AIC Mines Restricted has introduced the award of an engineering, procurement, and development (EPC) contract for the enlargement of the Eloise processing facility, in Queensland, Australia, to GR Engineering Providers.
The EPC contract is to permit the Eloise processing facility to develop from the present 725,000 t/y capability to 1.1 Mt/y throughput capability, with the pact being on a hard and fast value foundation of A$77.6 million ($50.3 million) together with provisional sums (excluding contingency). The fee consists of roughly A$11.4 million of outsized tools to permit for a simple later enlargement to 1.5 Mt/y throughput capability, it famous.
Development is anticipated to begin in October 2025. This might see the 1.1 Mt/y enlargement prepared for tie-in and commissioning within the December 2026 quarter. This schedule aligns with the ramp-up in manufacturing on the Jericho deposit the place first improvement ore is anticipated to be intersected in June 2026. The enlargement of the Eloise processing plant and ongoing improvement of the Jericho deposit is forecast to carry annual manufacturing to over 20,000 t/y copper in focus from the 2028 monetary 12 months, up from the present 12,500 t/y.
The scope of the enlargement contains the design, procurement, development, set up and commissioning of the expanded processing plant, together with:
- New crushing and screening plant;
- New grinding and classification circuit;
- New rougher flotation cell; and
- New focus filtration circuit.
The enlargement has been designed to minimise impression on present Eloise operations throughout development, AIC Mines mentioned.
Commenting on the EPC contract award, AIC Mines’ Managing Director, Aaron Colleran, mentioned: “GR Engineering put ahead a aggressive tender for the Eloise enlargement function and have proven a dedication to working carefully with AIC Mines to ship the enlargement safely, effectively and with minimal disruption to our present operations. I look ahead to working with them over the subsequent 18 months as we remodel Eloise right into a cornerstone asset.”
Eloise is a high-grade working underground mine 60 km southeast of Cloncurry in north Queensland. It commenced manufacturing in 1996 and has since produced roughly 376,000 t of copper and 185,000 oz of gold. AIC Mines acquired a 100% curiosity within the mine in November 2021.
Present operations include an underground mine accessed by way of decline. The higher ranges of the mine (above 1,190 m beneath floor) are extracted by longhole open stoping and the decrease ranges are extracted by sublevel caving and longhole open stoping. Eloise is an owner-miner operation with a mining contractor used for underground improvement and manufacturing drilling.
Eloise ore is processed by way of a standard processing circuit consisting of three stage crushing, grinding, sulphide flotation and focus filtration. Metallurgically the ore could be very constant because the ore mineralogy at Eloise is sort of completely chalcopyrite. Processing achieves copper recoveries round 94-95% and produces a clear focus, the corporate states. The focus has important by-product credit from gold and silver.
