PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Elizabeth Creek copper/cobalt project, in South Australia, could produce some 25 000 t/y of copper and 1 000 t/y of cobalt over a mine life of 14 years.

ASX-listed Coda Minerals on Thursday told shareholders that the development of Elizabeth Creek would be undertaken in two phases, with the first phase seeing copper/cobalt concentrate production driving early cash flow, followed by the second phase which will involve the construction of a hydrometallurgical plant to produce a higher value copper cathode, battery-grade cobalt sulphate, zinc carbonate and silver dore.

Phase 1 is expected to require a capital spend of A$277-million, with Phase 2 requiring a further A$320-million capital investment in the third year of operation, which will be supported by cashflows from the Phase 1 operation, Coda said.

The scoping study has estimated that the project would have a pre-tax net present value of A$570-million and an internal rate of return of 26.5%, with pre-tax revenues estimated at A$5.73-billion over the life of the mine.

“This study marks an important milestone in the life of the Elizabeth Creek project, providing detailed financial analysis for the first time to complement the technical and exploration achievements over the past year,” said Coda Minerals CEO Chris Stevens.

“This study underpins a robust go-forward case for the Elizabeth Creek project with excellent project economics. We also have multiple opportunities for expansion and improvement underway. Recent geophysical work has defined several highly prospective expansion targets for the sediment-hosted copper/cobalt mineralisation at Emmie Bluff which have the potential to increase project size and scope beyond the already excellent 14-year mine life.”

Stevens said that in addition to exploration being undertaken at Elizabeth Creek, Coda is also focused on optimisation of the integrated mine plans, ore sorting opportunities and a study into the potential use of mechanical cutting techniques.

“This work is well advanced and has the potential to result in material financial uplift and reduction in geotechnical risk and ventilation demand for Emmie Bluff,” he added.

Coda is now finalising its forward work plan for the next stage of studies at Elizabeth Creek, including a prefeasibility study.