastructure, in addition to preserving scarce continental water sources, is fast becoming the accepted and responsible approach for unlocking future mining developments in the world’s most prolific copper producing region.

It highlighted Antofagasta’s recent sale of their water assets and water rights to the Centinela copper mine for US$600 million to a consortium of Transelec and Almar Water, which will finance, build, own and operate an expansion project that will sell seawater to the Centinela mine expansion.

The consortium will build a 144km long seawater pipeline using Centinela’s water rights that will parallel the existing pipeline from port to mine, allowing Antofagasta to save US$380M in capital expenditure for the construction of its stage 2 water infrastructure expansion.

HCH said this highlights the strategic nature and implicit value of critical water access rights within the Atacama, and an increasing trend in Chile towards outsourcing in the industrial infrastructure sector.

STOCKHEAD

The nearby Domeyko mountains of the Andes in copper-rich Chile. Pic via Getty Images

• Landholding increased by 25% at flagship Costa Fuego project, which has a current resource of 798Mt at 0.45% copper equivalent
• Domeyko concessions bought as exercisable options to purchase for $4m
• Domeyko mining centre hosts several significant historical copper-gold mines, unexplored at depth

Special Report: Porphyry developer Hot Chili has acquired the ‘Domeyko cluster’ tenements to boost the size of its flagship 798Mt Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile by 25%.

Costa Fuego has a current resource of 798Mt at 0.45% copper equivalent for 2.9Mt copper, 2.6Moz gold, 12.9Moz silver and 68,000t molybdenum.

Two years of drilling and studies have the project now pegged as a low-risk, low-cost and long-life copper project in the world’s largest producer of the red metal.

Lately, Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) has been busy building out a network around its project with water supply and transport deals in the region.

It’s executed a five-year MoU deal with the nearby port to evaluate bulk tonnage loading alternatives for copper concentrate from Costa Fuego that would include a ‘take or pay volume’ clause based on at least 80% of the project’s future annual concentrate production.

The explorer has also announced a focus on water infrastructure and desalination in Chile’s Atacama region – one of the driest regions on earth.

A new addition to the south

Domeyko is the largest land consolidation undertaken by Hot Chili since Cortadera was added to Costa Fuego in 2019, adding 141km2 and representing a 25% lift in the company’s total tenure in the region.

The move contains several new tenement applications in addition to an option agreement to acquire 100% interest in several key tenements covering a highly prospective, 10km-long copper-gold mineralisation corridor.

The Domeyko mining centre hosts several significant historical copper-gold mines which were principally exploited for oxide mineralisation yet have had very limited exploration for copper sulphide mineralisation.

Both porphyry and structurally hosted styles of mineralisation are present in the area and historic datasets are currently being looked over across several highly prospective targets that have never been drilled.

The total exercisable option to purchase Domeyko comes to $4m, payable within two years to a private Chilean syndicate.

More drilling, exploration and development study workstreams across Costa Fuego are ongoing and further updates on progress of the company’s regional water supply business case study are expected soon.

STOCKHEAD

• Hot Chili has secured $24.9m through a private placement and is raising up to $5m under a share purchase plan
• Funds will support a Costa Fuego PFS, drilling, exploration and land consolidation
• Proceeds will also be used to set up a new water company

Special Report: Hot Chili is raising up to $29.9m through a private placement and share purchase plan to accelerate development of its meaty 798Mt Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile.

Australian, Canadian and overseas institutional investors along with existing shareholders demonstrated their confidence in the company’s assets by quickly snapping up the $24.9 million shares priced at $1 each under the private placement.

The company has good reason to be confident.

In the past two years, Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) has built Costa Fuego into a low-risk, low-cost and long-life copper-gold project with a current indicated resource of 798Mt at 0.45% copper equivalent, or contained resources of 2.9Mt copper, 2.6Moz gold, 12.9Moz silver and 68,000t molybdenum.

Indicated resources grant enough certainty for the company to start mine planning and also serve as a platform for a maiden reserve estimate for the upcoming pre-feasibility study.

HCH has already executed a five-year MoU deal with the nearby port to evaluate bulk tonnage loading alternatives for copper concentrate from Costa Fuego that would include a ‘take or pay volume’ clause based on at least 80% of the project’s future annual concentrate production.

