Halo Minerals (AIM:HALO) is focusing on optimising the existing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the Playa Verde Project in Chile, following the completion of various heavy-time-delay activities.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, CEO Andrew Dennan says the company is at an “exciting stage”, following the completion of a Prefeasibility Study and DFS, as well as the establishment of JORC resources and reserves.
“The mining method and processing techniques won’t change, but we think there is some efficiency and some optimisation to be done,” Dennan tells this news service.
“The most exciting thing for us is obviously completing that optimised DFS and reframing it as a Bankable Feasibility Study, which we hope to be able to achieve by Q3 2026, then advance to be able to take a financial investment decision in Q4.”
Following these activities, Halo Minerals hopes to begin the construction phase of the project at the beginning of 2027.
As previously reported, Playa Verde has a net present value of US$154.1 million and a post-tax internal rate of return of 50.9%, based on the ore reserves only.
Additional resources
Playa Verde’s initial mineable resources and reserves total 34.2 million tonnes to produce 60,329 tonnes of refined copper. The mine plan is based on dredging and processing five million tonnes annually, with an overall metallurgical recovery of 72%.
However, Dennan explains that on the project’s beach there is an additional 20 million tonnes of resource in the western berm and on the shoreline area.
“So, that’s obviously very synergistic minerals for us to process because it’s right there next to the plant,” he says.
Playa Verde’s resource originated from two mines located about 120km away from where the resource sits today.
Dennan says around 250 million tonnes of tailings was dumped in a riverbed, which has migrated 120km downstream to form what is now Playa Verde and the Green Beach.
“We have this, effectively, artificial beach which has 53 million tonnes of resource at 0.24% copper, which is about 126,000 tonnes of contained metal,” the CEO says.
The beach area has not been drilled extensively, but Dennan notes that the company has “high confidence” in what is contained there.
He also adds that there is potentially up to another 100 million tonnes of the same material underwater in the Bay area.
“That again is highly synergistic and incrementally valuable minerals for us to secure and process.”
Halo Minerals has purposely chosen not to begin the offshore application process as of yet, due to not wanting to delay the fact that it has an economic project on the beach as well.
Chilean ambitions
Halo Minerals’ ambition is to become a preeminent copper tailings and reprocessing company in Chile.
Copper contributes about 13.6% to Chile’s gross domestic product and 58% of exports. The country produces roughly 24% of global copper and is forecast to reach 27% by 2034, as reported by the African Development Bank Group.
According to Trading Economics, copper production in Chile averaged 465,760 tonnes from 2011 until 2026, reaching an all-time high of 567,130 tonnes in December 2024.
Chile’s copper production is projected to be around 530,000 tonnes in 2027, according to Trading Economics’ econometric models.
“Chile is the premier destination to execute the strategy just because it is the world’s largest copper producer,” Dennan says.
“It’s got such a steep history and there isn’t really a preeminent sort of go-to tailings reprocessing company operating there.”
Dennan adds that Chile also has a well-established legal framework and mine permitting and environmental impact assessment permitting system.
“As an international company, they are all the right things that you want to be hearing,” he explains.
“Having said that, we are looking actively in Peru — which also has a large number of tailings opportunities both in the copper and precious metals space.”
Dennan adds that Argentina and Brazil also represent potential opportunities for Halo Minerals when it comes to reprocessing.
In addition, the company is looking at one or two European Union (EU) jurisdictions in terms of metal-rich tailings resources opportunities.
Halo Minerals is focused on producing key strategic and battery metals through the reprocessing of low-risk, metal-rich, surface-accumulated legacy mining waste projects, with a particular focus on copper.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Halo Minerals
