Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH, TSXV: HCH, OTCQX: HHLKF) has achieved a significant milestone with the official registration of its Costa Fuego copper-gold project and Huasco Water project for priority status by the Chilean Ministry of Economy. This development marks a major step for the Australian-based company as it advances its ambitions to become a leading copper producer in Chile’s coastal mining belt.
The Costa Fuego and Huasco Water projects are now listed with the Office for Sustainable Project Management (Oficina de Gestión de Proyectos Sustentables, GPS Division), a division of the Chilean Ministry of Economy. This registration, which Hot Chili applied for in September 2024, places both projects on Chile’s list of strategic investment initiatives, qualifying them for expedited administrative processing and oversight.
The priority status means the projects will benefit from centralised supervision and streamlined permitting, a critical advantage in a sector where regulatory delays can impact project timelines and costs. Hot Chili can now monitor all permitting processes through a single digital platform, including its second maritime concession application for Huasco Water and the upcoming Environmental Impact Assessment submissions for both projects.
Costa Fuego is positioned as one of the most significant new copper-gold developments globally. The project consolidates several large-scale deposits in Chile’s Atacama region and boasts a resource base exceeding one billion tonnes, with over 3.6 million tonnes of contained copper and 3 million ounces of gold. The company’s recent pre-feasibility study confirmed Costa Fuego as a multi-decade operation with top-tier production scale and low capital intensity, targeting initial production of over 100,000 tonnes of copper annually, with potential expansion to 150,000 tonnes per year.
The addition of the La Verde discovery, located just 30 kilometers south of the main Costa Fuego hub, further enhances the project’s scale. Early drilling at La Verde has returned long intercepts of high-grade copper-gold mineralization, suggesting the potential to significantly increase the company’s resource base and production profile.
The Huasco Water project is a cornerstone of Hot Chili’s infrastructure strategy. As one of only two companies in nearly two decades to secure maritime concessions for seawater extraction in Chile, Hot Chili is positioned to address a critical bottleneck for mining development in the region-water supply. The project’s first stage involves delivering seawater to Costa Fuego, while the second stage envisions a scalable desalination business capable of supplying up to 1,300 liters per second to other regional users, including major mining projects and local communities.
The water business is projected to have a net present value of $120 million for the initial seawater supply stage, and up to $1 billion for the full desalination network, each with a 19% internal rate of return over a 20-year period.
With priority status secured, Hot Chili is positioned to accelerate development at Costa Fuego and Huasco Water, centralizing permitting and leveraging its infrastructure to support both its own operations and potentially those of neighboring miners. The company is also advancing final drill results from its stage-1 program at La Verde, which could further boost its production outlook.
The registration of these projects underscores Hot Chili’s strategic approach to building a sustainable, large-scale mining hub on Chile’s coast, with integrated water and power solutions that could reshape the region’s mining landscape.
