The Chilean Naval Authority has granted explorer and developer Hot Chili access to the physical land of its maritime concession for the extraction of seawater, 60 km from the proposed location of the company’s Costa Fuego’s central processing facilities.
Access to coastal land surrounding the concession ticks another government approval box in the company’s regulatory process to develop the copper mine.
Hot Chili was awarded its maritime concession in late 2020, which provided critical water extraction rights for Costa Fuego, securing sufficient water supply for a new large-scale conventional copper/gold operation.
Water extraction and land access rights for seawater supply and processing differentiate Costa Fuego as a new “green” copper development, ensuring no ground water will be used and no desalination plant is required.
Costa Fuego has an indicated resource of 391-million tons, grading 0.52% copper-equivalent, containing 1.7-million tons of copper, 1.5-million ounces of gold, 4.2-million ounces of silver and 37 00 t of molybdenum and an inferred resource of 334-million tons, grading 0.44% copper-equivalent, containing 1.2-million tons of copper, 1.2-million ounces of gold, 5.6-million ounces of silver and 27 000 t of molybdenum, at a cutoff grade of 0.25% copper-equivalent.