AIC Mines (ASX: A1M) has unveiled an 86% increase in the ore reserve estimate for its 100% owned Jericho copper deposit, located four kilometres south of the company’s Eloise Copper Mine in Queensland.
Highlights
- Jericho ore reserves have increased following incorporation of results from the 2023 drilling program and updated mine designs.
- Jericho Ore Reserves now total 3.2Mt grading 1.9% Cu and 0.4g/t Au containing 61,100 tonnes of copper and 37,000 ounces of gold, representing an:
o 86% increase in contained copper; and
o 86% increase in contained gold.
- Jericho mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth.
- Ongoing drilling is expected to further increase Jericho Ore Reserves. While most of this drilling will be completed from underground positions following development of Jericho, surface drilling planned for the 2024 field season will target down plunge extensions of the known high-grade shoots at Jericho and the recently discovered Swagman shoot.
“We completed the acquisition of Jericho in January last year. We’ve barely owned the deposit for 12 months and in this time we have significantly increased the Jericho Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve, completed mining studies, environmental studies, metallurgical testwork plus an Eloise expansion study. It has been an incredibly busy and incredibly successful period for AIC Mines,” Managing Director Aaron Colleran said.
“Why are we pushing so hard, moving so quickly? Simple, Jericho is a game changer for Eloise. It provides a pathway to expanding annual production at Eloise to over 20,000 tonnes of copper and 10,000 ounces of gold in concentrate.
“Mining at Jericho will be lower cost than Eloise as it is much shallower, commencing below only 50m of cover. Expansion of the Eloise processing plant will reduce operating costs through economies of scale and smarter equipment. Jericho de-risks production by increasing the number of available ore sources.”
“The world needs more copper as we transition away from fossil fuels. We are focused on delivering into that demand.”
