Coda Minerals reported promising laboratory-scale cobalt flotation results at its Elizabeth Creek Copper-Silver Project in South Australia on October 22, 2026. The testwork investigated the potential to recover additional cobalt from material remaining after leaching.

According to the company's announcement, flotation tests recovered up to 83% of the cobalt remaining in the leach residue into a concentrate representing approximately 4% of the residue mass. The concentrate contained 1.48% cobalt.

The results indicate that adding a flotation stage after leaching may provide an additional recovery opportunity for cobalt-bearing minerals that remain in the processing residue.

Combining flotation with hydrometallurgical processing may help mining operators evaluate additional metal recovery opportunities. However, the results are based on laboratory batch tests and do not establish the overall recovery rate or commercial viability of a full-scale processing circuit.

Further metallurgical testing and economic assessment are required before the approach can be confirmed for industrial application.

Flotation performance depends on mineral composition, particle size, liberation characteristics, pulp conditions, and the configuration of the processing circuit. Selecting suitable flotation equipment requires evaluating these factors alongside throughput and recovery targets.

For mining operations investigating additional recovery stages, laboratory testwork can help establish process requirements and guide subsequent equipment selection.