Announcement PDF SCOPING STUDY 2024X ASX RELEASE ELIZABETH CREEK 3 December 2024 ASX Code: COD New Resources, Higher Recoveries Significantly Boost Elizabeth Creek’s Underlying Value Major update to Elizabeth Creek Copper-Cobalt-Silver Project delivers significant uplift in project economics from improved copper and silver recoveries and inclusion of a new open pit deposit. Highlights Scoping Study – Key Outcomes: • Total pre-tax revenue of approximately $7.57 billion over the life of mine; • Estimated pre-tax NPV(7) of approximately $1.18 billion and 35% IRR; • An increase of 57% to estimated post-tax NPV(7) from approximately $509 million previously to approximately $802 million; • Average steady state annual production of ~26,700tpa copper and ~1,300tpa cobalt and ~1.1MOz pa silver; • Mineralisation to be sourced from three open pits, and one long-life underground mine (~400m depth); • Lifetime average mined diluted grade of 1.70% CuEq- 1.11% Cu, 546ppm Co and 15g/t Ag; • The Elizabeth Creek Project will be undertaken in two phases: – Phase 1, consisting of ~1-year of copper-cobalt concentrate production to drive early cash-flow; followed by; – Phase 2, involving the construction of a hydrometallurgical plant using the Albion ProcessTM to produce ~13 years of the higher value saleable end-products copper cathode, battery-grade cobalt sulphate, zinc carbonate and silver doré. • Up-front CAPEX (pre-production) has increased by 8% to $331 million including contingency. • Coda has a strong cash balance of over $6 million and remains well funded to advance the Elizabeth Creek Project towards development and while undertaking targeted exploration. • Coda’s exploration team has just returned from site at Elizabeth Creek finalising drill preparations. Drilling is scheduled to commence in mid-Q1 2025, initially focused on the major new target at Emmie East which has the potential to materially expand the Project. 6 Altona Street West Perth Western Australia, 6005 E: info@codaminerals.com ABN 49 625 763 957 ELIZABETH CREEK SCOPING STUDY Coda Minerals Ltd (“Coda” or “the Company”) (ASX: COD) is pleased to announce the results of its next phase Scoping Study (“Study”) completed on the sedimentary copper-cobalt-silver mineralisation at its 100%-owned Elizabeth Creek Project in South Australia. The Study delivers a material improvement in forecast project economics and financial returns based on a like-for-like comparison with previous updates, reflecting the success of the Company’s optimisation program over the past 12 months as well as an improved understanding of the mineralisation at Elizabeth Creek. The Elizabeth Creek Project comprises three granted Exploration Licences covering an area of 774km2 in the Olympic Dam Copper Province, one of Australia’s most active mining regions and its most productive copper belt. The Project lies in the heart of an active mining region, being located 100km south of the Olympic Dam copper-golduranium mine, 50km west of the Carrapateena copper-gold mine and 15km south of the Oak Dam copper-gold project, all operated by BHP. The Project has access to high-quality infrastructure being located 35km south-east of the town of Woomera and 135km north-west of Port Augusta in South Australia. Coda’s primary focus at Elizabeth Creek is on the development of the sedimentary copper-cobalt-silver mineralisation (which forms the subject of this Scoping Study), which provides the foundation for a sustainable, globally competitive, long-term mining and processing operation with the potential to come into production against the backdrop of extremely favourable market dynamics for the copper industry. The study covers four deposits: • MG14: Open pit prospect, commencing from a depth of ~20m. • Windabout: Open pit prospect, commencing from a depth of ~50m • Cattle Grid South: Open pit prospect, commencing from a depth of ~35m • Emmie Bluff: Coda’s flagship underground prospect, commencing from a depth of ~400m For the avoidance of doubt, the contents, technical information and forecast financial information in this Scoping Study focus solely on the shallower copper-cobalt-silver mineralisation and do not include any reference to or inclusion of the IOCG mineralisation discovered in June 2021. The Project is well supported in terms of infrastructure and boasts excellent ESG credentials, being located in a stable, Tier-1 mining jurisdiction with access to the nation’s most renewable power grid. This revised Study is a full-form revision of the original Study released to market in March 2023 and subsequently updated to include revisions to the underground mining methods at Emmie Bluff in January 2024 and March 2024. 1 This Study builds on previous work to integrate improvements such as mechanical cutting and pillar recovery at Emmie Bluff, and now includes numerous improvements related to the metallurgical flowsheet. By integrating oxide collectors and a second mill-float stage, recoveries of copper and silver have been materially improved. In addition, the Cattle Grid South open-pit deposit, which the Company defined in 2024, has been integrated into the overall mine plan to extend the project’s life and increase life-of-mine copper production by more than 20,000 tonnes. The results presented in this report are not just the result of optimisation, but also an increase in the level of confidence and knowledge of the mineralisation at Elizabeth Creek. Coda Minerals CEO, Chris Stevens, commented: “The revised Elizabeth Creek Scoping Study both reinforces and materially strengthens the already exceptional technical, geographic and economic characteristics of the project. Through a combination of hard work and increased knowledge of the Project, we now have a pre-tax NPV of over $1.1 billion. “This next iteration of the Elizabeth Creek Scoping Study has resulted in a significant increase in the underlying value of the project. This growth has been driven mainly by material improvements to the recoveries of copper and silver in our 1 For details, please see “Appendix 1: ASX Announcements Index”, below. 6 Altona Street West Perth Western Australia, 6005 E: info@codaminerals.com ABN 49 625 763 957 ELIZABETH CREEK SCOPING STUDY flowsheet. A significant contribution is also anticipated from support under the “Future Made in Australia” bill. This bill supports downstream manufacturing of critical minerals in Australia. Projects like Elizabeth Creek, which target production of high-purity cobalt sulphate directly for the battery market, are precisely the kind of projects this bill is meant to support. “Since our first estimate of the economics at Elizabeth Creek we have made enormous progress with our technical work but the world has also changed, and we have taken this opportunity to normalise our macro-economic assumptions with market forecasts as well as studies released by peers during the past year. We have increased our copper price assumptions in line with forecasts, although we maintain these at the conservative end of many forecasts. We have reduced cobalt price assumptions, especially during the first five years of the project’s life to reflect ongoing weakness in the spot market as well as to align with the latest forecasts from industry specialists. “The geographic benefits offered by the