ASX-listed copper developer, Hot Chili has secured funding to the tune of C$30 million from major institutional investors and existing shareholders. The funds will underwrite 18-months of drilling and development works at its multi-deposit Costa Fuego copper-gold porphyry project in Chile. The company is also preparing to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which will then see its shares traded in both Australia and Canada.
Costa Fuego takes in a whopping 724 million tonne resource base grading 0.48 per cent copper equivalent from two main deposits – Cortadera and Productura.
Hot Chili has so far drilled out a 451 million tonne resource at Cortadera grading 0.46 per cent copper equivalent in the indicated and inferred categories. The deposit contains more than 1.6 million tonnes of copper, about 1.9 million ounces of gold, nearly 10 million ounces of silver and some 27,000 tonnes of molybdenum.
The company believes Cortadera is one of only two major copper discoveries made in the world since 2016.
Some 14 kilometres away, a 273 million tonnes resource going 0.52 per cent copper equivalent has also been defined at Productora.
Hot Chili says Costa Fuego is the only major copper-gold porphyry development project in the Americas that is not listed in North America.
The company aims to list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange by the end of the year, whilst also remaining listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Management says several international and North American institutional investors and some of Hot Chili’s existing shareholders have committed to the C$30m underwritten placement, including global mining heavyweight Glencore.
Glencore will retain its 9.99 per cent shareholding in Hot Chili following the capital raising.
The next development works will be focused on upgrading the Cortadera resource to a higher confidence category and advancing a preliminary feasibility study on the broader Costa Fuego project. The company will also seek to test multiple high-priority exploration targets identified at the tenure.
Hot Chili’s Managing Director, Christian Easterday said: “We hope to add a presence in North American markets and continue to focus on delivering Costa Fuego into production against a backdrop of strengthening copper price and limited new large copper mines.
Costa Fuego is a stand-out major copper development in a short field of players globally.”
Hot Chili has three rigs smashing out the metres at Costa Fuego with the goal of growing the 451 million tonne resource defined at Cortadera.
The 40,000 metre drilling campaign has recently returned some exceptional intercepts including 610 metres grading 0.5 per cent copper equivalent, 486m going 0.6 per cent copper equivalent and 362m at 0.6 per cent copper equivalent.
Assay results from more than 6,000m of drilling remain pending.
The company also plans to add a fourth rig to the drilling blitz and test several large-scale targets at Productora and the nearby Santiago Z prospect.
With the price of copper trading near historical highs at about US$9,500 per tonne, Hot Chili has showed a canny sense of timing with its latest development. With a cool C$30m in the kitty and a host of new major investors on its share registry, it looks to have all the tools to take its Chilean venture to the next level.
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By Matt Birney
