ASX-listed mining company Alice Queen has secured approvals for two highly prospective critical minerals projects in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

The projects, namely Gongolgon and Byrock, are located near Sky Metals’ Doradilla rare earth elements (REE) and Legacy Minerals. The projects cover an area of nearly 3,072km².

The 1,632km² Byrock project has a prospective for REE as it is located next to the Doradilla project.

According to NSW Geological Survey, the ‘Compton Downs Granite’ within the licence area extends more than 7km in length.

It is claimed to be a "Granodiorite with local pegmatite and variably altered".

The geochemistry and the extent of pegmatites are currently unknown, though they are said to show significant potential.

Therefore, immediate exploration programmes are being sought to map and sample the area.

Furthermore, the Byrock project includes other mineral occurrences such as gold, tin and copper within the application area.

The Gongolgon project is located 37km from Brewarrina and covers 1,440km².

The area is covered in a large-gravity low anomaly, which indicates an extensive granite intrusion complex.

There is also a small area of outcrop on the southern edge of the anomaly. Most of the remaining area is under shallow regolith cover and is unexplored.

In 2011, NSW Geological Survey reported that the Gongolgon has high values of tungsten, uranium, thorium and rare earth elements.

The presence of tourmaline and other metasomatic indicators signifies that the area has interacted with a magmatic volatile phase during crystallisation and cooling.

The metallogenic potential of the granite indicates tin and tungsten mineralisation.