Judgment Rejects Challenge to Playa Verde

Halo Minerals PLC

30 July 2026

 

30 July 2026

Halo Minerals PLC

("Halo Minerals", the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Chilean Environmental Tribunal Rejects Challenge to Playa Verde Environmental Approval

Halo Minerals PLC (AIM: HALO), the copper development company focused on extracting critical minerals from legacy mining waste, is pleased to announce that the First Environmental Tribunal of Chile (the "Tribunal") has rejected in its entirety the judicial challenge filed on 28 November 2025 against the Chilean Committee of Ministers' environmental approval of the Company's Playa Verde project, which was received in written resolution on 15 October 2025.

The judgment dismissed all claims advanced by the claimant and upheld the October 2025 decision of the Chilean Committee of Ministers to grant a favourable environmental qualification ("RCA") for the Playa Verde project ("Playa Verde" or the "Project") (Resolution Ex. No. 202599101932 of 15 October 2025).

Key Highlights

·    The Tribunal rejected the claim in its entirety and upheld the legality of the Committee of Ministers' approval of Playa Verde.

·   The Tribunal held that three of the four grounds advanced by the claimant, relating to the marine environment, water resources and the Quebrada Peralillo Priority Site, fell outside its jurisdiction because the claimant had not exhausted the prior administrative remedies available to him. Those grounds were dismissed without being examined on their merits.

·    The Tribunal found that the environmental assessment process and subsequent administrative review were conducted lawfully.

·      The Tribunal found that the Committee of Ministers had sufficient technical evidence before it to conclude, on a reasoned basis, that the Project does not give rise to a significant risk to human health for the purposes of Article 11(a) of Law No. 19,300.

·      The Tribunal upheld the Company's commitment to reduce arsenic concentrations in the return sands to a maximum of 47 mg/kg and confirmed that the Committee of Ministers was entitled to rely upon this commitment when granting approval.

·      The Tribunal accepted that the Project will improve the baseline environmental condition of the area to be intervened, through the reduction of arsenic concentrations in processed material returned to the beach.

·   The Tribunal also found that the Committee of Ministers' resolution did not expressly address the significance of contaminants other than arsenic, although it classified this as a non-essential defect which does not affect the legality of the resolution.

Background & Tribunal Findings

As disclosed in the Company's AIM Admission Document, following the grant of the RCA by the Committee of Ministers on 15 October 2025, on 28 November 2025 Mr Manuel Cortés Alfaro commenced proceedings before the First Environmental Tribunal challenging the approval. The proceedings sought judicial review of the Committee of Ministers' decision in relation to environmental matters previously considered as part of the permitting process. The matter was heard by the Tribunal in April 2026, which has now delivered its ruling.

The Tribunal's decision focused primarily on allegations concerning potential public health impacts arising from historical tailings material and return sands associated with the development project. The Tribunal concluded that the extensive technical information submitted during the environmental assessment and appeals process was sufficient to support the approval of the Project.

The Tribunal further confirmed that:

·    the health risk assessment submitted by the Company did not constitute a substantial modification requiring a new public consultation process;

·     the Company's voluntary environmental commitment to reduce arsenic concentrations was legally valid and environmentally appropriate;

·    the associated monitoring, reporting and enforcement requirements imposed by the Committee of Ministers provided an appropriate framework to ensure compliance;

·    the environmental record contained sufficient technical evidence relating to other metals and metalloids present within the tailings material; and

·   the Committee of Ministers' resolution did not, however, expressly address the significance of contaminants other than arsenic. The Tribunal classified this as a non-essential defect which does not affect the legality of the resolution, on the basis that the administrative record already contained sufficient technical information on those elements.

Strategic Significance

The Board believes that this judgment represents an important milestone, de-risking the development of Playa Verde and providing judicial validation of the environmental approval process undertaken over a number of years.

Playa Verde is intended to recover copper from historical tailings deposited on Playa Grande, Chañaral, whilst reducing arsenic concentrations in the material returned to the beach with a view to returning it to the community clean so that it can be used again for recreation and in time fishing, in an area that has been impacted by decades of historical tailings deposition.

