Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) announced that new soil geochemical results have confirmed the potential for a second large 4km by 2km copper porphyry system at the Santiago Z landholding, located 5km south of the Company’s Cortadera copper-gold discovery in Chile.
The company said that soil results from Santiago Z landholding confirm a stronger molybdenum (+10ppm) anomaly than originally recorded in historical XRF soil results.
HCH reported that Santiago Z is also enriched in copper, gold, and silver as well as displaying typical coincident copper porphyry metal zonation patterns. Hot Chili said that further work is planned to advance Santiago Z toward first drill testing later this year.
Hot Chili said that drilling operations at Cortadera are on-track to deliver a significant upgrade to the Company’s combined Costa Fuego copper-gold resource this year and results are imminent for CRP0046D. The company said that an update on drilling activities and new drill results is expected to be released next week.
Second large copper porphyry at Santiago Z
HCH announced that soil results and mapping have confirmed a large copper porphyry footprint measuring over 4km in length and 2km in width at Hot Chili’s recently consolidated Santiago Z landholding, located immediately south of Cortadera.
The company noted that evidence is building toward the potential for Cortadera to be part of a larger regional copper porphyry cluster on the Chilean coastal range.
HCH said that Santiago Z contains a large historical XRF soil molybdenum anomaly that is twice the size and four times the tenor of the soil molybdenum anomaly related to the Cortadera copper-gold porphyry discovery.
Soil assays
The company said that the soil assays from Santiago Z landholding confirm stronger molybdenum results than first outlined in earlier x-ray fluorescent (XRF) molybdenum results as well as enrichment in copper, gold, and silver (Cortadera metal signature).
The company said that other element zonation patterns provide confidence in the presence of a potentially large copper porphyry system at depth.
Mapping
Hot Chili said that mapping has recognised several areas of outcropping copper-bearing hydrothermal breccia at Santiago Z.
The company noted that the review of detailed historical mapping at Santiago Z has highlighted the presence of a corridor of porphyries (91-96Ma) with similar age to Cortadera, recently dated by Hot Chili as a Late Cretaceous porphyry (92Ma +/- 2Ma).
HCH said that further detailed mapping will focus across the corridor of hydrothermal brecciation and porphyries which have intruded the shallowly dipping local volcano-sedimentary sequence, similar to the Cortadera porphyry deposit setting.
Cortadera drill programme
The company said that it is advancing well with its 40,000m drill programme at Cortadera with three drill rigs in operation. HCH said that a significant upgrade to the Company’s combined Costa Fuego copper-gold resource (724Mt grading 0.48% Cu Eq for 2.9Mt copper, 2.7Moz gold, 9.9Moz silver, and 64kt molybdenum) is anticipated to be delivered this year.
HCH said that new drill results are being compiled for release, including CRP0046D which intersected two wide zones of well mineralised porphyry within a broad zone of mineralisation at Cortadera. The Company said that it expects to provide an update on drilling activities next week.
Updates and next steps
Hot Chili said that a review of historical geophysical datasets across Santiago Z is underway and the Company is planning a programme of extensional soil geochemistry and detailed mapping as its next steps in advance of first-pass drilling later this year.
The company reported that potential work at Cortadera may include further verification drilling, sampling, assaying, and QA/QC. Other further work may also include mapping, surface sampling, ground or airborne geophysics as well as infill drilling for resource classification upgrade purposes, and/ or exploratory and extensional drilling for resource additions.
HCH said that metallurgical testwork and scoping studies are ongoing and will be published as and when they are finalised,
The company said that potential work being planned at Santiago Z includes but is not limited to detailed litho-structural mapping, additional extensional and in-fill soil geochemistry, geophysical survey (IP/MT), and first-pass scout reverse circulation drilling.
*Image Source: Hot Chili Limited