project’s location in South Australia should not be under-estimated. Given many recent examples of sovereign and commercial risk causing major problems for copper and gold projects, we are incredibly fortunate to be located in South Australia. “We are pleased that the work undertaken since our last update in March 2024 has paid off with such an impressive result in this updated Scoping Study. With metallurgical test work concluded for now, the next big lever we can pull at Elizabeth Creek is to increase tonnes. Drill rigs will be turning in early 2025, with targets including both extensions to the high-grade underground mineralisation at Emmie Bluff and potential new open-pit deposits at Oakden.” This announcement has been approved for release by the board of Coda Minerals Ltd. Please see the full text of the public Study release below. Further Information: Chris Stevens Chief Executive Officer Coda Minerals Limited info@codaminerals.com 6 Altona Street West Perth Western Australia, 6005 Media: Nicholas Read Read Corporate nicholas@readcorporate.com.au E: info@codaminerals.com ABN 49 625 763 957 1 | PAGE Table of Contents Cautionary Statements ............................................................................................................................ 5 Forward Looking Statements ................................................................................................................... 6 Metal Equivalents ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Elizabeth Creek Copper-Cobalt Scoping Study ......................................................................................... 8 Key Study Findings ................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Executive Summary of Findings ........................................................................................................... 11 Key Consultants ............................................................................................................................... 14 Key Risks and Sensitivity Analysis .................................................................................................... 14 Next Steps And Project Timeline ...................................................................................................... 15 Copper Market ................................................................................................................................. 17 Cobalt Market ................................................................................................................................... 18 Project Description ................................................................................................................................ 20 Location and Layout ............................................................................................................................ 21 Geology and Resources ....................................................................................................................... 22 Mineralisation ................................................................................................................................. 22 Mineral Resources Competent Persons’ Statements ....................................................................... 26 Mining .................................................................................................................................................... 27 Open Pit Mining ................................................................................................................................... 28 MG14 and Windabout ....................................................................................................................... 28 Cattle Grid South ............................................................................................................................. 29 Proposed Mining Methodology......................................................................................................... 30 Underground Mining ........................................................................................................................... 32 Geotechnical Considerations .......................................................................................................... 32 Cut-Off Grade Selection and Stope Optimisation ............................................................................. 33 Mine Design and Scheduling ............................................................................................................ 34 Pillar Recovery ................................................................................................................................ 37 Productivity .................................................................................................................................... 39 Equipment Selection – Continuous Mining ....................................................................................... 40 Equipment Selection – Other ........................................................................................................... 43 Production Schedule .......................................................................................................................... 44 Metallurgy and Processing ...................................................................................................................... 47 Mineralogy .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Comminution And Flotation ................................................................................................................ 48 Crushing ......................................................................................................................................... 48 Grinding .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Flotation ......................................................................................................................................... 49 Flotation Concentrate ..................................................................................................................... 49 Downstream Processing ..................................................................................................................... 50 Solvent Extraction/Electrowinning ................................................................................................. 50 2 | PAGE Zinc And Cobalt ............................................................................................................................... 50 Cyanidation And Silver Recovery ...................................................................................................... 51 Metal Production ............................................................................................................................. 52 Tailings Disposal ............................................................................................................................. 53 Residuals Management ................................................................................................................... 53 Alternate Downstream Processing Options ..................................................................................... 