The company is also exploring the potential to develop a water supply network in the Huasco valley region – one of the driest places in the world.

Fully funded to deliver key milestones

The placement is part of a broader capital raising that includes a share purchase plan offering existing shareholders the opportunity to subscribe for up to $30,000 worth of shares to raise up to $5m.

Taken together, the $29.9m capital raising ensures that HCH is fully funded to deliver the following key milestones in the growth and development of Costa Fuego:

• Completion the Costa Fuego PFS, expected in H2 2024
• Advance the water supply study and create a new water company, expected in H2 2024
• Up to 25,000m of drilling, exploration and further land consolidation over next 18 months, and,
• Commencement of a bankable feasibility study over the next 18 months

It will also increase the company’s s trading liquidity on the TSX Venture exchange.

“We control large-scale assets in two of the most critical commodities of our time – copper and water – with two of the most desirable attributes – low-risk and near-term,” Hot Chili managing director Christian Easterday said.

“The company has been receiving increasing interest from potential strategic funding parties in its advanced Costa Fuego copper-gold development and its recently announced water supply studies.

“This interest, in combination with a rising copper price environment, provides confidence to accelerate the Company’s growth and development plans while preserving control of these assets for our shareholders.”

Easterday is bullish the world is currently witnessing the early stages of a new copper price cycle, with a valuation of US$9,910/t on the LME at the time of writing.

Three-month contract prices rose around 18% in April alone, with a $60bn bid by BHP for Anglo American demonstrating the dearth of significant new copper developments in the global pipeline.

“The placement and share purchase plan maintain the company’s strategic funding optionality, while ensuring Costa Fuego remains one of a limited number of globally significant copper developments, not owned by a major mining company, that could deliver meaningful new copper supply this decade,” Easterday said.

“Market conditions are indicative of the initial stages of a new copper price cycle being driven by a lack of new supply. The company is now well funded to take advantage of controlling the right assets at the right time in the right place.”

STOCKHEAD

Hot Chili wants to provide desalinated water to the mining-intensive Huasco Valley. Pic via Getty Image

• Hot Chili is the only company in the Atacama region holding most necessary permits/licences to provide desalinated water supply to Huasco valley
• HCH has now submitted second maritime concession application to support a potential multi-user, water network for the Huasco valley area
• Both raw seawater and desalinated water could be provided by a potential water network
• HCH’s water assets to be transferred to a new, wholly owned water company

Special Report: Tier 1 copper-gold mine developer Hot Chili is expanding its horizons beyond traditional mining ventures with a focus on water infrastructure in Chile’s Atacama region – where water scarcity is a major challenge.

Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) is developing its flagship Costa Fuego copper-gold project, where 24 months of extensive drilling has confirmed the endowment of a 798Mt at 0.45% copper equivalent for 2.9Mt copper, 2.6Moz gold and 12.9Moz silver – with 68,000t of molybdenum to boot.

While the Costa Fuego project plans to utilise raw seawater, HCH sees an opportunity to build a water company focused on desalination operations along the Huasco coastline where major iron ore and copper mining projects exist and water scarcity is the current reality.

Beyond Costa Fuego: HCH is establishing a water company

Aligning with the Chilean Government’s push for multi-user desalination networks in the Atacama, HCH’s proactive approach positions it to address the critical challenge of water scarcity for new mining projects.

A water supply concept study released in February confirmed the potential for a large-scale, multi-user desalinated water network serving the entire Huasco Valley.

It’s now submitted a second maritime concession application to establish a multi-user network there and is preparing to transfer its water assets, including permits and land access, to a new water company under its control.

HCH says the application is crucial for developing this large-scale water supply, which aims to deliver up to 3,700L/s in the long term in the region and is the culmination of over a decade of permitting efforts for HCH’s Costa Fuego project.

Hot Chili executive VP José Ignacio Silva says water scarcity is a critical issue for projects in the Atacama, where Costa Fuego is surrounded by existing and potential mine developments.

