AIC Mines Hits High-Grade Gold and Copper in Extended Drilling at Jericho Project

AIC Mines (ASX: A1M) continues to define a significant ore body with new results from resource definition and extension drilling at its Jericho copper project in North Queensland.

Along with its resource definition drilling at the Jolly shoot target, AIC has returned several significant high-grade intercepts and confirmed an extensive zone of high-grade mineralisation that remains open down plunge.

“These are important results [that] increase orebody confidence and add high-grade mineralisation at the northern end of the Jericho deposit—closer to the Jericho Link drive and closer to the Eloise processing facility,” managing director Aaron Colleran said.

High-Grade Hits

Highlights from the recent drilling at the Tucker shoot (J2 lens) include 7.0 metres grading 2.4% copper and 0.4 grams per tonne gold from 186m, 6.0m at 2.4% copper and 1.8g/t gold from 186m, and 7.2m at 2.8% copper and 0.5g/t gold from 284m.

Mineralisation at Jericho, which is located 4 kilometres south of the Eloise copper mine and processing plant, is defined over a strike length of 5km and remains open to the north and south.

AIC has so far identified mineralisation commencing at approximately 50m below surface and extending to a vertical depth of 650m below surface—the current drilling limit.

Billabong-Swagman Shoots

AIC believes there is potential to develop higher-grade mineralisation on the J2 lens in the approximately 1km distance between the Billabong and Swagman shoots.

Mineralisation in the region occurs predominantly in two parallel lenses (J1 and J2), with higher-grade shoots such as Jumbuck, Matilda and Billabong within them.

AIC also owns the Eloise copper mine, a high-grade operating underground mine located south-east of Cloncurry in northern Queensland.

Recent Share Placement

AIC received firm commitments of $55 million from institutional and sophisticated investors for a placement in June.

The company intends to use the placement proceeds to fund the expansion of the Eloise processing plant, the development of the new Jericho copper mine, and additional exploration drilling.

AIC also has the ability to call upon the $61.4m prepayment facility it has in place with Trafigura Asia Trading,