53 Infrastructure......................................................................................................................................... 55 Transport ........................................................................................................................................ 56 Power ............................................................................................................................................. 56 Accommodation ............................................................................................................................. 56 Hydrogeology And Water ................................................................................................................. 56 Approvals and ESG ................................................................................................................................. 58 Environmental Impacts And Management ....................................................................................... 59 Native Title And Heritage ................................................................................................................ 59 Approvals ........................................................................................................................................ 60 Government Approvals Pathway ....................................................................................................... 61 Project Funding and Economics ............................................................................................................. 63 Project Financial Summary ................................................................................................................. 64 Capital Cost Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 64 Operating Cost Estimate ................................................................................................................. 65 Annual Cashflow.............................................................................................................................. 66 NPV Sensitivity Analysis...................................................................................................................... 66 Commodity Price Sensitivity ........................................................................................................... 67 Taxation ............................................................................................................................................. 69 Alternative Product Marketing Model – LOM Concentrate Sales ........................................................... 70 Project Funding ................................................................................................................................... 71 Funding Options – Debt and Equity ................................................................................................... 71 Strategic Partners – Sources of Funding .......................................................................................... 71 Critical Minerals – Australian Government ........................................................................................ 71 Due Diligence and ESG ..................................................................................................................... 71 Board and Management Experience ................................................................................................ 72 Key Upside Opportunities ....................................................................................................................... 73 Critical Minerals Incentives ............................................................................................................. 74 Exploration ..................................................................................................................................... 74 Emmie Deeps.................................................................................................................................. 74 Integration into the Broader Gawler Craton ..................................................................................... 75 Risks and Mitigations.............................................................................................................................. 76 Technical .........................................................................................................................................77 Geotechnical ....................................................................................................................................77 Metallurgical ....................................................................................................................................77 Infrastructure ..................................................................................................................................77 3 | PAGE Permitting And ESG .........................................................................................................................77 Water Management ......................................................................................................................... 78 Funding And Economics.................................................................................................................. 78 Elizabeth Creek Pre-Feasibility Study ..................................................................................................... 79 Appendix 1: ASX Announcements Index ................................................................................................... 81 Appendix 2: JORC Table 1, Section 4 ....................................................................................................... 82 Appendix 3: Detailed Technical Information and JORC Table 1 .................................................................... 91 Competent Person’s Statements ...................................................................................................... 91 Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data.......................................................................................... 91 Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results ..................................................................................... 