AIC Mines Limited announced that it has applied for two large exploration licences in western New South Wales that are prospective for both base and precious metals (the "Delamerian Project"). The applications offer belt-scale exploration opportunities in an emerging, under- explored province in a premier operating jurisdiction. AIC has applied for two large exploration licences in the Delamerian Orogen in western New South Wales. The applications encompass an area of 1,936km2 at the northern end of the Koonenberry Belt, 60 kilometres east of Tibooburra (ELA6413) and an area of 2,344km2 in the Loch Lilly-Kars Belt (ELA6414), 55 kilometres southeast of Broken Hill. The Delamerian Orogen comprises Late Neoproterozoic to Ordovician rock sequences stretching from eastern South Australian, through western New South Wales and Victoria to western Tasmania. It encompasses the remnants of an accretionary craton margin that hosts Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rift related mafic magmatism and Middle Cambrian to Early Ordovician felsic magmatism. The mineral potential of the orogen is well recognised in the areas where it outcrops ­ the Adelaide Fold Belt in South Australia, the Stavely Belt in Victoria and the Mount Read Volcanics in Tasmania ­ however large portions of the orogen are covered by younger basins, such as the Murray Basin. This has deterred exploration historically and has limited the understanding of the orogen's full mineral potential. The northern portion of the orogen is composed of the partially exposed Koonenberry Belt. In this region, ELA 6413 captures approximately 80 kilometres of strike of a covered extension of Late Neoproterozoic Kara Formation which hosts primitive mafic igneous intrusives of the Mt Arrowsmith Volcanics. The presence of extensive mafic/ultramafic sill complexes in craton margin sediments is considered analogous to settings that host large Ni-Cu -PGE sulphide systems globally (e.g. Albany Fraser Belt in Western Australia and the Circum-Superior Belt in Canada). The southern application, ELA6414 covers approximately 150 kilometres of strike of the Loch Lilly-Kars Belt under the shallowing margins of the Murray Basin. The application has secured almost the entire Loch Lilly-Kars Belt. Based on geophysical and drill hole data, the belt is interpreted as consisting of geological sequences formed in a back-arc basin setting. These settings are known to host Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposits. There is also evidence of felsic high-level subvolcanic intrusions, often associated with magmatic related copper deposits, and mafic intrusive complexes providing Ni-Cu-PGE potential. A series of major belt-scale faults are observable that would act as major fluid flow conduits
during both early extensions and later deformation of the belt. The project represents a low cost entry into an emerging province. Initial work will focus on compilation and interpretation of existing geophysical and exploration data. This will then be integrated with the mineral potential data being collected by the Geological Survey of South Australia, together with the MinEx Cooperative Research Centre, as part of a multiyear precompetitive geoscience program aimed at both stimulating mineral exploration beneath the younger Murray Basin cover and unlocking the resource potential of the Delamerian Orogen. This initiative, along with supplementary precompetitive data collected by the Geological Survey of NSW, will provide learnings and insights into the geological constraints on mineral prospectivity translatable to the Delamerian Orogen in New South Wales.