Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) is confident that extensional drilling at the Cortadera copper-gold discovery is on-track to deliver a significant upgrade to the company’s combined Costa Fuego copper-gold resource in Chile.
Costa Fuego’s combined resource base sits at 724Mt grading 0.48% CuEq for 2.9Mt copper, 2.7Moz gold, 9.9Moz silver and 64kt molybdenum and is being expanded toward a Tier-1 copper resource (+5Mt copper).
New results for CRP0046D and confirmation of a further two wide visual intersections (assays pending for CRD0080 and CRP0047D) continue Cortadera’s run of strong resource extensions.
Hot Chili has now achieved eight significant extensional diamond drill intersections since Cortadera’s maiden resource was announced in October last year.
Two diamond drill rigs are operating on a 24-hr basis to complete a large resource expansion drill programme across Cortadera this year.
New results for drill hole CRP0046D have returned two significant intersections comprising 114m grading 0.5% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 248m depth and 185m grading 0.5% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 568m depth down-hole. The two higher grade intersections were contained within a broader drill result of 838m grading 0.3% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 140m depth
Managing Director, Christian Easterday, noted that importantly, the two higher grade intersections in CRP0046D were recorded in areas previously modelled as low grade within the main porphyry (Cuerpo 3) of the Cortadera resource.
Results are pending for two wide visual intersections of porphyry mineralisationrecorded in CRD0080 (between 550m and 1,100m depth) and CRP0047D (between 720m and 920m depth) across extensions to the high-grade core at Cortadera’s main porphyry.
Both zones of mineralised porphyry comprise visual estimates of 0.5% – 2.5% chalcopyrite contained as fine dissemination and in association with 2% to 8% B-vein abundance. Visual estimates of sulphide minerals are not an accurate representation of expected assay value and are provided for indicative purposes only.
Mr Easterday said these latest results add to the high-grade zone recently recorded in CRP0061D (318m grading 0.6% copper and 0.2g/t gold) and continue to confirm growth of higher grade, bulk tonnage, resources at Cortadera.
Meanwhile, first diamond drill testing by Hot Chili below Cuerpo 1 has commenced and diamond drilling is continuing across Cuerpo 3.
The company is also successfully its Reverse Circulation (RC) drill programme at Cortadera and Cortadera North.
A total of eight first-pass RC drill holes are complete across the large Cortadera North target, located 2km north of Cortadera. An additional three RC drill holes remain to be drilled and the Company expects to report results once all assays have been received and compiled.
Multielement pathfinder results will be key to determining potential areas for second-pass diamond drill hole tails and RC follow-up drilling at Cortadera North.
In addition, several shallow significant intersections have been recorded from preliminary RC drill holes across Cuerpo 1 at Cortadera, including 36m grading 0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold from surface (including 10m grading 0.7% copper and 0.2g/t gold from 24m) and 22m grading 0.5% copper and 0.1g/t gold from surface.
Further RC drilling is planned to extend areas of shallow higher-grade copper and gold at Cuerpo 1.
The company looks forward to providing further drill results and operational updates from its rapidly advancing Costa Fuego copper development in Chile.
