Next Phase of Copper-Gold Growth Begins At Cortadera

CHILE - Hot Chili Limited reported that drilling has commenced across the recently secured western extension to the Cortadera copper-gold discovery, the centerpiece of the One diamond drill rig (operating on a double-shift basis) and one reverse circulation drill rig (operating on a single-shift basis) are in operation, testing the potential for Cortadera to host a much larger copper porphyry cluster than currently defined. The initial program, comprising approximately 10,000m of drilling, will test four porphyry targets (including three targets on the recently optioned AMSA landholding) added to Cortadera through successful consolidation efforts announced in late November 2022.

Importantly, Hot Chili has more than doubled the prospective strike length of the discovery from 2.3km to 5.2km, increasing the near term, material resource growth potential for Hot Chili.

Cortadera’s current Indicated resource of 471Mt grading 0.46% CuEq for 1.7Mt copper and 1.8Moz gold and Inferred resource of 108Mt grading 0.35% CuEq for an additional 0.3Mt copper and 0.3Moz gold (ASX announcement dated 31st March 2022) is contained within three porphyry centers.

Both drill rigs are currently drilling Cortadera’s potential fourth porphyry (Cuerpo 4), where previous historical drilling had intersected encouraging shallow copper-gold porphyry mineralization, including COR-03 which recorded 128m grading 0.5% CuEq (0.4% Cu & 0.1g/t Au) from 28m downhole depth, including 16m grading 1.3% CuEq (1% Cu & 0.5g/t Au) from 28m.

The Company is well funded to complete its planned drilling and deliver its next set of key growth and development milestones for Costa Fuego this year, including: a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in H1; and a resource upgrade in H2.

This next growth phase provides an opportunity to optimize and potentially up-scale Costa Fuego’s future annual metal production rates, currently being studied at up to 100kt Cu and up to 70koz Au for a +20-year life of mine.

The Company plans to deliver Costa Fuego’s Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) in H1 2024 and remains on-track as one of only a few near-term production projects in the world capable of producing +100 ktpa Cu in the next five years, while also boasting low capital intensity and strong ESG credentials.

The Directors look forward to an exciting period of news flow and results from drilling activities at Cortadera this year.