AIC Mines Limited (ASX: A1M) has raised expectations for its Jericho copper deposit in north Queensland, posting an update to its ore reserve estimate, showing an 86 percent increase in contained copper and a further 86 percent in contained gold.
The new ore reserve now sits at 3.2 million tonnes at grades of 1.9 percent copper and 0.4 grams per tonne of gold, yielding 61,100 tonnes of copper and 37,000 ounces of gold.
The update is based on AIC’s 2023 drilling program, in addition to updated mine design work at the deposit, which is located 4 kilometres from the company’s Eloise copper mine.
Managing director Aaron Colleran said AIC had been working quickly to build the ore reserves at the deposit.
“We completed the acquisition of Jericho in January last year,” he said.
“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.”
He added that production from the Jericho deposit would add value to the Eloise copper mine.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
AIC is continuing drilling to increase the ore reserves at Jericho, with work concentrating on underground positions, although surface drilling is also on the agenda during the 2024 exploration program.
AIC is trading at 36c.