Coda Minerals has moved Elizabeth Creek closer to a targeted first-quarter 2027 pre-feasibility study, backed by improved leach recoveries, drilling and fresh funding. But the copper developer remains loss-making, burned A$8.87 million in operating cash and will likely need further capital to progress beyond the study stage.
- Elizabeth Creek PFS targeted for Q1 2027
- Scoping-study pre-tax NPV7 of A$2.25 billion under higher metal prices
- 19 diamond holes completed across 6,352 metres
- FY2026 net loss widened to A$10.86 million
- A$10.77 million cash held at year end
Elizabeth Creek moves towards a Q1 2027 PFS
Coda Minerals Ltd (ASX:COD) is approaching the most consequential stage yet for its Elizabeth Creek Copper-Silver Project, with the company targeting completion of a pre-feasibility study in the first quarter of 2027. The FY2026 annual report describes a project still being assembled across metallurgy, mine planning, hydrogeology, tailings, infrastructure and environmental approvals, rather than a development-ready mine.
The technical case has strengthened during the reporting period. Coda’s whole-ore chloride-leach flowsheet produced reported copper and silver recoveries of 94.8% and 98.2% from Emmie Bluff material, compared with 82.8% and 82.0% under the earlier flotation-based route. Preliminary results reported after year end also supported the preferred route, although further variability testing, process modelling and plant-design work remain before the PFS can settle the final flowsheet.
The latest work builds on September recovery testwork, which reported average copper extraction of 94.4% and silver extraction of 95.9% from representative Emmie Bluff composites. Cobalt remains outside the current base case: Coda says it is continuing to test recovery options, but the project’s present economic model relies on copper and silver revenues only.
Higher copper and silver prices lift study metrics
Using long-term assumptions of US$10,500 a tonne for copper, US$60 an ounce for silver and an exchange rate of 0.68 US dollars to the Australian dollar, Coda’s March 2026 scoping-study update estimated a pre-tax NPV7 of approximately A$2.25 billion and a pre-tax IRR of 56%. The corresponding post-tax figures were an estimated A$1.52 billion NPV7 and 43% IRR, with capital payback estimated at 2.5 years from first production.
Those figures are not PFS outcomes. The price update changed commodity and foreign-exchange assumptions but did not alter the mining, processing, capital or operating-cost basis of the August 2025 scoping study. Coda says the PFS will confirm the appropriate long-term price assumptions, while technical work will determine whether the earlier economic projections survive a more detailed examination.
Drilling and approvals fill in the development case
The company completed 19 successful PQ diamond holes for 6,352 metres across the project’s open-pit and underground deposits, with Emmie Bluff accounting for 12 holes and about 88% of the metres drilled. The programme was designed primarily to provide representative core for metallurgical testing, while also supporting resource updates and geotechnical studies.
Approvals work has progressed in parallel. The South Australian government’s formal gazettal of the Elizabeth Creek Scoping Report established project-specific terms of reference for the environmental assessment and a future Mining Lease Application. The company has also completed a 480 square kilometre airborne LiDAR survey and commenced six-bore hydrogeological drilling aimed at informing groundwater modelling, mine dewatering, water supply and environmental approvals. These milestones were outlined in July PFS and approvals update, which also set the Q1 2027 PFS target.
Cash position improves, but the funding clock remains visible
Coda raised approximately A$19 million before costs through FY2026 capital raisings, including an A$12.33 million raising in October 2025 and a further A$6.7 million placement announced in June 2026. Cash and cash equivalents stood at A$10.77 million at 30 June 2026, up from A$3.96 million a year earlier, while issued shares increased to 410.35 million from 249.55 million.
The balance sheet improvement came alongside a much heavier operating spend. Coda reported a net loss of A$10.86 million, compared with A$4.29 million in FY2025, and net operating cash outflow rose to A$8.87 million from A$3.88 million. The annual report states that the group has no recurring income and remains dependent on equity markets, debt or other funding mechanisms, while also warning that additional equity could dilute shareholders.
There is no mineral reserve yet, and Elizabeth Creek remains at the exploration and evaluation stage. The scoping-study economics offer substantial leverage to copper and silver prices, but the next test is less glamorous and more important: whether metallurgy, water, mine design, approvals and capital requirements can be integrated into a PFS that still supports the project’s development case.
Bottom Line?
The Q1 2027 PFS is the next valuation checkpoint, but Coda’s cash burn and reliance on new funding remain central risks before Elizabeth Creek can move from study economics to mine construction decisions.
Questions in the middle?
- Can the PFS preserve the scoping-study economics once updated resource, metallurgical, water and infrastructure inputs are incorporated?
- How much additional capital will Coda require to complete the PFS and progress towards a Mining Lease Application?
- Will cobalt recovery become commercially viable, or remain optionality outside the base-case development model?