Before I started, I just wanted to check if there's anyone here from Hervey Bay. I'm looking for a 58-year-old man from Hervey Bay, because apparently you're our average shareholder. Here's some interesting data from the comps from CommSec based on the CommSec client ownership of AIC Mines. As I'm sure I'm not the only one in this room that's got a CommSec account, CommSec clients make up 36% of the AIC Mines registered by number and 10% by value. Our average shareholder, according to the CommSec database, is a 58-year-old man from Hervey Bay. I'd be actually keen to meet the guy. Thank you for your support. Hang in there. AUD 10,000 worth of stock. That's not a bad start. We've got an SPP. Put the rest in. Des, Phil, I think we need this conference Hervey Bay next year. There's some smart people up there. Enough.
Let's get on with this story. AIC Mines is a growth-oriented Australian copper mining company. We own and operate the Eloise Copper Mine, located 60 km southeast of Cloncurry, and we're developing the nearby brand new copper mine called Jericho to expand our production up to 20,000 tons per annum copper. AIC Mines is a great investment proposition. It ticks all the boxes. It has a board with a track record of success, directors who have built mines and built companies before, a management team with a track record of success, a cash flow producing asset, a growth asset that is permitted and funded in Australia and highly leveraged to the copper price.
With an enterprise value of AUD 170 million and with the recently announced AUD 55 million placement, AUD 10 million SPP, and AUD 60 million prepayment facility, we've locked in the funding to expand the Eloise pPlant and develop the new Jericho mine. We have a supportive shareholder base with recent notable additions of Mount Gibson Iron and Hawke's Point, and importantly, the board and management team are large shareholders, so very aligned with shareholders. Our strategy is to build a new mid-tier Australian copper and gold mining company. We're progressing well on that journey, and while we have not yet assembled the asset portfolio of a mid-tier, we have assembled the people and the skills that will allow us to deliver those assets. We have a great operations team. At Eloise, we have shown we can manage an operational turnaround and deliver reliable results.
Our exploration team has delivered exceptional growth at both Eloise and Jericho, and I believe they are one of the most successful teams currently operating in the Mount Isa -Cloncurry region. Although, like Andrew Barker earlier, I'm very biased. We are building our project development skills on the back of the Jericho development and the Eloise expansion. We are building that team not only for Jericho, but to be ready to build our next mine as soon as we either acquire it or discover it. We continue to search for our next mine to build a portfolio of assets from which we can create value and deliver consistent, reliable results. We own and operate the Eloise Copper Mine. It's a high-grade underground mine located 60 km southeast of Cloncurry. Now, we talk a lot about Jericho, and we're very, obviously, very excited about Jericho, but don't underestimate Eloise.
Eloise has resources for another 10 years of production and potential to extend resources at depth and potential for new discoveries in parallel structures like Lens 6, discovered only a few years ago. Eloise is a great little mine that after almost 30 years is still going strong. We released our June quarterly report on Monday, and I'm proud, very proud to say that Eloise achieved its quarterly guidance and also full-year guidance. That's the second year and the eighth quarter in a row that Eloise has met or exceeded guidance. That's impressive. We have a great team at Eloise, and we'll bring all their skill and experience to bear on the development of Jericho. We're expecting an even better year in FY 2026. We're guiding slightly higher production at commensurately slightly lower costs.
We're developing the Jericho deposit located three km south of Eloise and expanding the Eloise processing plant to lift copper production to 20,000 tons per annum. The change that is currently underway at Eloise is transformational. In two years' time, it will be a different project, larger, lower cost, and longer life. Mining at Jericho will be lower cost than Eloise because it is much shallower, commencing beneath only 50 meters worth of cover. Expansion of the Eloise processing plant will further reduce our operating costs through economies of scale and more efficient new equipment. We're developing Jericho via a 3 km link drive, an underground access drive from the Eloise decline, directly off that decline. The access drive is progressing well, is on track to reach first development ore at Jericho in June 2026.
