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Hot Chili reports strong drill results at Costa Fuego, Chile
VANCOUVER – Hot Chili Ltd. [HCH-TSXV, ASX; HHLKF-OTCQX] reported further strong results from drilling across the company’s Costa Fuego coastal range…
VANCOUVER – Hot Chili Ltd. [HCH-TSXV, ASX; HHLKF-OTCQX] reported further strong results from drilling across the company’s Costa Fuego coastal range copper-gold project in Chile.
Assays from metallurgical testwork diamond drillholes continued to exceed expectations, with near-surface, high-grade intersections returned at the Productora and Alice porphyry deposits.
This is in addition to two new significant intersections at the Valentina high-grade satellite, which represents a potential front-end, open pit ore source for the combined Costa Fuego coastal copper super-hub.
First-ever drill results from the large-scale Santiago Z porphyry target returned several wide silver and molybdenum intersections from shallow depths; however, no significant copper-gold intersections were encountered. The results of this program are being reviewed and a follow-up program is being planned. Only 35% of the target area at Santiago Z has been drill tested.
Further drill results are expected in the coming weeks and the company looks forward to providing an update on resource upgrade and Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) work streams shortly.
Four diamond drill holes completed for metallurgical testwork across the Productora resource in Q2 this year have returned further wide zones of copper, following analysis of remaining unsampled core.
Results for the first two holes of the program (Productora central pit area and Alice satellite pit area) have delivered better than expected copper grades, including 244 metres grading 0.8% CuEq (copper equivalent) (0.7% Cu & 0.2g/t Au) from 23 metres depth (MET025 – Productora), including 71 metres grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.2g/t Au)
MET028 – Alice porphyry returned 152 metres grading 0.6% CuEq (0.6% Cu & 0.1g/t Au) from 42 metres depth, including 39 metres grading 1.1% CuEq (1.0% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) and 23 metres grading 0.9% CuEq (0.8% Cu) from 226 metres to end of hole.
New results have added further high grade growth ahead of a planned resource upgrade for Costa Fuego. Productora and Alice have continued to demonstrate grade upside with in-fill drilling, providing positive reconciliation ahead of any future mining activities.
Entire hole results from the remaining two diamond holes at Productora (MET026 and MET027) are pending.
Valentina and neighbouring San Antonio satellite copper deposit (Inferred resource of 4.2Mt grading 1.2% CuEq (1.1% Cu, 2.1 g/t Ag) for 48kt Cu and 287 koz Ag, reported March 2022) are located immediately to the east of Cortadera.
Results from an expanded drill program at Valentina have returned additional intersections of shallow copper sulphide and oxide mineralization.
Highlights include 3 metres grading 1.4% CuEq (1.3% Cu, 3.0 g/t Ag) from 46 metres downhole (VAP0027). VAP0029 returned 6 metres grading 1.3% CuEq (1.3% Cu) from 10 metres downhole and 2 metres grading 1.1% CuEq (1.1% Cu) from 23 metres.
Of the four holes in the expanded program, two recorded significant intersections, one intersected historic underground workings and one did not intersect the mineralized trend.
High-grade copper-silver mineralization at Valentina is currently defined over 300 metres and is open along strike and at depth.
A regulatory clearing application has been submitted to facilitate follow-up drilling at Valentina, which will expand resource drill definition across this potential high-impact future addition to Costa Fuego.
Five deep Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes for 2,146 metres were completed across the northern extent of the large-scale Santiago-Z porphyry target, lying approximately 5km south of the Cortadera resource.
First-ever drilling on the 4km long by 2km wide porphyry footprint has not intersected significant widths of copper mineralization. However, drilling has recorded wide zones of silver mineralization indicating a potential distal response to copper porphyry mineralization.
Results for four of the five drill holes completed have been returned (results pending for SZP0005). Interesting drill results from Santiago Z so far include 30 metres of 4.5 g/t silver and 69 ppm molybdenum (Mo) from surface (SZP0004) and 6 metres of 0.1% Cu, 2.5 g/t Ag, 37 ppm Mo from 178 metres.
SZP0003 returned 38 metres of 2.9 g/t Ag, 20 ppm Mo from surface, including 14 metres of 4.9 g/t Ag and 9 ppm Mo.
An updated geological model is being created using RC chip logging and downhole multi-element geochemistry.
Hot Chili’s flagship project, Costa Fuego, is the consolidation into a hub of the Cortadera porphyry copper-gold discovery and the Productora copper-gold deposit, set 14 km apart in an excellent location – low altitude, coastal range of Chile, infrastructure rich, low capital intensity.
Costa Fuego has Indicated Resources of 725Mt grading 0.47% CuEq containing 2.8 Mt Cu, 2.6 Moz Au, 10.4 Moz Ag, and 67 kt Mo and Inferred Resources of 202 Mt grading 0.36% CuEq containing 0.6Mt Cu, 0.4 Moz Au, 2.0 Moz Ag and 13 kt Mo, at a cut-off grade of +0.21% CuEq for open pit and +0.30% CuEq for underground.
