Third diamond hole records 495m grading 0.38% Cu & 0.10g/t Au from 3m depth, including 123m grading 0.50% Cu & 0.13g/t Au
Highlights
- Latest drill results further expand an emerging, bulk-tonnage, high-grade core at Hot Chili’s
La Verde copper-gold (Cu-Au) porphyry discovery - DKD033, a diamond twin, recorded 495 m grading 0.38% Cu and 0.10 g/t Au from 3 m depth
o including 123 m grading 0.50% Cu and 0.13 g/t Au from 289 m depth - DKD034 recorded 426 m grading 0.37% Cu and 0.08 g/t Au from 194 m depth
o including 220 m grading 0.43 % Cu, 0.10 g/t Au from 322 m depth
o and including 52 m grading 0.50 % Cu, 0.08 g/t Au from 566 m depth - Assays pending for six diamond drillholes, including results for DKD035 and DKD036, which
reported wide, higher-grade copper-porphyry style mineralisation from near-surface,
results expected soon - Diamond drilling recommenced on 12 January 2026, following a short break.
Hot Chili’s Managing Director Mr. Christian Easterday commented,
“Hot Chili is delighted to report these compelling assay results from La Verde, with more expected soon.
Against a strong backdrop of record copper and gold prices, the reporting of wide, near-surface, copper-gold intercepts from a new major discovery underscores the strategic significance of La Verde to Hot Chili.
Costa Fuego is one of a limited number of independent, large-scale, near-term, meaningful copper projects globally, which is highly leveraged to copper price (for every US10 cents/lb increase in copper price above US$4.30/lb, Project NPV(8%) increases by ~US$100M2).
These latest La Verde drill results further amplify Hot Chili’s leverage to rising commodity prices”.
Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) (TSXV: HCH) (OTCQX: HHLKF) provided the first drilling update for 2026 from its La Verde copper–gold (Cu-Au) discovery, located 30 km south of the Company’s Costa Fuego Cu-Au Project (“Costa Fuego” or “the Project”) planned central processing hub in Chile’s coastal Atacama region.
Results from the Company’s Phase two diamond drilling programme confirm significant expansion of La Verde’s high‑grade core (Figure 3 and Figure 4).
Diamond drillhole DKD033 (twin drillhole to DKP030) is the third result released from Phase two drilling and extends the original Reverse Circulation (RC) drillhole, recording 495 m grading 0.38% Cu and 0.10 g/t Au from 3 m depth, including 37 m grading 0.51% Cu and 0.13g/t Au from 202 m, and including 123 m grading 0.50% Cu and 0.13g/t Au from 289 m.
This represents a 102 m downhole extension to the original intercept, which recorded 393 m grading 0.4% Cu and 0.1g/t Au from 4 m depth. Mineralisation was recorded to end-of-hole, with the last 22m recording 0.18% Cu and 0.04g/t Au from 521m depth.
Diamond drillhole DKD034 returned an intersection of 426m grading 0.37% Cu and 0.08g/t Au from 194 m depth, including 107m grading 0.46% Cu and 0.10g/t Au from 426m and including 52m grading 0.50% Cu and 0.08g/t Au from 566m. Drillhole DKD034 also ended in mineralisation, returning 35 m grading 0.27% Cu and 0.06g/t Au from 679 m.
The Company is reviewing these results and will consider potential re-entry of DKD033 and DKD034 in the future.
Diamond drilling has been instrumental in development of an early “4D litho-structural model” with the interpretation of multiple intrusive phases optimising drill target design. Hot Chili geologists are applying the same targeting strategies that proved successful at the Company’s nearby Cortadera Cu-Au porphyry Resource and anticipate these methods will continue to drive growth at La Verde.
Results are still outstanding for six diamond drillholes, including DKD035 and DKD036 which visually recorded wide intersections of strong copper porphyry style mineralisation from shallow depth directly above La Verde’s Au-rich, high-grade core (see announcement dated 10 December 2025).
Impact modelling by Hot Chili indicates the potential to add significant additional open‑pit material to the front end of Costa Fuego’s 20‑year mine schedule, delivering mine‑life growth and materially enhancing the financial metrics of Hot Chili’s March 2025 Pre-feasibility Study (PFS).
Costa Fuego is significantly leveraged to both copper and gold price, both of which are materially higher than assumptions used in the Company’s PFS. Long-term consensus prices for both commodities sit at US$4.51/lb Cu and US$3,137/oz Au1, 5% and 38% higher, respectively. The addition of La Verde adds further leverage and scale.
Diamond drilling activities recommenced on 12 January 2026, following a short break over the holiday period. Drilling continues to target expansions to La Verde’s high-grade core with future drilling also planned to target further lateral and strike extensions to the discovery footprint.
