Summary
- The average price of copper in 2020 is expected to be around US$5,980 per tonne and is forecasted to rise to US$6,620 per tonne in 2021.
- Coda Minerals have Zambian-style shale hosted Cu-Co-Ag mineral resources deposit around the historic Mt Gunson mining region with a combined metal prospect of 280,000 tonnes of copper equivalent.
- Coda operates high-grade Elizabeth Creek Copper Cobalt Project at the heart of the Olympic Copper Province with major projects including Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Oak Dam West in the surrounding area.
The copper explorer Coda Minerals Limited (ASX:COD) is engaged in the exploration of copper-cobalt-silver at the Elizabeth Creek Copper Cobalt Project in South Australia. The company is an exciting new copper explorer in the global copper market which has shown a miraculous uptick from the pandemic lows.
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources forecasted in September that the average price of copper is expected to rise to US$6,620 per tonne in 2022, injecting optimism in the market. For 2020, the average price was projected to be around US$5,980 per tonne. By mid-November 2020, copper exceeded US$7,000 per tonne.
China, the largest consumer of copper with ~53% of global copper consumption, further lifted the market by showcasing import data of recent months that reflected a bounce back in demand for copper.
Also, the governments around various geographies are announcing economic stimulus to revive the market and economy, adding a fillip to manufacturing activities. This in turn is expected to impact the copper demand, pushing the demand and price simultaneously.
Other key statistics driving the copper market are:
- The global outlook of copper is expected to be positive through the year 2022 with annual growth in demand by 5%.
- The global production of copper (mine only) is forecasted to increase to 21,684 MMT in 2021 and 22,811 MMT in 2022 from the current expectation of around 20,418 MMT in 2020.
- The consumption is projected to be around 23,466 MMT in 2020. It is expected to increase to 24,656 MMT in 2021 and 25,685 MMT in 2022.
- The Australian mine output is projected to increase by 2% to 902 MMT in 2021-22 from the 891 MMT mark of 2019-20. The copper export value is expected to increase by 6.9% in 2020-21 to A$10,617 million for Australia.
Related Read: Coda Minerals’ (ASX:COD) Elizabeth Creek project capitalising on massive copper potential
Coda Minerals Positioning Itself in the Global Market with flagship Elizabeth Creek Project
Copper explorer Coda Minerals Limited (ASX:COD) holds the rights to earn up to 75% interest on the Elizabeth Creek project under the Mt Gunson Copper-Cobalt Project Farm-in Agreement.
Elizabeth Creek covers an area of 739 square kilometres in the Eastern Gawler copper province. The project lies at the heart of the Olympic Copper Province with major projects including Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Oak Dam West in the surrounding area.
Coda reported a JORC compliant indicated resource of 159kt of copper and 9,500 tonnes of cobalt in two deposits- Windaout and MG14.
The Elizabeth Creek Project includes the flagship prospect of Coda Minerals- Emmie Bluff. Emmie Bluff is the main target for exploration in recent years and offers potential for significant resource base uplift.
Coda has 17 diamond drill holes so far, over 3km of strike with a total depth of 400m. The deposits are flat-lying mineralisation in narrow lodes which can be extracted easily. The drilling program has covered only 30% of the anomaly area, and Coda is planning more holes to drill in November 2020.
The magnetotelluric (MT) data, along with the seismic survey data, are interpreted and are used to identify new drilling and exploration targets.
Location of Emmie Bluff with copper deposits Source: Company Presentation
Significant intersection results are:
- 4m at 1.8% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 6
- 4m at 2.75% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 12
- 2.95m at 2.55% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 17
- 2.6m at 2.85% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 18
- 3.15m at 1.97% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 19
- 3m at 6.06% Cu eq. in Hole SAE 20
Coda has identified and delineated three iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) targets in the Elizabeth Creek Project. The targets were identified following reinterpretation of geophysical and drilling data, and the Company is planning additional geophysical surveys and drilling in 2021.
The three targets identified for IOGC targets by Coda on the project are Emmie Bluff Deeps, Elaine, and Elizabeth North/Chianti North.
CODA Minerals holds a substantial mineral resource base of 19.5 Mt with grades of 0.8% Cu, 0.05% Co and 8.6 g/t Silver across the Windabout and MG14 prospects at the Elizabeth Creek project.
Share Price Movement
The Company closed its day’s trade on ASX at A$0.360, with a market cap of A$31.21 million as on 18 November 2020.