95 4 | PAGE CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS The Scoping Study referred to in this ASX release has been undertaken for the purpose of initial evaluation of the potential for development of a series of open pit and underground mines and a mineral processing facility at the Elizabeth Creek Copper-Cobalt Project (“ECCCP”, The “Elizabeth Creek Project” or “Elizabeth Creek”). It is a preliminary technical and economic study of the potential viability of the Elizabeth Creek Project. It is based on low level technical and economic assessments that are not sufficient to support the estimation of ore reserves. Further exploration and evaluation work and appropriate studies are required before Coda will be in a position to estimate any ore reserves or to provide any assurance of an economic development case. The Study is based on the material assumptions outlined below. These include assumptions about the availability of funding. While Coda considers all of the material assumptions to be based on reasonable grounds, there is no certainty that they will prove to be correct or that the range of outcomes indicated by the Study will be achieved. The Scoping Study outcomes, production target and forecast financial information referred to in the release are based on low level technical and economic assessments that are insufficient to support estimation of Ore Reserves. To achieve the range of outcomes indicated in the Scoping Study, funding of in the order of $504 million will likely be required. Investors should note that there is no certainty that the Company will be able to raise that amount of funding when needed. It is also possible that such funding may only be available on terms that may be dilutive to or otherwise affect the value of Coda Minerals’ existing shares. It is also possible that Coda could pursue other ‘value realisation’ strategies such as a sale, partial sale or joint venture of the project. If it does, this could materially reduce the Company’s proportionate ownership of the project. The Company has concluded that it has reasonable grounds for disclosing a production target which includes an amount of Inferred Mineral Resources. There is a low level of geological confidence associated with Inferred Mineral Resources and there is no certainty that further exploration work will result in the determination of Indicated Mineral Resources or that the production target itself will be realised. Inferred Mineral Resources comprise only approximately 0.03%, 0.03% and 5.42% of the contained metal (copper equivalent) in the first three years, five years and the project’s entire operating life respectively. Inferred Mineral Resources comprise approximately 0.05%, 0.06% and 13.13% of production on a tonnage basis in the first three 5 | PAGE years, five years and the project’s entire operating life respectively. The viability of the development scenario envisaged in the Scoping Study does not depend on the inclusion of Inferred Mineral Resources. The Mineral Resources underpinning the production target in the Study have been prepared by a Competent Person in accordance with the requirements of Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code (2012)). The Competent Person’s Statements are found in the Geology and Resources section of the Study. For full details of the Mineral Resource Estimates for the Emmie Bluff Resource, including JORC Table 1, please refer to “Scoping Study Update Delivers Materially Improved Economics” released to the market on 30th January 2024 and available to view at https://www.codaminerals.com/wpcontent/uploads/2024/01/20240130_Coda_ASXANN_Scoping-Study-Update-Delivers-Materially-ImprovedEconomics_RELEASE.pdf. For full details of the Mineral Resource Estimates for the MG14 and Windabout Resources, including JORC Table 1, please refer to “Securities Exchange Announcement – Mt Gunson Copper-Cobalt Project Update”, released to the ASX on 19 January 2018 and available at https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20180119/pdf/43qxphjd18l 2x0.pdf. Coda confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in those releases. All material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in those announcements continue to apply and have not materially changed. This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Coda Minerals has concluded that it has a reasonable basis for providing these forward-looking statements and believes it has a reasonable basis to expect it will be able to fund development of the Elizabeth Creek Project. However, several factors could cause actual results or expectations to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Given the uncertainties involved, investors should not make any investment decisions based solely of the results of this study. The Study has been completed to a level of accuracy of +/35% in line with industry standard accuracy for this stage of development. All dollar figures are presented in Australian dollars (AUD) except where specifically otherwise indicated. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS The Scoping Study referred to in this ASX release contains ‘forward-looking information’ that is based on the Company’s expectations, estimates and projections as of the date on which the statements were made. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements with respect to the Company’s business strategy, plans, development, objectives, performance, outlook, growth, cash flow, projections, targets and expectations, mineral reserves and resources, results of exploration and related expenses. Generally, this forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ‘outlook’, ‘anticipate’, ‘project’, ‘target’, ‘potential’, ‘likely’, 6 | PAGE ‘believe’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘may’, ‘would’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘scheduled’, ‘will’, ‘plan’, ‘forecast’, ‘evolve’ and similar expressions. Persons reading this announcement are cautioned that such statements are only predictions, and that the Company’s actual future results or performance may be materially different. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forwardlooking information. METAL EQUIVALENTS Metal Equivalent grades are quoted for one or more of the Emmie Bluff, Windabout and MG14 Mineral Resources, or for exploration results considered by the company to be related directly to one of these Mineral Resources, in this announcement. FOR THE EMMIE BLUFF MINERAL RESOURCE: The Emmie Bluff Mineral Resource is reported as 40.2Mt @ 1.27% copper, 569ppm cobalt, 17g/t silver and 0.17% zinc (1.87% Copper Equivalent (CuEq)) reported at a cut-off grade of 1% CuEq. The calculation of this metal equivalent is based on the following assumptions. METAL COEFFICIENT FORECAST PRICE PRICE UNIT Cu 0.8 $7,000 USD/Tonne Co 0.85 $55,000 USD/Tonne Zn 0.9 $2,100 USD/Tonne Ag 0.85 $18.50 USD/Oz Price assumptions used when calculating copper equivalent grades were based primarily on Consensus Economics forecasts of metals, except for Cobalt, which was sourced via communication with subject matter experts. Metallurgical assumptions used when calculating copper equivalent grades were based on a simple bulk float utilising rougher and minimal cleaner/scavenger circuits. The produced a reasonably consistent mean recovery across most metals of between approximately 83 and 94 percent. For simplicity, and to in part account for losses associated with less intensive cleaner floats and losses to the hydromet plant, these figures were rounded down to the nearest 5%. Application of these assumptions resulted in the following calculation of CuEq: 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶% = 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶% + 0.00068 × 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 + 0.337 × 𝑍𝑍𝑍𝑍 % + 90.3 × FOR THE WINDABOUT AND MG14 MINERAL RESOURCE: The Windabout and MG14 Mineral Resource are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.5% CuEq as: 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 10000 WINDABOUT: 17.67Mt @ 0.77% Cu, 492 ppm Co and 8 g/t Ag (1.41% CuEq) MG14: 1.83Mt @ 1.24% Cu, 334 ppm Co and 14 g/t Ag (1.84% CuEq) The calculation of this metal equivalent is based on the following assumptions. METAL MINING