Interview with Chris Stevens, CEO of Coda Minerals Ltd.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/coda-minerals-asxcod-95-copper-recovery-802-million-post-tax-npv-7406

Recording date: 28th August 2025

Coda Minerals Limited (ASX: COD) has achieved a significant technical breakthrough that fundamentally transforms its Elizabeth Creek copper-silver project in South Australia. The company successfully developed chloride leaching technology that increases copper recovery rates from 80% to 95%, representing a departure from conventional flotation processing methods used by most copper projects globally.

The innovation delivers compelling financial improvements, with the updated scoping study showing a post-tax net present value of AUD $855 million compared to the previous AUD $802 million. At current spot commodity prices, the NPV increases to approximately AUD $1.2 billion with a 38% internal rate of return. CEO Chris Stevens emphasized the conservative pricing assumptions underlying these figures, noting "$4.28 copper, $30 an ounce silver, bear in mind spot's $38 right now."

The new processing paradigm has reduced total capital expenditure by AUD $74 million through simplified operations. The previous complex three-stage flotation process requiring grinding to 53 microns has been replaced with direct tank leaching at 75 microns, eliminating expensive flotation circuits, oxygen plants, and specialized grinding equipment. This streamlined approach processes approximately 400 tons per hour through polyethylene tanks with a four-hour residence time.

Perhaps most significantly, the project now achieves robust economics based solely on copper and silver production, removing dependency on volatile cobalt markets. Stevens noted: "We no longer need cobalt for this project to be well economic and peer comparable. Copper and silver are much more bankable commodities with deep liquid markets." The company removed AUD $1.5 billion in cobalt revenue from the base case model while retaining it as potential upside.

Located adjacent to BHP's Carrapateena project, the operation will target steady-state production exceeding 30,000 tons of copper annually. Management has identified multiple catalysts for further value creation, including mine reoptimization, potential staging opportunities, and systematic progression toward prefeasibility study completion.

View Coda Minerals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/coda-minerals-ltd

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