Marimaca's 2027 Copper Build Hinges on Lender Selection as Pampa Medina Nears a Resource

• Marimaca Copper has narrowed financing for its Marimaca Oxide Deposit (MOD) to 3 lender groups, with technical due diligence underway before selecting 1 group to go exclusive.
• Management is targeting a conservative debt-to-equity ratio with traditional senior secured lenders and is seeking to avoid hedging.
• Long-form financing documents are targeted for mid-2027, with full construction targeted for 2027.
• A grid connection approval upheld on September 22, 2026, a preliminary renewable power framework and fourth-quarter early works tenders have advanced the MOD ahead of a construction decision.
• A separate exploration team is drilling Pampa Medina, where the current program is targeting an initial resource on a small portion of the deposit.

Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI | ASX: MC2 | OTCQX: MARIF) held US$140.0 million in cash as of June 30, 2026, and had no debt against a pre-production capital estimate of US$587 million for the Marimaca Oxide Deposit (MOD) in northern Chile. The 2025 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) outlines a 13-year operation producing 50,000 tonnes per year of copper cathode at steady state. It reports a post-tax net present value (NPV8%) of US$709 million and a 31% internal rate of return at US$4.30 per pound of copper. The financing process to close the cash-to-capital gap is in its final technical stage, and most remaining steps are subject to the company's stated timing.

3 Lenders, 1 Exclusive Mandate

Marimaca screened funding partners for alignment with its longer-term goals and cost of capital, narrowing the field to 3 groups. Technical due diligence, including lender site visits at the MOD, is the final step before the company selects 1 group to go exclusive and that group's terms become the financing package.

Chief Executive Officer and Director of Marimaca Copper, Hayden Locke, described the balance-sheet stance the company is taking into those negotiations:

"Our philosophy as a management team is very much one of not over-leveraging, so we're going to take a relatively conservative approach to our debt-to-equity ratio."

The company is also seeking to avoid hedging and plans to manage risk through other means. All 3 parties are traditional senior secured lenders, and management has indicated the package will contain nothing off-market. With 135,531,318 shares outstanding and 3,975,141 options, warrants and restricted share units as of September 18, 2026, the split between debt and equity in the final package will determine how much new equity the build requires.

Mid-2027 Documents, 2027 Construction

Legal due diligence follows exclusivity, a process Marimaca has completed several times through its public listing and earlier capital raisings. Long-form financing documents are then expected to run into mid-2027. 

Locke outlined the site timetable alongside that financing schedule:

"We are expecting to be in full construction during the course of 2027. In an ideal world, we would be setting up the site, getting ready for full construction towards the end of this year."

The company's October 1, 2026 project update keeps that site sequence intact:

• Early works: scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2026, with contractor packages out for tender. An added workstream will prepare the seawater pipeline route to enable construction to start in 2027.
• Access road: upgrades from Ruta B-12 are targeted for completion by the end of 2026.
• Plant packages: engineering procurement packages for the crushing plant and for the heap leach and solvent extraction-electrowinning plant are targeted for award in the first half of 2027.
• Long-lead items: items with delivery times above 50 weeks still need to be secured.
• Permits: the company had targeted additional permits to enable full construction by early October 2026.

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Power & Water Supply Advance Before the Lenders Decide

On September 22, 2026, Chile's Panel of Experts upheld the National Electric Coordinator's approval for the MOD to connect to the 110 kV El Lince line, about 13 kilometers from the project area. Marimaca has also signed a preliminary framework with a Chilean energy provider for 100% renewable grid power. The estimated all-in cost is closely aligned with the US$93 per megawatt-hour assumption in the DFS. The contract has no take-or-pay provisions during ramp-up and an initial 5-year term once ramp-up is complete.

Water supply is also in place. The MOD will draw recycled seawater from the Bay of Mejillones through a pipeline of about 32 kilometers at 208 liters per second, and heap leaching removes the need for a wet tailings storage facility. Water supply is secured and the power contract has reached a preliminary framework before lenders finish technical due diligence. Sulfuric acid supply is still under study, with a conceptual engineering study under way on a self-produced acid option at the Dos Amigos Acid Plant.

Pampa Medina on a Separate Track

Marimaca has split exploration and development into separate teams. Vice President Exploration Sergio Rivera now works only on exploration, and a complete team is assigned to MOD delivery.

The current program, part of a 30,000-meter campaign, was scheduled to finish at the end of October 2026 and is targeting an initial resource on a small portion of Pampa Medina. Drilling to date includes 216 meters at 0.96% copper and 7.2 grams per tonne silver from 466 meters in one hole, including 62 meters at 2.20% copper and 21.5 grams per tonne silver. Step-outs are moving toward Madrugador to test how far the sedimentary basin extends. 

Locke placed the larger sulfide opportunity behind the MOD in the order of priorities:

"It's not going to be a short-term decision-making process on that larger sulfide opportunity and how that will eventually look. So our view is: let's get to cash flow."

What Shareholders Can Track Through 2027

The next 12 months stack decision points on both tracks. On the MOD, the company's stated targets are:

• Selection of an exclusive lender after technical due diligence.
• Start of early works in the fourth quarter of 2026.
• Completion of the access road by the end of 2026.
• Award of the crushing and leach plant packages in the first half of 2027.
• Long-form financing documents by the middle of 2027.

On exploration, the initial Pampa Medina resource is the first figure that will test drill results against a formal estimate.

The financing terms will show how much of the US$587 million capital estimate is funded by debt, measured against a DFS NPV8% of US$709 million at US$4.30 per pound copper. Pampa Medina is not included in those economics.

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