AIC Mines Secures $55m to Fund Eloise Expansion, Eyes Mid-Tier Copper Status
AIC Mines has raised $55 million from institutional investors to underpin the expansion of its Eloise copper processing facility in North Queensland, as the miner moves to double production capacity and bring the nearby Jericho deposit into development.
The capital raising, announced Tuesday, was executed at 30 cents per share—a 9.1 per cent discount to AIC’s last traded price—and received strong backing from existing major shareholders, alongside new institutional investors from the UK and North America.
The funding injection coincides with a US$40 million prepayment and offtake agreement secured with commodity trader Trafigura, which, together with an additional $10 million share purchase plan aimed at retail shareholders, is expected to fully fund the planned expansion works.
The expansion will lift Eloise’s throughput from 725,000 tonnes per annum to 1.1 million tonnes, with commissioning targeted for the December quarter of 2026. GR Engineering Services has been awarded a $77.6 million fixed-price EPC contract to deliver the project.
Managing director Aaron Colleran said the capital raised would allow AIC to fully commit to its growth ambitions, including development of the Jericho copper deposit—located 4km south of the existing mine site—and a comprehensive exploration program across the company’s 2,000 square kilometre tenement package.
“This capital raising allows AIC Mines to fully commit to the expansion of the Eloise processing plant and development of the new Jericho copper mine,” Mr Colleran said. “New shares have been preferentially placed to large long-term oriented resource investors.”
AIC said $11.4 million of the plant expansion budget would be allocated to oversizing key processing equipment, enabling a potential second-stage expansion to 1.5Mtpa throughput with minimal additional capital.
Development of the Jericho deposit—via a 3km underground link drive that is already 50 per cent complete—is expected to deliver first development ore in June 2026. Combined, Eloise and Jericho are projected to support annual copper production in excess of 20,000 tonnes from FY28 onwards.
At midday Tuesday, AIC shares were trading at 33 cents, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately $190 million.
Hawke’s Point, a London-based resources investment firm, has joined AIC’s register through a $5 million allocation in the placement and entered into a strategic agreement to potentially support future funding rounds should its shareholding rise above 9 per cent.
The fundraising effort follows a sustained period of planning and due diligence, with AIC seeking to position itself as a mid-tier copper producer amid heightened investor interest in copper as a critical mineral. Copper prices have remained resilient in 2025, driven by structural demand from the global energy transition.
Gold, which contributes valuable by-product credits to AIC’s production profile, has also traded strongly in recent weeks, with the Australian dollar spot price hovering around $5,205 per ounce.
AIC acquired the Eloise mine in late 2021 and has since advanced it from a modest-scale underground operation to the centrepiece of a growth strategy focused on copper and gold. Eloise has produced 376,000 tonnes of copper and 185,000 ounces of gold since 1996 and remains a consistent performer with current guidance of 12,500t Cu and 5,000oz Au in FY25.
With mining approvals in place and a fixed-price EPC contract now secured, execution risks are materially reduced, although the integration of Jericho remains subject to development progress and copper market conditions.
The Share Purchase Plan will open on July 3 and close on July 28, with new shares issued on August 1.