Hot Chili (HCH) Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum 2026 summary

Key project developments and discoveries

• Significant progress at the Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project, including a major new porphyry discovery at La Verde, with rapid resource growth and high-grade drill results reported through 2026.

• Over 29,000m of drilling at La Verde has defined a 1,000m x 800m x 800m mineralised footprint, open in all directions, with multiple intercepts above 0.7% CuEq.

• Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for La Verde is expected later in 2026, with integration into the Costa Fuego production hub and a revised PFS planned.

• Costa Fuego’s PFS outlines a 20-year mine life, 116 ktpa CuEq production for the first 14 years, and first production targeted for 2031.

• Project benefits from low elevation, proximity to infrastructure, and reduced permitting timelines, supporting lower capital intensity and early development.

Financial and market positioning

• Costa Fuego’s PFS delivers a post-tax NPV8% of US$1.2B, IRR of 19%, and a payback period of 4.5 years at US$4.30/lb copper price.

• Project demonstrates strong leverage to copper price, with every US$0.10/lb increase in copper price adding ~US$100M to NPV8%.

• Costa Fuego ranks among the top five independent copper developers globally by life-of-mine annual CuEq production, with bottom quartile capital intensity and C1 cash costs.

• Market valuation and P/NAV multiples for copper developers have increased since mid-2025, but Costa Fuego trades below peer group mean despite near-term production scale.

• Strategic water assets (Huasco Water) add value, with a staged, fully permitted seawater supply business showing a post-tax NPV8% of up to US$977M for regional expansion.

Resource and reserve updates

• Costa Fuego’s total indicated and inferred resources stand at 798 Mt @ 0.45% CuEq (indicated) and 203 Mt @ 0.31% CuEq (inferred), with reserves of 502 Mt @ 0.46% CuEq.

• Metallurgical testwork confirms high recoveries and clean copper-gold concentrate with low deleterious elements.

• Project benchmarking shows Costa Fuego’s resource size and grade are competitive among the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects not controlled by major miners.