The Company looks forward to providing further results as assays are received.
Figure 1. Location of La Verde in relation to Costa Fuego, coastal range Chile
1asl = above sea level
Table 1. New Significant Drilling Intersections from La Verde
Notes to Table 1: Significant intercepts for La Verde are calculated above a nominal cut-off grade of 0.20% Cu. Where appropriate, significant intersections may contain up to 30m down-hole distance of internal dilution (less than 0.20% Cu). Significant intersections are separated where internal dilution is greater than 30m down-hole distance. The selection of 0.20% Cu for significant intersection cut-off grade is aligned with marginal economic cut-off grade for bulk tonnage polymetallic copper deposits of similar grade in Chile and elsewhere in the world.
Figure 2. Plan view map of the La Verde showing planned and returned drilling compared with updated +0.2% copper (yellow), +0.3% copper (red), +0.4% copper (magenta) mineralisation interpolants. Conceptual open shells1 displayed for $US3.50/lb Cu (blue) and $US6.00/lb Cu (green) displayed as dashed lines. (CNW Group/Hot Chili Limited)
Figure 3. NNW facing longitudinal section of the La Verde porphyry system showing +0.2% copper (yellow), +0.3% copper (red), +0.4% copper (magenta) mineralisation interpolants following Phase One drilling (top) and with the addition of the first four Phase two drillholes [DKD032, DKD033, DKD034, DKP005D] (bottom). (CNW Group/Hot Chili Limited)
Figure 4. North facing cross section (± 40m clipping) of the La Verde porphyry system showing +0.2% copper (yellow), +0.3% copper (red), +0.4% copper (magenta) mineralisation interpolants before (top) and after (bottom) returned diamond assay results from DKD033 and DKD034. Returned Cu grades shown on hole traces. Conceptual open pit shells1 displayed for $US3.50/lb Cu (blue) and $US6.00/lb Cu (green) displayed as dashed lines and are based on Phase one drilling only. (CNW Group/Hot Chili Limited)
1 See Page 9 of this announcement for detail on the US$3.50 Cu and US$6.00 Cu conceptual open pit shells (Exploration Targets). Any potential tonnage and grade of the Exploration Target shown is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource within the target area, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
Qualifying Statements
Conceptual Open Pit Shells
Conceptual open pit shells represent Exploration Targets as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’ (JORC Code). They are based on completed exploration activities reported in the announcement released 19 May 2025 (‘Hot Chili Announces Latest Drill Results for La Verde, Doubling Porphyry Discovery Footprint’).
The conceptual open pit shells were generated using copper (Cu) prices of US$3.50/lb Cu and US$6.00/lb Cu on a series of nested Cu grade shells. Other input parameters informing the conceptual open-pit shells (pit slope angles, mining cost, processing cost, etc.) were derived from values reported in the March 2025 Costa Fuego Pre-feasibility Study and are considered appropriate for the style of mineralisation encountered at the La Verde Cu-Au porphyry discovery.
Any potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target shown is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource within the target area, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
Further exploration activities are detailed in this announcement and include (but may not necessarily be limited to) a program of diamond drillholes aiming to extend the mineralised footprint at La Verde. Drilling commenced on 22 September 2025, with the length of the program dependent on a number of considerations including (but not limited to) the results of the exploration activities and regulatory applications and approvals.
Qualified Person – NI 43-101
The technical information in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Christian Easterday, MAIG, Hot Chili’s Managing Director and a qualified person within the meaning of NI43-101.
Competent Person – JORC
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results and Exploration Targets for the La Verde project is based upon information compiled by Mr Christian Easterday, the Managing Director and a full-time employee of Hot Chili Limited, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). Mr Easterday has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a ‘Competent Person’ as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’ (JORC Code). Mr Easterday consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this announcement relating to previously reported Exploration Results for La Verde was previously reported in the Company’s announcements ‘Hot Chili Confirms Major Cu-Au Porphyry Discovery at La Verde’, ‘Hot Chili Announces Latest Drill Results for La Verde, Doubling Porphyry Discovery Footprint’, ‘District-Scale Porphyry Cluster Potential Emerging at La Verde Cu-Au Discovery’ and ‘First Diamond Drillhole Confirms Gold-Rich Major Copper Discovery in Coastal Chile’, ‘Near-Surface Higher-Grade Core Confirmed at La Verde’ released to ASX on 26 February 2024, 19 May 2025, 29 May 2025, 27 November 2025 and 10 December 2025 respectively, which are available to view on the Company’s website at www.hotchili.net.au/investors/investor-centre/market-announcements. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements.
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