Highlights
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Hot Chili adds former La Verde Copper Mine (La Verde) to its Costa Fuego coastal copper hub and confirms significant Cu-Au porphyry discovery.
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Costa Fuego Cu-Au Pre-feasibility Study (PFS): Final Stages Underway.
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Huasco Water – Water Supply PFS: Nearing Completion.
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31 December 2024 cash position A$19 million.
Hot Chili Confirms Major Cu-Au Porphyry Discovery at La Verde
On 11 February 2025, the Company announced new drill results from ten Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes, confirming La Verde as a significant copper-gold porphyry discovery in low elevation coastal Chile, with broad, consistently mineralized intersections extending over 300 m vertically, commencing at shallow depths.
Drilling confirms scale & growth potential*
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Wide, shallow mineralization – current discovery footprint extends 550 m by 400 m and remains open in all directions.
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Deeper potential remains untapped – Mineralization commences from shallow depths, extends to more than 300m below surface, and 8 of 12 drill holes reported to date end in mineralization at the limit of RC drilling depth capability.
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Gravel cover masking potentially much larger porphyry system – step-out drilling underway.
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Potential below the historical oxide copper open pit untested – drill testing yet to commence.
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Major discovery in its infancy – every drill hole has intersected porphyry-style, copper-gold mineralization (refer to Table 1 for details on significant intercepts).
As at 11 February 2025, Hot Chili had completed 19 RC drill holes (5,700 m) at La Verde, with assay results from 12 holes reported so far confirming a major copper-gold porphyry discovery* in Chile’s coastal range, with assays pending for seven additional RC holes, with geological logging confirming the presence of porphyry host-rock featuring porphyry-style A- and B-type veining in each of the pending drill holes.
Diamond drilling being planned, targeting potential for deeper, higher-grade zones intersected at depth and to test potential for +1km vertical depth extent, typical of other recent major porphyry discoveries, such as Hot Chili’s neighbouring Cortadera discovery.
*La Verde Mineral Exploration/Exploration Target Area: Exploration targets and/or Exploration zones and/or Exploration areas are speculative and there is no certainty that any future work or evaluation will lead to the definition of a mineral resource.
Adjacent Properties: The Company has no interest in, or rights to, any of the adjacent properties mentioned, and exploration results on adjacent properties are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Company’s properties. Any references to exploration results or mineral occurrences on adjacent properties are provided for information only and do not imply any certainty of achieving similar results on the Company’s properties.
¹ Previously released significant intercepts. See announcement dated 18th December 2024
Hot Chili adds La Verde to its Costa Fuego Coastal Copper Hub
In November 2024, Hot Chili executed an Option Agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the historical La Verde Copper Mine (La Verde), located 30 km south of the Company’s low-altitude, Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile (Figure 1).
La Verde encompasses 800m strike length of open pit workings, previously exploited by private interests for shallow copper-oxide mineralisation.
The La Verde Option Agreement, along with the recently executed Domeyko Option Agreement (see announcement dated 30th April 2024), for the first time consolidates and provides access to, a much larger potential porphyry copper deposit footprint measuring approximately 1.4km by 1.2km, based on geophysical surveys.
The material terms of the executed La Verde Option Agreement are as follows:
Hot Chili’s 100% owned subsidiary Sociedad Minera La Frontera SpA (“Frontera”) has executed a definitive option agreement with SLM Los Dominiceros una de la Sierra Los Chiqueros (“SLM Dominoceros”), the holder of a 100% interest in the concession comprising La Verde, for the grant to Frontera of an option to acquire a 100% interest in the La Verde concession (“La Verde Option Agreement”).
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Non-refundable cash payment of US$320,000 to SLM Dominoceros upon grant of the La Verde Option Agreement.
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Non-refundable cash payment of US$680,000 within 12 months from the grant of the La Verde Option Agreement.
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Non-refundable cash payment of US$1,000,000 within 24 months from the grant of the La Verde Option Agreement.
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Option may be exercised within 36 months of the date of grant of the La Verde Option for a final non-refundable cash payment of US$6,890,000.
Location of La Verde in relation to Costa Fuego, Coastal Range Chile
Costa Fuego Cu-Au Pre-feasibility Study (PFS): Final Stages Underway
During the period, Hot Chili completed key workstreams for Costa Fuego’s PFS and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), achieving milestones in metallurgy, mining, infrastructure, and environmental planning.
Metallurgy
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Finalized metallurgical testwork using Nova Mineralis Novaminore® technology, which leverages saline water and regulated irrigation cycles for enhanced chalcopyrite recovery from heap leaching of low grade mineralisation.
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Demonstrated reduced freshwater dependency, aligning with Costa Fuego’s planned seawater processing.
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Results informed predictive models for copper recovery and acid consumption, optimizing the mine schedule.
Mining
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Mine scheduling finalised using advanced software, incorporating feed from four open pits (Productora, Cortadera, Alice, and San Antonio) and an underground block cave at Cortadera.
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Multiple schedule iterations prioritized lower pre-start capital, faster payback, and optimized production rates.
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Initial capital and operating cost estimates were completed, with further optimization underway for inclusion in the PFS financial model.
Infrastructure
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Finalized site layout, including placement of heap/dump leach pads, waste dumps, stockpiles, mill site, tailings storage, and support buildings.
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Integrated surface water management systems, including diversion channels and dewatering infrastructure.
