Hot Chili taps into seawater to unlock copper-rich north Chile
Hot Chili Limited is making a splash in Chile's dry north with a preliminary feasibility study on a billion-dollar infrastructure play that could unlock one of the world's richest undeveloped copper regions by solving its biggest problem - water.
With a commanding 80 per cent stake, Hot Chili is the driving force behind the Huasco Water project, co-funded by Chilean iron ore powerhouse Compañía Minera del Pacifico (CMP). CMP holds the remaining share.
According to management, the project holds the only active maritime licence in the entire Huasco region - a prized asset that took a decade of red tape to secure.
The joint venture (JV) is now setting its sights on building a long-term, regional, multi-user water network that can pump sea and desalinated water across Chile's Southern Atacama region.
'The preliminary feasibility study provides an opportunity for Hot Chili to fully consider the strategic value of Huasco Water.'
Hot Chili Limited managing director Christian Easterday
The vision is aimed at transforming the drought-stricken Huasco Valley, 600 kilometres north of the nation's capital Santiago, into a hub of sustainable mining, agriculture and community development. In a region where water is as precious as copper, the project dangles a rare promise of long-term, industrial-scale access to sea and desalinated water.
The study itself has delivered a cracking set of numbers, backing what Hot Chili believes could be a game-changer for copper miners, farmers and local communities in Chile's parched Atacama.
The ambitious multi-stage plan aims to kick off with a US$151 million (A$232M) first phase spend to pump 500 litres of raw seawater per second (L/s) through a single pipeline, running 62km from the Pacific Ocean to Hot Chili's flagship 1.5-million-tonne Costa Fuego copper-gold project.
Alongside its coveted seawater extraction concessions, Huasco Water has secured key coastal land access and easements for its pipeline and locked into the power grid.
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