The former geologist, analyst, investment banker and M&A consultant has been at the Josef El-Raghy-chaired AIC for a couple of years, during which time the company has gone from explorer to owner of the Eloise copper-gold mine in Queensland.

Eloise's relatively modest annual production of circa 12,000t of copper concentrate and 6000 ounces of gold corresponds with AIC's plans to start small and "use stepping stones" to build a portfolio of mines.

Eloise was acquired for A$7 million cash and $20 million worth of AIC shares from seasoned private mining company FMR.

For Colleran, there are some fundamental aspects to M&A success.

"A good deal needs to leverage your strengths and also address your weaknesses. Most companies know what their strengths are but many either don't know their weaknesses or stubbornly refuse to address them. M&A can be used to fill gaps, the weaknesses, as well as provide growth," he said.

"Once you've generated a transaction that leverages your strengths and addresses your weaknesses then it is just a matter of running it through the logical, value accretive and opportunistic filters.

"Closing deals is the hard part. Persistence is helpful but listening is key. Listen to your counterparty, understand what motivates them, understand what they need from a deal, not what they want but what they need, and then devise a structure that delivers what both parties need. Don't just focus on price, focus on structure. Oh, and get the timing right."

So, AIC is now generating cash as its exploration elsewhere in Australia continues.

The company has a big blue sky play in Western Australia near the world-class Telfer gold-copper operation and another in the vicinity of the big cash generating DeGrussa copper-gold mine.

Colleran studied geology because working outside and travelling appealed.

"I worked as an exploration geologist in WA and PNG and absolutely loved it, mainly due the run of great bosses I had at Placer Exploration," he said.

"It was actually working with some great people at Placer Exploration, people I'd go so far as calling geniuses, that I realised I didn't have the passion for geology required to be a great geologist.

"I enjoyed the job and I was good at it but I wasn't passionate about it. Financial markets were where my real passion was."

That led to a return to university to study commerce, after which he landed a "dream role" at Eyres Reed.

"I remain eternally grateful to John Macdonald (probably the best analyst in Australia ever) for giving me that break," Colleran says.

"I absolutely loved working with John who taught me the importance of doing detailed analysis and to fact-check everything.

"And the absolute importance of honesty, integrity and fortitude.

"At heart, I'm still a research analyst. I read constantly. I spend about an hour every morning researching copper companies and reading ASX announcements."

Following a few years as an analyst Colleran crossed into investment banking in Toronto and Sydney with CIBC and Standard Bank, before setting up his own M&A consultancy.

"This consultancy was a great success due to the support of key clients like Jim Askew, Jake Klein and Josef El-Raghy (Centamin).

"Later working directly with Jake (Evolution Mining) and now Josef were obvious progressions of the relationships built during my consulting days."

Asked what he'd been learning since taking the reins at AIC, Colleran responded:

"I'm learning that it's a lot harder than Jake made it look."

Aaron Colleran is a nominee for Emerging Leader of the Year in the 2022 MNN Awards.