Australia's Coda Completes 1,378 Meters of Hydrogeological Drilling and Advances Copper Exploration

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 28, Australia's Coda Minerals completed the drilling of 6 hydrogeological boreholes totaling 1,378 meters at the Elizabeth Creek copper-silver project in South Australia, and plans to move the drill rig to the Oakden prospect to carry out shallow copper exploration. The completed boreholes include 3 production wells and 3 monitoring wells, and the data will be used for the project's pre-feasibility study, groundwater assessment, and mining lease application.

The hydrogeological drilling was carried out at the Windabout open-pit prospect and the Emmie Bluff underground prospect. At Windabout, 1 production well and 1 monitoring well were completed, while at Emmie Bluff, 2 production wells and 2 monitoring wells were completed. Of these, the production wells totaled 614 meters of drilling, and the monitoring wells totaled 764 meters. The deepest monitoring well, MB26EB0001, reached 479 meters, and the deepest production well, PB26EB0001, reached 410 meters. The entire drilling program began on July 21, and the final borehole was completed on October 24.

The company plans to conduct pumping tests of up to 48 hours on each of the 3 production wells after completing site earthworks and brine runoff control facilities, while using the monitoring wells to record groundwater responses. The test results will be used to establish a regional hydrogeological model, assess mine dewatering, groundwater supply, and impacts on surrounding water resources, and provide a basis for open-pit and underground mining design.

The new round of mineral exploration will shift to the Oakden prospect, located approximately 15 kilometers south-southwest of the MG14 mineral resource area and the historical Cattle Grid open pit. In the first phase, 5 to 6 shallow reverse circulation boreholes are planned, with a total planned depth of 300 to 400 meters, focusing on verifying the mineralization results of historical borehole OK36. That historical borehole intersected a 3-meter mineralized interval with a copper grade of 1.15% below a depth of 39 meters.

The exploration will test the reliability of the historical results and investigate the continuity of mineralization within a surrounding range of approximately 50 to 200 meters and the morphology of the Tapley Hill Formation. If the first phase yields positive results, the company will consider adding 12 to 22 boreholes to expand investigation of the potential mineralized corridor.

The Elizabeth Creek project is currently still in the pre-feasibility study and development approval preparation stage. The hydrogeological survey results will be used for subsequent mine design and environmental assessment, while the Oakden exploration results will provide the basis for deciding whether to carry out expanded drilling.