Caravel Minerals Limited has rescheduled the release of the Definitive Feasibility Study for the Caravel Copper Project to the fourth quarter of 2026, moving away from its previously advised September 2026 completion target.

The delay is driven by four active workstreams designed to refine technical and environmental data. An additional eight-week metallurgical testwork programme is underway to improve final copper concentrate grades and recovery rates, produce sufficient concentrate for marketing, and re-assay earlier samples to establish gold and silver recoveries.

Parallel work involves completing numerical groundwater modelling for the Yarragadee and Leederville aquifers to support the Gillingarra borefield hydrogeological report and secure water extraction strategy acceptance from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Caravel is also updating its Environmental Review Document to incorporate recent survey results and water modelling before submitting a comprehensive package to the Environmental Protection Authority ahead of the Public Environmental Review.

Additionally, the company is conducting a detailed internal review of the process plant capital cost estimate prepared by Primero Group, appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction management contractor in August 2025.

The study is backed by a financial position that includes a $15 million royalty funding agreement secured with Regal Resources Royalties Fund in June 2026.

“The DFS is the document we will take to funders and partners, and it needs to be the most de-risked and economically robust study we can produce. On its release we move into the next phase of the Project, which is funding and joint venture partnering ahead of a Final Investment Decision. A matter of weeks now is a small investment in the quality of what we put in front of that audience.”

— Don Hyma, Managing Director

Following the release of the study in the fourth quarter of 2026, Caravel plans to transition into project funding and joint venture partnering discussions. The company targets a Final Investment Decision for the Caravel Copper Project by the end of 2027.

Read the full announcement: DFS Revised Completion Timing