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Ongoing road optimization to align with the mining schedule.
Environment
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Advanced EIA preparation with additional hydrogeological and geotechnical investigations planned for 2025.
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Completed collection of 122 rock samples for acid rock drainage (ARD) and metal leaching (ML) tests to inform long-term infrastructure and mine closure planning.
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Conducted baseline environmental studies and integrated results into design decisions.
Huasco Water – Water Supply PFS: Nearing Completion
During the quarter, Hot Chili’s 80% owned subsidiary company Huasco Water continued to progress its PFS-level, water supply Business Case Study. Key deliverables finalised this quarter by international engineering firm ILF Group, include:
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Evaluation of marine works and the conveyance system to Costa Fuego and other potential third-party off-takers
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Completion of trade-off studies, including desalination plant (technology, location, and sizing), and pipeline configuration (routing and location of pumping stations) for potential third party off-takers. Note that Costa Fuego does not require desalinated water for processing.
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Optimisation of capital cost estimates for the initial stage of seawater supply to Costa Fuego
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Options for third party water supply, including desalinated water, continue to advance
Huasco Water controls the only active granted maritime water concession and most of the necessary permits to provide non-continental water supply to the Huasco Valley, following over a decade of permitting advancement for Hot Chili’s coastal range Costa Fuego copper-gold project.
Uniquely, Huasco Water represents an opportunity for Hot Chili to potentially outsource its water infrastructure capital requirements in addition to providing significant additional funding optionality for Costa Fuego.
Hot Chili is continuing its discussions with potential water off-takers in the Huasco Valley and is also engaging with major water infrastructure groups in relation to potential partnership opportunities for financing and development of Huasco Water’s future industrial water infrastructure.
Qualifying Statements
The Mineral Resource summary for the Costa Fuego Project is presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project Mineral Resource Estimate
The references to mineral resource estimates in this Half-yearly Report have been extracted from the estimate of mineral resources contained in the Company’s announcement to ASX dated 26 February 2024 “Hot Chili Indicated Resource at Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project Increases to 798 Mt”, a copy of which is available on the Company’s website at www.hotchili. net.au/investors/asx-announcements/. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this report about the Company’s mineral resources and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the mineral resource estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed.
The references to exploration results in this Annual Report have been extracted from the Company’s announcements to ASX dated 3 August 2023, “Hot Chili Commences 30,000m Drill Programme at Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project”, 28 August 2023, “Hot Chili Signs Binding Letter of Intent for Option to Acquire Cometa Project in Chile“, 15 November 2023 “Hot Chili Continues to Expand its Costa Fuego Coastal Copper Hub in Chile“, 23 January 2024, “Hot Chili Commences Next Phase of Resource Expansion Drilling Programme at Costa Fuego” and 30 April 2024 “Hot Chili Secures Large Addition to its Costa Fuego Coastal Copper Hub in Chile“, copies of which are available on the Company’s website at www.hotchili.net.au/investors/asx-announcements/. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this report about the Company’s exploration results.
Qualified Persons – NI 43-101
The information pertaining to the Mineral Resource Estimates included in this Report has been reviewed and approved by Ms. Elizabeth Haren (FAUSIMM (CP) & MAIG) of Haren Consulting Pty Ltd. All other scientific and technical information in this Report has been reviewed and approved by Mr Christian Easterday, MAIG, Hot Chili’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Each of Ms. Haren and Mr. Easterday are a qualified person within the meaning of NI 43-101.
Competent Person’s Statement – JORC
The information in this Report that relates to Mineral Resources for Cortadera, Productora (including Alice) and San Antonio which constitute the combined Costa Fuego Project is based on information compiled by Ms Elizabeth Haren, a Competent Person who is a Fellow and Chartered Professional of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Ms Haren is a full-time employee of Haren Consulting Pty Ltd and an independent consultant to Hot Chili. Ms Haren has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activities undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code of Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Ms Haren consents to the inclusion in the Report of the matters based on her information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results for the Cortadera projects is based upon information compiled by Mr Christian Easterday, the Managing Director and a full-time employee of Hot Chili Limited, whom 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 the report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
Production targets and forecast financial information contained in PEA
The information in this report relating to any production targets and forecast financial information derived from the production targets comprised in the statements in this report about the PEA for the Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project was previously reported in the Company’s announcement ‘Hot Chili Announces PEA for Costa Fuego’ (the “Technical Report”) released to ASX on 28 June 2023 and is available to view on the Company’s website at www.hotchili.net.au/investors/asx-announcements/.
For readers to fully understand the information in this Half Year Report, they should read the Technical Report (available on www.SEDAR.com or at www.hotchili.net.au ) in its entirety, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that relate to the information set out in this Half Year Report that qualifies the technical information contained in the Technical Report. The Technical Report is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The technical information in this Half Year Report is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Report.
The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement, and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the production targets and forecast financial information derived from the production targets contained in the original market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Disclaimer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Report.
Cautionary Note for U.S. Investors Concerning Mineral Resources
NI 43-101 is a rule of the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Technical disclosure contained in this report has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Classification System. These standards differ from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and resource information contained in this report may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by domestic United States companies subject to the SEC’s reporting and disclosure requirements.
All amounts in this report are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
Hot Chili Limited is a market awareness client of Capital 10X. For more information, including potential conflicts of interest please see our Content Disclaimer.