“Hot Chili is the only company holding most of the necessary permits required to provide desalinated water to the Huasco valley – a prolific region for potential new global copper supply needed to support global electrification and decarbonisation,” Silva says.

“Securing these assets has involved over a decade of commitment. Socially and environmentally, multiclient and multipurpose water infrastructure is the new reality.”

A water supply business case study is underway and engagement with potential customers, infrastructure partners, and government regulators is ongoing.

STOCKHEAD | January 13, 2023

Two drill rigs are currently drilling Cortadera’s potential fourth porphyry. Pic: Getty Images

An initial 10,000m drilling program will test four porphyry targets as well as three other targets on the recently optioned AMSA landholding.

The company has started the new year with a bang as one diamond drill rig – operating on a double shift basis – and one reverse circulation rig are back in operation, testing Cortadera’s potential to host a much larger copper porphyry cluster than originally defined.

Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) has more than doubled the strike length of the discovery from 2.3km to 5.2km, increasing the near term material resource growth potential.

Both drill rigs are busy drilling Cortadera’s fourth porphyry, where previous historical drilling intersected shallow copper-gold porphyry mineralisation at 128m grading 0.5% copper equivalent (0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold) from 28m.

Key growth activities on track for delivery this year

HCH says it is well funded to complete its planned drilling and deliver the next set of key growth and development milestones for Costa Fuego this year, which include a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in the first half of this year and a resource upgrade in the second half.

It hopes to potentially up-scale Costa Fuego’s future annual metal production rates, currently being studied at up to 100,000t copper and up to 70,000oz gold for a +20-year life of mine.

Hot Chili intends to deliver Costa Fuego’s Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) by 2024 and remains on-track as one of only a few near-term production projects in the world capable of producing +10,000tpa copper in the next five years.

STOCKHEAD | Dec 07, 2022

Hot Chili has taken another bite of the cherry, expanding the footprint of its Cortadera copper-gold play. Pic via Getty Images.

The Chilean Naval Authority has granted copper developer Hot Chili access to the physical land of its Maritime Concession for extraction of sea water just 60km from the proposed location of Costa Fuego’s central processing facilities in Chile.

It’s another feather in the cap for the company, whose Costa Fuego project is slated to be a green copper development using sea water – with no ground water or desalination plant required.

Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) says the approval of its maritime application (water extraction right and associated land access rights) shows the Government’s support for the development of a new large-scale copper hub for the Vallenar region of Chile.

100% run on renewables too

This news adds another layer to the project’s environmental credentials at the Costa Fuego project, with Hot Chili able to operate off a mix of nearby solar, wind and hydroelectric generators, and having a clean (arsenic-free) concentrate.

Plus, the company recently received approval from Chile’s Central Authority Electrical Regulator to connect to the Maitencillo substation 17km from the centre of the Costa Fuego development.

It opens access for Hot Chili to the national electricity grid, with the company able to negotiate with the multiple renewable energy providers in the South American nation.

A process to select one or more electrical providers is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.

STOCKHEAD | Nov 30, 2022

Hot Chili has taken another bite of the cherry, expanding the footprint of its Cortadera copper-gold play. Pic via Getty Images.

Mere days after securing a second major porphyry, Hot Chili has further expanded the footprint of its Cortadera copper-gold play by acquiring new mining rights.

The new rights – secured at low-cost through a government-run public auction – cover the western extension of the discovery and increases its prospective strike length to 5.2km, an increase from the 4.1km following the Cuerpo 4 acquisition.

Importantly for Hot Chili (ASX:HCH), the seven new mining rights covering 757 hectares host four large porphyry targets that have the potential to materially increase the scale of the broader Costa Fuego copper-gold development.

It also consolidates the western extension of Cortadera, allowing the company to test a potentially much larger porphyry cluster.

Extending two major trends

Hot Chili’s new ground extends the prospective strike lengths of two mineralised trends.

The Las Canas trend, which includes three of the new porphyry targets and the Cuerpo 4 porphyry, has been extended by more than 1.8km.

Meanwhile, the key Cortadera trend has been extended by 1.1km with the addition of a new porphyry target that is directly along strike from Cortadera on the Serrano fault, an important mineralising fault corridor connecting the Cortadera and Productora copper-gold deposits.