Challenger Gold Outlines Roadmap to Commercial Gold Production at Hualilán By Early 2029 - azomining.com

AI desk brief

Challenger Gold outlined a roadmap to first commercial gold production at its Hualilán project in San Juan, Argentina by early 2029, targeting a stand-alone Phase 1 heap leach start-up. The 2026 PFS calls for 1.8Moz of gold equivalent output over a 14.25-year mine life, with about US$267m in pre-production capex and a 2.25-year payback period.

Near-term focus is on detailed engineering with BBA Consultants, a 35,000m drilling program across four rigs, refinancing a US$15m convertible debenture, and site/procurement work ahead of a construction ramp in H2 2027. Key catalysts are the RIGI application and debenture refinancing in Q3 2026, followed by an exploration/development update in Q4 2026 and NI 43-101 technical report plus optimization study results in Q1 2027.