- AIC Mines (A1M) taps investors for $30 million to support a staged expansion of its Eloise copper mine in North Queensland
- The company is looking to expand its existing processing plant at Eloise to process ore from the nearby Jericho copper-gold deposit
- Through a two-tranche placement, A1M hopes to raise enough capital to fund the initial work related to the Jericho mine development, including mining studies and drilling
- The placement comprises 66.7 million new shares at 45 cents per share — an 8.2 per cent discount to A1M’s last closing price of 49 cents
- Company shares resumed trade today and were down 5.1 per cent to trade at 46.5 cents at 1:46 pm AEDT
AIC Mines (A1M) has tapped investors for $30 million to support a staged expansion of its Eloise copper mine in North Queensland.
The company is looking to expand its existing processing plant at Eloise to process ore from the nearby Jericho copper-gold deposit.
Through a two-tranche placement, A1M is looking to raise enough capital to fund initial work related to the Jericho mine development, including mining studies, resource definition and resource extension drilling.
The placement comprises 66.7 million new shares at 45 cents per share, which is an 8.2 per cent discount to the last closing price of A1M’s shares of 49 cents.
The bulk of the placement shares will be issued under tranche one, which will seek to raise $25.3 million. Tranche two is subject to shareholder approval and includes 10.4 million shares to raise a further $4.7 million.
AIC Managing Director Aaron Colleran said the development of the Jericho mine would be “transformational” for the Eloise project by increasing copper and gold production while decreasing operating costs and extending mine life.
“It is encouraging to have received such strong investor support to enable us to start advancing the development and expansion work to keep the timeline to production at Jericho as tight as possible,” Mr Colleran said.
The shares issued under tranche one are expected to commence trading on February 16, while the general meeting to seek shareholder approval for tranche two is scheduled for March 29.
AIC has begun environmental permitting work as well as mining studies.
A processing plant expansion optimisation study is due to begin shortly to determine the optimal expansion from 750,000 tonnes per annum to between one to 1.4 million tonnes per annum.
Development of the mine is expected to begin at the start of the 2024 calendar year, with the first ore accessed by early 2025. However, the company is monitoring the current operating environment and inflation pressures before it determines the best timing and strategy for development.
Company shares resumed trade today and were down 5.1 per cent to trade at 46.5 cents at 1:46 pm AEDT.