Three months of results, where drilling focused on expanding any remaining open flanks on each of Cortadera’s three porphyries, are being analysed with more high-grade updates hotly anticipated.

Hot Chili’s Cortadera copper-gold discovery just continues to expand as new drilling results add fuel to the site’s open pit potential, this ahead of a global resource upgrade at the Costa Fuego coastal copper development in Chile.

These include the latest headline intersections of up to 156m grading 0.4% copper equivalent from surface – including 32m at 0.6% copper equivalent from 90m – confirming shallow resource growth at both the Cuerpo 1 and 2 zones, Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) says.

Cuerpo 2 has recorded some of the highest-grade copper results at Cortadera and the recent campaign to delineate the shallow mineralisation has proven successful.

Other notable hits include 80m grading 0.4% copper equivalent from 10m, including 12m at 0.6% copper equivalent from 44m and 72m grading 0.4% copper equivalent from surface, including 28m at 0.7% copper equivalent from surface.

PFS set for Q3

HCH managing director Christian Easterday, says 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year in the wake of consistently strong data and a very strong set of achievements over 2021.

“We have started the year with $34 million in treasury, 100 percent ownership of Cortadera, Glencore as a strategic investor and our company now consolidated and dual-listed in Canada,” Easterday  said.

A resource upgrade is expected this quarter, Easterday added, and a combined pre-feasibility study is set for the third quarter, which will position Costa Fuego as a production front-runner in the senior copper development space.

“We have kicked off our next phase of growth, with first drilling well underway across the first of several large exploration targets we will be testing this year, all capable of materially lifting the scale and economics of Costa Fuego even further.”

20,000m drilling program underway

Exploration drilling of 20,000m has now started across the Productora central porphyry target, adjacent to the Productora mineral resource where several large copper-gold targets are scheduled for testing this year.

Further assay results from Cortadera are being compiled ahead of a major resource upgrade in Q1, following more than 46,000m of additional drilling completed in 2021.

Three of eight first-pass RC drill holes are complete, and several diamond hole extensions are planned once RC drill results are received.

Additional targets located within the consolidated Costa Fuego landholdings (Productora, Santiago Z and El Fuego) are scheduled for drilling over the coming months.

Regulatory approval has been received for platform clearing at Santiago Z, which is planned to commence in the coming month.

Drilling is also planned across multiple extensional targets within the Cortadera landholding, outside of the Cortadera resource window.

 

 

 

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.