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    AIC fast-tracks Eloise copper expansion: plant and haulage implications for mine planners

    July 20, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    AIC fast-tracks Eloise copper expansion: plant and haulage implications for mine planners

    First reported on Australian Mining

    30 Second Briefing

    AIC Mines has accelerated the second-stage expansion of its Eloise processing plant in North Queensland by about two years, aiming to lift capacity from 1.1Mtpa to 1.5Mtpa and target up to 27,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2028–29. The fast-tracked upgrade is timed to align with advancing ore supply from the nearby Jericho deposit, where drilling at the Jolly Shoot is returning high-grade copper, gold and silver intercepts. For planners and metallurgists, the move signals earlier demand for additional power, water, tailings capacity and haulage integration between Eloise and Jericho.

    Technical Brief

    • Water supply, storage and recycling infrastructure will need rescheduling to match the brought-forward throughput.
    • Tailings storage expansion and deposition planning must be accelerated to accommodate higher mill tonnage earlier.
    • Similar brownfield copper plants could face comparable constraints when synchronising satellite ore sources with debottlenecking.

    Our Take

    High‑grade copper, gold and silver intercepts at Jericho’s Jolly Shoot (17 June 2026) mean the 1.1–1.5 Mtpa capacity uplift at Eloise is likely being sized with polymetallic feed in mind, which could improve unit economics and justify more aggressive mine scheduling in North Queensland.

    In our database of 1239 Mining stories, only a subset of copper items involve such a rapid schedule acceleration for plant expansions, suggesting AIC Mines is positioning Eloise as a relatively fast‑moving producer in the Australian copper space, potentially ahead of slower greenfield developments competing for capital.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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