Mining at Jericho then ramps up over 12 months to achieve an initial production rate of 600,000 tons per annum by June 2027. We need the plant expansion commissioned by the end of 2026 as Jericho production starts to ramp up. That's doable. We have all the approvals we need. We have our financing in place, and we've appointed GR Engineering to construct the new plant items. Earthwork commences in August, and construction will commence in October, with commissioning expected during the December 2026 quarter. We're expanding Eloise plant to 1.1 million tons per annum capacity. However, the recent exploration success we've had at Jericho gives us the confidence that over time we will be able to ramp up production from Jericho to 1.5 million tons per annum.
We've asked GR Engineering to do, you know, what we've asked them to do is build us a plant, a 1.1 million ton per annum plant that can be easily upgraded to 1.5 million tons per annum. Key equipment is being sized at the 1.5 million ton per annum capacity. That oversized equipment is obviously costing us more upfront, but it gives us the ability to expand quickly and cheaply when Jericho hits a 1.5 million ton per annum mining rate. We estimate that the second stage expansion at Eloise could be completed as cheaply as AUD 10 million. Including that oversized equipment might cost us more upfront, but it is the smart choice. It avoids higher costs and delays associated with retrofitting or replacing equipment later. At 1.1 million tons per annum, it will be a great project, generating 20,000 tons per annum copper at 10% lower cost than currently.
At 1.5 million tons per annum, it will get even better, generating approximately 24,000 tons per annum copper at costs a further 10% lower. What it means is that Eloise will be very leveraged to the copper price. It will be ready to produce more copper as soon as copper prices push higher. Of note, we expect AIC Mines to become the go-to ASX stock for copper leverage. If you want leverage to the strong supply-demand fundamentals of copper, then look no further than AIC Mines. Jericho is a brand new deposit. It's never been mined, and only the top 500 meters has been drilled. Our exploration team had great success in calendar year 2024, delivering a 33% increase in copper and a 39% increase in gold contained in mineral resources at Jericho, at a discovery cost of AUD 0.02 per pound. There is a lot more to come.
Jericho is open along strike and at depth. We've had some great recent results from the north end of Jericho at Matilda North, Jolly, and Tucker in particular. The results were much better than expected. This has important positive implications for the ramp-up. We're now looking at the potential for a faster ramp-up. Also, don't overlook the significance of the recent drill hole completed at the Billabong chute, shown on the bottom diagram if you've got good eyes. This was a 380-meter step-out hole, not the 10 and 20 and 40s that you hear about from other presenters. This was a 380-meter step-out hole, down plunge, and bang, we hit. Estimated true width, we don't play with these down-hole intercepts, estimated true width of 4.1 meters, grading 2.4% copper. A 380-meter step-out hole, testament to the continuity and the strength of this ore body.
The combined resource base we now have for the Eloise plant, 28.4 million tons, grading 2% copper and 0.4 grams per ton gold, is larger than at any time in its 30-year history. Regionally, we're now exploring for transformational discoveries. Discoveries that will make an immediate and material impact on production. Discoveries at a higher grade than Eloise or materially larger than Jericho. Sure, a high bar, but with that size resource, that's what we need to make a material change, a transformation yet again to this project. We have the tenement holding, 2,000 square km of prospective tenements. We have the knowledge, the geophysical, geochemical, geological, and structural understanding that can only come through mining. The regional exploration program that we have underway will test more targets than have been tested in this region in the past 10 years, possibly the past 30 years.
To wrap up, we have a board with the right skills and experience for a growth company, directors who have built mines and built companies before. We have an experienced management team with skills across mining, development, exploration, and M&A. We've transformed Eloise into a reliable mine with a robust 10-year outlook. We're adding value through the development of Jericho, transforming Eloise into a long-life mine of meaningful size. We're adding value through exploration. We are one of the most active explorers in the Mount Isa -Cloncurry region, and the stock is cheap. The stock is trading 75% below the average analyst target price at the moment. Why? The share price is currently being held back by the inevitable selling during an SPP period.
I won't say bad things about SPPs because I know I'm in a room full of people who love an SPP, but there's inevitable selling around an SPP. The SPP closes on Monday, this coming Monday, thankfully, and I expect it is then onwards and upwards from there. Thank you.