Halo Minerals (AIM: HALO) said its wholly owned subsidiary Minera Playa Verde has been granted a key mining permit for the Playa Verde copper and gold tailings project in northern Chile. The permit, granted under Article 17 No. 1 of the Chilean Mining Code by Exempt Resolution No. 473 from the Provincial Presidential Delegation of Chanaral, authorises dredging of mineral bearing material at Chanaral beach, including within the urban area. The Regional Ministerial Secretariat for Housing and Urban Development of Atacama confirmed it had no objection to the permit.
The project is a tailings recovery operation, not a new mine. Playa Verde is designed to process about 5 million tonnes of mineral bearing material a year, producing an estimated 8,600 tonnes of payable copper in cathodes and concentrates, with projected annual cash flow of approximately 50 million dollars. Dredged material would go to a metallurgical processing plant, and treated material would be returned to the beach. The resolution records a favourable environmental assessment under a Committee of Ministers ruling dated October 15, 2025, which modified the Atacama commission’s earlier approval.
Chief executive Andrew Dennan called the grant another important milestone in the project’s permitting and development workstreams. Halo said the permit does not replace other authorisations still required: a mining easement application has been submitted and is expected to clear in the coming weeks, and a maritime concession application for offshore tailings continues to progress. No final investment decision has been taken.
The permit lands in a copper market where the constraint is permitted supply. Mining.com, reporting the announcement, cited forecasts of global copper consumption climbing 61 percent between 2026 and 2050 to nearly 46 million tonnes a year, with a potential shortfall of 20 million tonnes. Playa Verde’s 8,600 tonnes is immaterial against that gap on its own; its significance is as a test of whether legacy tailings, estimated at 282 billion tonnes worldwide in the company’s framing, can be permitted and financed as a repeatable secondary source.