Jericho’s first mining area is ‘exceeding all our expectations’
AIC Mines is finding more than it bargained for at the Jolly Shoot, the first area slated for mining at its Jericho copper deposit in north-west Queensland.
Recent drilling has returned high-grade copper, gold and silver results, continuing a run of strong assays that are reshaping expectations for the deposit ahead of first ore.
“Jericho is proving to be a great orebody – exceeding all our expectations in terms of strike extent, continuity and now grade, particularly the gold grade,” AIC Mines managing director Aaron Colleran said.
The latest results include intersections of 9.2m at 3.2 per cent copper, 1.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 10g/t silver, as well as 8.1m at 2.5 per cent copper, 0.7g/t gold and 8g/t silver. Another hole returned 2.2m at 7.1 per cent copper, 0.4g/t gold and 16g/t silver.
But the numbers tell only part of the story.
Jolly sits close to the Jericho access drive and will become the first mining area developed at the Jericho deposit, making the latest drilling an important milestone as AIC works towards bringing the project into production.
Jericho is located just 4km south of the operating Eloise copper mine and processing plant near Cloncurry in north-west Queensland. The deposit is being developed as the next phase of growth for the operation, with plans to lift copper production from about 12,500 tonnes per annum to around 20,000 tonnes per annum.
“The December 2026 quarter is set to be the most exciting quarter in AIC Mines’ short history. I look forward to seeing this ore being fed into the new crusher.”
Drilling continues to confirm mineralisation extends beyond the current mine design, with further work planned to test the full scale of the system and support future growth at Jericho.