Hot Chili Limited
Hot Chili's 100%-owned Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile's coastal Atacama region has a completed Pre-Feasibility Study (US$1.2 billion after-tax NPV8%, 19% IRR) and maiden mineral reserve, with a Definitive Feasibility Study now under way -- backed by an A$40 million capital raise completed in 2026 -- targeting first production before the end of the decade.
Lifecycle Milestones
Not in place: mill, tailings facility, grid power.
Jurisdiction (40%)7/10
Chile is one of Latin America's most stable, mining-friendly jurisdictions with a mature mining code, though it still carries incremental permitting and social-license risk relative to Canada/US/Australia; Costa Fuego's coastal location mitigates some infrastructure risk.
Infrastructure (40%)2.9/10
No confirmed mill, confirmed road access, no confirmed grid power, and no confirmed tailings facility at Costa Fuego Project, Atacama Region, Chile.
Nearby producing mine (20%)Not yet researched
No producing mine within 50 km in our reference list (nearest listed: Veladero (Barrick Mining Corporation / Shandong Gold), 113 km). That list doesn't cover every mining district yet, so a longer distance isn't scored as remote.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not scored
No producer holds a disclosed stake on file (holder register researched) See holders
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:2.9/10
Nearest producing mine: Veladero (Barrick Mining Corporation / Shandong Gold), 113 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 46% here - Lifecycle stageSub-score:8/10
Stage: Pre-Feasibility Study
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 31% here - JurisdictionSub-score:7/10
Chile: jurisdiction score 7/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:8/10
Primary commodity: Copper
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 9% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hot Chili Limited, and a founding Director; has led the company since its ASX listing in 2010. Geologist with more than 17 years of experience in mineral exploration and mining, having held senior leadership and exploration management roles at Placer Dome, Hill 50 Gold and Harmony Gold. Holds an honours degree in geology from the University of Western Australia, a master's in Mineral Economics from Curtin University of Technology, and an MBA from Curtin's Graduate School of Business.
Non-Executive Chair of Hot Chili Limited, appointed May 2025. International mining professional with more than 32 years' experience across Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. Progressed through geology ranks to Geology Manager before 15 years in project development and general operations management, including five years as a C-level executive. Most recently Executive Vice President - Australasia at Gold Fields, managing regional operations producing more than 1 million ounces of gold annually and previously General Manager of the Granny Smith Mine. Holds a Master of Science (Geology) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Chief Financial Officer of AuMEGA Metals Ltd.; also Chief Financial Officer of Hot Chili Limited. Chartered Accountant with 16+ years' experience, including 10 years in audit at Grant Thornton and a role as Finance Director at Automic Group; expertise in strategy, compliance, governance, and risk management.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Counsel and Country Manager (Chile) of Hot Chili Limited. Leads Chilean legal, permitting and water-infrastructure strategy for the Costa Fuego copper-gold project, including the company's desalinated-water plans for the Huasco valley. Holds graduate degrees from University College London and the University of Chile.
Chief Operating Officer of Hot Chili Limited. Extensive mining-engineering and operational-leadership background, including as Principal Mining Engineer at Wood plc, Specialist Mining Engineer at Coffey Mining, and Senior Mining Engineer at RPM Global.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
Glencore is Hot Chili's largest shareholder at roughly 7.5-10%, on the register since 2021, with board representation rights, a seat on the Costa Fuego technical steering committee and an offtake agreement covering 60% of the project's future copper concentrate for eight years. Glencore was among the three largest shareholders that took part in the A$40M placement Hot Chili closed in February 2026. No discretionary resource-specialist fund is visible on the register.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
Hot Chili owns 100% of the Costa Fuego copper-gold project in the coastal Atacama region of Chile, planned as an open-pit and underground operation across the Cortadera, Productora, Alice and San Antonio deposits. Costa Fuego has a pre-feasibility study completed in March 2025, based on US$4.30/lb copper and US$2,280/oz gold, and a maiden mineral reserve, and a definitive feasibility study is under way. About 30 km to the south, drilling at the La Verde copper-gold porphyry discovery returned 472 m at 0.41% CuEq in hole DKD060, ahead of a maiden resource estimate targeted for later in 2026. La Verde is to be folded into an updated Costa Fuego pre-feasibility study, with an environmental impact assessment submission planned for Q2 2027.