ASX Announcement
Wednesday 22nd July 2020
Mining Commences at Productora
Four Months Ahead of Schedule
Highlights
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Hot Chili Limited (ASX code HCH) (“Hot Chili” or “Company”) is pleased to announce that lease mining at its Productora copper project in Chile has commenced well ahead of schedule.
The Company is very pleased with the speed in which its partner, Chilean government agency ENAMI, has moved to appoint an experienced local mining group and coordinate necessary approvals for mining at Productora.
In addition, the Company confirms that it is in discussion with ENAMI to expand the scale of the existing 120,000 tonne per annum Lease Mining and Processing Agreement at Productora.
Hot Chili’s Managing Director Christian Easterday said that first production marked an important milestone and the beginning of first revenue for the Company.
“We have been able to deliver a unique transition from explorer and project developer to producer without the requirement for capital or operating cost.
“Even more unique is to have achieved this in partnership with the government of Chile while safe-guarding jobs in the local community in which we operate.
“Higher copper and gold prices in combination with high grade ore production is set to deliver stronger than anticipated first revenue.
“This is welcome news ahead of our plans to shortly unveil a maiden resource estimate for our neighbouring world-class Cortadera copper-gold discovery.”
As outlined in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange on 2nd June 2020 “Mining and Processing Agreement Executed with ENAMI”, the formal agreement with ENAMI involves:
- Two-year concession for lease mining and processing approximately 120,000 tonnes per annum of ore through ENAMI’s Vallenar plant (located 15km north of Productora) over a two-year period with an option to extend the agreement by a further year
- Productora joint venture company (Hot Chili 80%) to be paid US$2 per tonne ore processed and a 10% royalty for the sale value of extracted minerals
Lease mining will benefit from two existing underground mines at Productora (Santa Innes and Productora), with depletion of Hot Chili’s existing 167M tonne JORC compliant open pit reserve not considered material.
Given current spot prices of approximately US$2.95/lb copper and US$1,840/oz gold, projected annual revenue to Hot Chili from the ENAMI agreement at Productora is expected to be approximately A$1.4 million to $1.8 million per annum – based on 120,000 tonnes per annum and targeted annual head grade of 1.4% copper and 0.3g/t gold.
The Company will also gain important mining and processing reconciliation data for high grade ore at Productora.
Hot Chili is focussed on rapidly progressing the growth of its Cortadera discovery, located 14km from Productora, where expansion diamond drilling has recently re-commenced. The Cortadera discovery is still in Its infancy with recent drilling indicating that the forthcoming maiden resource estimate will continue to grow.
The Company looks forward to providing further updates over the coming weeks in relation to drilling results and key growth catalysts.
For more information please contact:
Christian Easterday (Managing Director) : +61 8 9315 9009
Email: christian@hotchili.net.au
or visit Hot Chili’s website at www.hotchili.net.au
Qualifying Statements
JORC Compliant Ore Reserve Statement
Productora Open Pit Probable Ore Reser›ve Statement – Reported 2nd March 2016
Note 1: Figures in the above table are rounded, reported to two significant figures, and classified in accordance with the Australian JORC Code 2012 guidance on Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve reporting. Note 2: Price assumptions: Cu price – US$3.00/lb; Au price US$1200/oz; Mo price US$14.00/lb. Note 3: Mill average recovery for fresh Cu – 89%, Au – 52%, Mo – 53%. Mill average recovery for transitional; Cu 70%, Au – 50%, Mo – 46%. Heap Leach average recovery for oxide; Cu – 54%. Note 4: Payability factors for metal contained in concentrate: Cu – 96%; Au – 90%; Mo – 98%. Payability factor for Cu cathode – 100%.
JORC Compliant Mineral Resource Statements
Productora Higher Grade Mineral Resource Statement, Reported 2nd March 2016
Reported at or above 0.25 % Cu. Figures in the above table are rounded, reported to two significant figures, and classified in accordance with the Australian JORC Code 2012 guidance on Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve reporting. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred.
Reported at or above 0.1% Cu and below 0.25 % Cu. Figures in the above table are rounded, reported to two significant figures, and classified in accordance with the Australian JORC Code 2012 guidance on Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve reporting. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred.
Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Confirmation
The information in this Announcement that relates to Mineral Resources, Ore Reserve estimates and Production Targets on the Productora copper project was previously reported in the ASX announcement “Hot Chili Delivers PFS and Near Doubles Reserves at Productora” dated 2nd March 2016, a copy of which is available on the ASX website at www.asx.com.au and the Company’s website at www.hotchili.net.au. The company confirms that it is not aware of any new formation or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in that announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement
Competent Person’s Statement- Exploration Results
Exploration information in this Announcement is based upon work compiled by Mr Christian Easterday, the Managing Director and a full-time employee of Hot Chili Limited whom is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). Mr Easterday has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a ‘Competent Person’ as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’ (JORC Code). Mr Easterday consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
Competent Person’s Statement– Mineral Resources
The information in this Announcement that relates to the Productora Project Mineral Resources, is based on information compiled by Mr J Lachlan Macdonald and Mr N Ingvar Kirchner. Mr Macdonald is employed by AMC Consultants (AMC), and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr Kirchner is employed by AMC Consultants (AMC). AMC has been engaged on a fee for service basis to provide independent technical advice and final audit for the Productora Project Mineral Resource estimates. Mr Kirchner is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). Both Mr Macdonald and Mr Kirchner have sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’ (the JORC Code 2012).
Competent Person’s Statement– Ore Reserves
The information in this Announcement that relates to Productora Project Ore Reserves, is based on information compiled by Mr Carlos Guzmán, Mr Boris Caro, Mr Leon Lorenzen and Mr Grant King. Mr Guzmán is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission (RM- a ‘Recognised Professional Organisation’ within the meaning of the JORC Code 2012) and a full time employee of NCL Ingeniería y Construcción SpA (NCL). Mr Caro is a former employee of Hot Chili Ltd, now working in a consulting capacity for the Company, and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission. Mr Lorenzen is employed by Mintrex Pty Ltd and is a Chartered Professional Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia, and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr King is employed by AMEC Foster Wheeler (AMEC FW) and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). NCL, Mintrex and AMEC FW have been engaged on a fee for service basis to provide independent technical advice and final audit for the Productora Project Ore Reserve estimate. Mr. Guzmán, Mr Caro,Mr Lorenzen and Mr King have sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’.
Forward Looking Statements
This Announcement is provided on the basis that neither the Company nor its representatives make any warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy, reliability, relevance or completeness of the material contained in the Announcement and nothing contained in the Announcement is, or may be relied upon as a promise, representation or warranty, whether as to the past or the future. The Company hereby excludes all warranties that can be excluded by law. The Announcement contains material which is predictive in nature and may be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known and unknown risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from results ultimately achieved.
The Announcement contains “forward-looking statements”. All statements other than those of historical facts included in the Announcement are forward-looking statements including estimates of Mineral Resources. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, copper, gold and other metals price volatility, currency fluctuations, increased production costs and variances in ore grade recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans, as well as political and operational risks and governmental regulation and judicial outcomes. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any “forward-looking statement” to reflect events or circumstances after the date of the Announcement, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. All persons should consider seeking appropriate professional advice in reviewing the Announcement and all other information with respect to the Company and evaluating the business, financial performance and operations of the Company. Neither the provision of the Announcement nor any information contained in the Announcement or subsequently communicated to any person in connection with the Announcement is, or should be taken as, constituting the giving of investment advice to any person