Recent Chilean Base Metal and Gold Discoveries (2015-2025)

Chile's exploration landscape has evolved with new technological approaches and deeper targeting beneath cover rocks.

Salares Norte (Gold Fields)

Discovered in 2016-2017, this high-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver deposit in the Atacama region returned early drilling results of 10.5 g/t gold and 124 g/t silver over 22m. Construction began in 2020 with production starting in 2023, representing one of the most significant new gold projects in Chile.

Vicuña District (NGEx Resources/Josemaria Resources)

The Los Helados and Filo del Sol discoveries along the Chile-Argentina border have shown exceptional results. Filo del Sol's 2019-2021 drilling returned phenomenal intercepts including 858m at 1.8% copper equivalent, establishing this as one of the most exciting copper-gold discoveries in South America.

Vizcachitas (Los Andes Copper)

Although initially identified earlier, the significant expansion drilling from 2016-2020 has substantially increased the resource. Recent drilling returned 506m of 0.47% copper and 160ppm molybdenum, elevating this to one of Chile's most important undeveloped copper projects.

Candelabro (Tesoro Resources)

Discovered in 2020, this project in the Coastal Cordillera returned initial drilling results of 85m at 1.1 g/t gold, highlighting a new intrusion-related gold system in an underexplored region.

Verde Project (Capstone Mining/now Capstone Copper)

Identified in 2017-2018 near the existing Santo Domingo project, early drilling returned 180m of 0.63% copper and significant cobalt values, establishing a new IOCG deposit with strategic metal potential.

Encierro (Antofagasta Minerals)

This deep porphyry discovery announced in 2019 showed 846m at 0.46% copper and 0.28 g/t gold in early drilling, demonstrating the continued potential for major discoveries under post-mineral cover.

Cachorro (Altiplano Metals)

A 2022 discovery in north-central Chile with initial drilling results of 46m at 1.2% copper and 0.12 g/t gold, representing a new IOCG-style mineralized system.

Cortadera (Hot Chili)

Though initial discovery predates our 10-year window, the major resource definition from 2019-2022 transformed understanding of this deposit. Drilling returned intercepts like 972m at 0.5% copper and 0.2 g/t gold, establishing it as a significant copper-gold porphyry system.

It's worth noting that discovery timelines in Chile have lengthened due to deeper targeting, more complex permitting, and the challenges of exploring in mature districts where the "low-hanging fruit" has largely been found. Many recent successes involve either deeper extensions of known systems or exploration in more logistically challenging regions.