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Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) (TSXV: HCH) (OTCQX: HHLKF) (“Hot Chili” or “Company”) is pleased to announce another set of strong results from development study drilling across the Company’s Costa Fuego costal range copper-gold project in Chile.
MET0027 (286.4m depth). Tourmaline breccia host rock at Productora. 5.4% Cu, 1.2g/t Au, 3.5g/t Ag, 594ppm Mo
Highlights
- Assay results returned from Development Study drillholes for the Costa Fuego senior copper development in Chile confirm further high-grade growth ahead of next resource upgrade
- Standout copper (Cu) and gold (Au) drill results include:
- 484m grading 0.5% CuEq* (0.4% Cu, 0.1g/t Au from 548m depth down-hole (Cortadera) including 56m grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.3g/t Au) from 644m depth, and including 206m grading 0.7% CuEq (0.5% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 800m depth
- 45m grading 1.2% CuEq (1.0% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 280m downhole (Productora) including 8m grading 3.6% CuEq (3.0% Cu, 0.8g/t Au)
- 39m1 grading 1.1% CuEq (1.0% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 36m downhole (Productora) including 12m grading 1.5% CuEq (1.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au)
- Thirty-four drill holes complete and twelve drill holes remaining to drill at the high-grade San Antonio and Valentina copper deposits, results pending
- First drilling to commence at the large-scale Santiago Z porphyry target in early August
- Approximately A$22 million in cash, one drill rig in operation and fully funded into late 2023 following cost rationalisation initiatives
*Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the drill holes were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% × Cu price 1% per tonne × Cu_recovery) + (Mo ppm × Mo price per g/t × Mo_recovery) + (Au ppm × Au price per g/t × Au_recovery) + (Ag ppm × Ag price per g/t × Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. Average fresh rock metallurgical recoveries used for Cortadera were Cu=83%, Au=56%, Mo=82%, and Ag=37%. Average fresh rock metallurgical recoveries used for Productora/Alice were Cu=89%, Au=58%, Mo=60%, and Ag=0%. 1including 3m unsampled outside of metallurgical test area
Drilling has returned higher grade results than expected at both the Cortadera and Productora deposits, as well as providing final inputs for metallurgical and geotechnical testwork programmes.
These new results add to a series of recent outstanding drill intersections, which are expected to have a positive impact on the forthcoming resource upgrade and Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) for Costa Fuego.
Development study drilling is complete and the Company has reduced its drilling operations from three drill rigs (5 shifts of drilling per day) to one drill rig (1 shift of drilling per day) along with implementing other cost rationalisation initiatives.
The Company looks forward to its next set of results from drilling undertaken across its high grade satellite deposits (San Antonio and Valentina) as well as first-ever drilling set to commence across the large-scale Santiago Z porphyry target in early August.
With treasury of approximately A$22 million, Hot Chili is fully funded into late 2023. The Company remains well positioned to deliver Costa Fuego as one of the nearest-term, meaningful new copper mines in the world.
Assays Returned for Final Cortadera Development Study Drillhole
Diamond drillhole CORMET004 returned 484m grading 0.5% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 548m depth, including 56m grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.3g/t Au) from 644m depth, and including 206m grading 0.7% CuEq (0.5% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 800m depth.
The new drill intersection in COREMET004 confirms further down plunge extensions of the high grade core to the main porphyry (Cuerpo 3), with 44m grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.3g/t Au) from 878m depth recorded outside of the current high grade (+0.6% Cu) resource domain.
CORMET004 represents the last of six Development Study drillholes completed at Cortadera in Q1 and Q2 2022 as part of a hydrological and geotechnical testwork program.
Assay results for this program have been exceptional (see announcements dated 4th April 2022, 29th April 2022 and 20th May 2022), confirming further growth of the high-grade resources, notably:
- 552m grading 0.6% CuEq from 276m depth, including 248m at 0.8% CuEq (CORMET003)
- 876m grading 0.5% CuEq from 246m depth, including 206m grading 0.9% CuEq (CORMET006)
- 658m grading 0.6% CuEq from 232m depth, including 134m grading 0.8% CuEq and including 130m grading 0.9% CuEq (CORMET005)
Drill results from the Development Study program will be included in the next Mineral Resource upgrade for Costa Fuego, expected in late 2022.
Assay Results for Productora Metallurgical Drilling Programme
Four diamond drillholes have been completed for metallurgical testwork across the Productora resource (three into the Productora central pit area and one into the Alice satellite pit area).
The goal of this testwork is to confirm the processing flowsheet (based on work completed since the 2016 Productora PFS), with a particular focus on material that will be extracted in the first three years of production at Productora.
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This article includes content from Hot Chili Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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