AIC Mines has transformed the Eloise copper mine from a hand-to-mouth operation expected to close in 2023 to a great little project with a big future, according to chief executive officer Aaron Colleran.

Presenting at the company’s AGM, Mr Colleran said the site was off to a good start for the 2024-25 financial year, having already produced 4586t of copper in concentrate at an AISC of $4.75/lb.

This was well ahead of where it needed to be to achieve its full-year target of 12,500t copper and 5,000oz gold, he said.

It comes on top of a 27 per cent increase in production and an 8 per cent reduction in cost last financial year, when Eloise produced 13,412t of copper in concentrate at an AISC of $5.15/lb, beating guidance.

AIC Mines took ownership of the Eloise copper mine, about 60km south-east of Cloncurry, in November 2021, completing a $27 million acquisition deal with FMR Investments.

The project now has a resource-base larger than at any time in its 30-year history and Mr Colleran said the potential to further expand resources and reserves remained excellent.

“Recent drilling completed in the Upper Levels and Lens 6 at Eloise and at the Matilda shoot and at the northern end of Jericho provides confidence that mineral resources and ore reserves will again be increased,” he said.

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AIC Mines has work underway on a $50 million link drive between the producing Eloise operation and the Jericho deposit, where it expects to reach first development ore in June 2026, and it is expanding the processing plant at Eloise to cater for that new mine.

Mr Colleran said recent exploration at Jericho had been far more successful than expected – raising the question of whether the planned expansion of the Eloise processing plant to 1.1Mtpa was big enough.

The estimated capital cost of the expansion is $60 million, however Mr Colleran said that might change as the company now considered ensuring that the expansion to 1.1Mtpa was completed in a way that meant a second stage expansion to 1.5Mtpa would be straightforward.

He said the company was proceeding with an EPC (Engineer Procure Construct) contractor delivery strategy for that expansion, with tender documents due to be issued early in the new year.

“We continue to have banks and concentrate offtakers who are keen to fund the expansion,” Mr Colleran said.

With AIC adding value through the development of Jericho and expansion at Eloise, he said the operation would be a better mine in five years’ time than it was today.

“It will have higher production at lower cost and a longer reserve life. That’s pretty special,” he said.

As at the end of 2023, Eloise and Jericho mineral resources totalled 22.9Mt grading 2.1 per cent copper and 0.5g/t gold for 471,950t copper and 353,950oz gold.

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