Hot Chili details strong progress at copper-gold project

Hot Chili Limited's annual Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (MROR) statement, as of June 30, 2025, confirms no change to previously reported Mineral Resource Estimates (MRE) for the Costa Fuego Project. The maiden Ore Reserve Estimate (ORE) was announced on March 27, 2025, within the Costa Fuego Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS). The PFS outlines a top-quartile copper production capacity and bottom quartile capital intensity project, with a post-tax NPV of $1.20 billion and a life-of-mine free cash flow of $3.86 billion, with a payback period of 4.5 years.

Indicated Mineral Resources for the project are estimated at 2.9 million tonnes of copper, 2.6 million ounces of gold, 12.8 million ounces of silver, and 68 thousand tonnes of molybdenum. Probable Ore Reserves total 1.9 million tonnes of copper, 1.6 million ounces of gold, 8.0 million ounces of silver, and 49 thousand tonnes of molybdenum. Additionally, the company secured A$14.1 million in funding and registered the Costa Fuego and Huasco Water Projects for priority status with the Chilean Ministry of Economy.

The PFS Technical Report outlines the Costa Fuego Project as amenable to large-scale open pit and underground block cave extraction. The company also reported significant exploration success at the La Verde copper-gold porphyry discovery, which demonstrated resource growth potential for additional higher-grade open pit material.