Operational Update

The Company continues to make good progress across a number of key technical and permitting workstreams at Playa Verde. In conjunction with BIOS Mining & Infrastructure, the Company is advancing the optimisation programme and refinement of project economics, with a particular focus on updating CAPEX and OPEX estimates to BFS-standard. This work incorporates equipment optimisation initiatives identified during the DFS optimisation process and is being undertaken alongside the advancement of several ancillary permitting activities required to support project readiness and the pathway towards a Final Investment Decision ("FID"). Current expectations remain that these workstreams will position the Project for a timely transition into the next stage of its development. In the coming weeks it is expected that the updated 2026 BFS level project economics (CAPEX and OPEX) will be completed. The Company is engaging with potential industrial capital partners in relation to Project funding and expects those discussions to continue during the second half of 2026.

In parallel, environmental and permitting activities continue to advance under the direction of BIOS Mining & Infrastructure. Ongoing environmental and baseline studies continue, and are focused on strengthening the technical and environmental datasets that will underpin future permitting, operational planning and long-term project development activities at Playa Verde. These studies form an important component of the Company's broader environmental stewardship and project de-risking strategy.

Additionally, the Company has contracted a specialist Chilean community stakeholder and social advisers to support the continued advancement of the Project. The advisers will assist the Company in integrating social and ESG considerations into the optimisation of the Project's feasibility studies, supporting stakeholder and community engagement programmes, and helping ensure that social matters are appropriately addressed as the Project advances towards permitting, financing and a FID.

The Company continues to target a FID in respect of Playa Verde by end of 2026. The timing of any such decision, and of any subsequent development and production, will depend on completion of the studies and permitting activities described above and on the availability of funding.

Andrew Dennan, Chief Executive Officer of Halo Minerals, commented:

"We are delighted by the Tribunal's decision, which represents a significant milestone de-risking Playa Verde and validating the extensive technical, environmental and scientific work undertaken by the project team over many years. The Tribunal has confirmed the legality of the Project's environmental approval and has dismissed the claim in full. Importantly, the judgment recognises that Playa Verde will improve environmental conditions within the project area through the reduction of arsenic concentrations in historic tailings material whilst supporting the recovery of copper from an existing waste deposit. We would like to thank our Chilean team, advisers and stakeholders for their continued support throughout this process. We look forward to progressing the development of Playa Verde and updating shareholders on the next stages of the project in due course."

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Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events.   Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the finality of the judgment referred to in this announcement, the outcome of any appeal, and the satisfaction of the conditions attaching to the environmental qualification of the Playa Verde project. 

Notes to Editors

Halo Minerals PLC, through its group structure, is the 100% owner of the Playa Verde project, an advanced copper tailings project focused on reprocessing metal rich historic tailings which have accumulated onto a beach located in the Atacama region of Chile. In October 2025 the project received a favourable environmental qualification for its EIA from the Chilean Committee of Ministers.

Playa Verde has a JORC compliant resource of 53.4 Mt @ 0.24% Cu, which includes reserves of 32.2 Mt @ 0.25% Cu, and is updating its DFS for dredging and retreatment initially targeting the reserves of ore located on the beach followed by up to a further 21 Mt of ore contained in the western berm and shoreline area. The project is well placed with significant upside in securing the rights to process up to a further 100 Mt of potential offshore resource which originated from the same historical mining operations as the onshore resource.

Halo Minerals plans to advance the Playa Verde project on an accelerated timeline to production with funds raised expected to take the project to a final investment decision. Financial analysis estimates operating costs of only $2.19 per pound of copper produced, with the processing of the reserves having an NPV10 of US$ 154.1 million and an IRR of 50.9% after tax from a 7 year life of mine to produce the 32.2 Mt of reserves (based on static commodity price assumptions of $5.30/lb Cu and $4,300/oz Au).

The Company's philosophy is "Mining with a difference" working with the community to reduce contaminant concentrations in the project area, returning the re-treated beach back to the local community whilst economically producing key strategic and battery metals to the benefit of all stakeholders.

 

END