Hot Chili Ltd (ASX:HCH) has intersected mineralisation which represents a significant copper-gold discovery proximal to the central hub of its Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile.
The company has been progressing a 4,000 metre drilling program at the La Verde porphyry copper-gold target, and results from the first two holes have shown an intersection of 202 metres at 0.6% copper and 0.3 grams per tonne (g/t) from 70 metres depth.
This was found within a broader intersection measuring 308 metres, with a copper grade of 0.5%, in addition to gold grading 0.3g/t from 46 metres depth to end of hole.
La Verde’s overall parameters are impressive, with a porphyry footprint measuring approximately 850 metres by 700 metres, making it comparable to Hot Chili’s higher-grade Cortadera Cuerpo 3 copper-gold porphyry, which is found 30 kilometres to the north.
Historically, an open pit mine on the site was previously exploited by private interests for shallow porphyry copper-style oxide mineralisation, although drill testing at depth and outside the central lease was limited.
Hot Chili has completed 12 reverse circulation (RC) holes – for a total of 3,150 metres – at La Verde, with the first two drilled to validate historic intercepts, and test the interpreted northern extension of the porphyry from the previously exploited open pit.
The company is progressing a prefeasibility study (PFS) at Costa Fuego – located in Chile’s Atacama region – set for completion in the first quarter of 2025.
Hot Chili shares rose on the news, and at 10:30 AEDT, they were trading at 72 cents – an increase of 5.88% since the market opened.
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