Hot Chili delivers fiery results as focus turns to satellite deposits

Hot Chili’s drill focus may have switched to other targets but the final development study drill hole at Cortadera has not disappointed, delivering a better than expected result.

Diamond hole CORMET004 returned a 484m intersection grading 0.5% copper equivalent (0.4% copper and 0.1 grams per tonne gold) from a down-hole depth of 548m that includes higher grade zones of 56m at 1% copper equivalent from 644m and 206m at 0.l7% copper equivalent from 800m.

The last of six development study holes drilled as part of a hydrological and geotechnical testwork program also confirmed further down-plunge extensions of the high grade core at the main Cuerpo-3 porphyry, with the intersection of a 44m zone grading 1% copper equivalent from 878m outside of the current high-grade resource domain.

Results from the program will be included in the next resource upgrade, expected in late 2022.

Metallurgical testwork yields rewards

And if this stellar result isn’t enough to whet your appetite, Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) has more up its sleeves.

Four diamond holes completed for metallurgical testwork across the Productora resource – three in the Productora central pit area and one into the Alice satellite pit area) – have also returned some impressive results.

While only the intervals to be used in the metallurgical testwork program were assayed, every hole returned good intersections such as 45m grading 1.2% copper equivalent from 280nm including 8m at 3.6% copper equivalent in MET027, and 39m at 1.1% copper equivalent from 46m including 12m at 1.5% copper equivalent in MET028 (Alice).

The company noted that the intersection in MET028 is particularly interesting as it is located near-surface in the higher-grade Alice porphyry satellite pit.

Not bad for drill holes designed to confirm the processing flowsheet with a focus on material that will be extracted in the first three years of production at Productora.

Development drilling wrapped up

These results come as the company slows down its tempo with just one drill rig operating on a single shift each day from the previous three rigs following the completion of development drilling and a focus on the upcoming resource upgrade and pre-feasibility study for the broader Costa Fuego project.

Results are currently pending for drilling undertaken across the high-grade San Antonio and Valentina satellite deposits.

Hot Chili has drilled 22 holes to date at Valentina with another eight holes still to be drilled while 12 holes have been completed with another four holes to be drilled at San Antonio.

San Antonio already hosts a resource of 4.2Mt grading 1.2% copper equivalent (1.1% copper and 2.1g/t silver), though this is a (admittedly higher quality) drop in the ocean that’s the broader Costa Fuego resource of 725Mt at 0.47% copper equivalent.

The new holes at San Antonio are designed to upgrade the categorisation of the resource from Inferred to Indicated, as well as testing for down-plunge mineralisation extensions.

Both deposits will be included in the next resource upgrade and subsequent PFS open pit mine schedule, which is expected in the first quarter of 2023.

Maiden drilling is also poised to begin on the large-scale Santiago Z prospect target in early August.

This article was developed in collaboration with Hot Chili, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.