Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) (TSXV: HCH) (OTCQX: HHLKF) announced the receipt of regulatory1 approval
to expand drill coverage across the La Verde copper-gold (Cu-Au) discovery, located approximately 30km south of the Company’s Costa Fuego Cu-Au Project (“Costa Fuego” or “the Project”) planned central processing hub at low elevation in the coastal range of the Atacama region, Chile.
The approval follows the commencement of phase two diamond drilling (single drill rig, double shift) from
existing drill platforms at La Verde on 22 September 2025.
Diamond drilling is currently testing depth extensions to higher grade centres within the current +0.2% Cu
discovery footprint, which measures 1,000 m by 750 m and extends up to 400 m vertical depth (refer
announcement dated 19 May 2025).
Two diamond drill holes of an eleven-hole programme are already complete. Both diamond drill holes have
visually recorded wide intersections of porphyry-style copper mineralisation and assay results are pending.
Results will be announced to ASX on receipt of assays in coming weeks.
Note: Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations.
This recent regulatory approval allows Hot Chili to continue expanding the La Verde discovery, providing
access to test:
- Further lateral and along-strike extensions to the La Verde discovery footprint, and
- Potential for La Verde to be part of a district-scale copper porphyry cluster, with three nearby lookalike targets set for first-pass drilling.
Drill platform clearing is planned to start ahead of the arrival of a second drill rig (Reverse Circulation) to
accelerate phase two drilling at La Verde.
Phase one drill results have already demonstrated significant potential for resource growth and additional
front-end open pit mine life, materially enhancing the economics of Hot Chili’s March 2025 Pre-feasibility
Study for Costa Fuego.
La Verde is shaping to be a significant growth engine, and the Company looks forward to providing further
updates on the results from drilling activities.
This announcement is authorised by the Board of Directors for release to ASX and TSXV.
Figure 1. Location of La Verde in relation to Costa Fuego, coastal range Chile
Figure 2. Plan view map of the La Verde porphyry system showing approved extensional collar locations (red points), planned (white traces) and completed DD drilling (black) compared with +0.2% copper (yellow), +0.3% copper (red), +0.4% copper (Magenta) mineralization interpolants from Phase one drilling. Conceptual open pit shells1 displayed for $US3.50/lb Cu (blue) and $US6.00/lb Cu (green) displayed as dashed lines. See announcement dated 25 September 2025 for JORC Table 1 additional technical information.
Figure 3. Plan view showing the La Verde +0.2% Cu mineralization interpolant in relation to regional magnetic destruction footprint (red dashed), local magnetic low features (white dashed), weakly magnetic anomalies (white line) and Fathom 3D geochemical probability models (purple isosurfaces).
See the bottom 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 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 the 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’ and ‘District-Scale Porphyry Cluster Potential Emerging at La Verde Cu-Au Discovery’ released to ASX on 26 February 2024, 19 May 2025 and 29 May 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.
- Regulatory green light for La Verde refers to a Sectoral Permit, which is the appropriate regulatory authorization for a project of this scale. A full DIA (Environmental Impact Declaration) would be processed in a next drilling stage following current regulations. Hot Chili remains fully committed to transparency and environmental responsibility in every stage of the project. ↩︎
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