Orange will host a major international geology and exploration conference, which will be held in the city in April next year, Minister for Mineral Resources Ian Macdonald said today.

The Island Arcs conference, which is being organised by the Geological Survey Branch of NSW Department of Primary Industries, will be held from April 13 - 21 2009.

"This is a major international coup - the conference will attract 200 to 300 people from overseas and Australia," Mr Macdonald said.

"The week-long event will provide a welcome economic boost to the city.

"There was tough competition to host this conference from cities in Europe and Ireland.

"The conference will focus on the evolution of chains of volcanic islands, known as island arcs, which lie along the boundaries between major tectonic plates.

"Orange won the conference, not only for the logical reason of its status as a major centre of mining and mineral exploration but also because it has a well understood and well preserved island arc."

Orange was awarded the conference during an International Geological Congress meeting in Taiwan recently.

This conference will be the third in a series of arc conferences, with one held in Taiwan earlier this year and a further one to be held at Ufa in Russia later this year.

Other key themes will be:

How older island arcs, tens to hundreds of millions years old, have collided in the past with continents

How and where mineral deposits form in these old, collided island arcs

Where to look for new mineral deposits

"These themes are very relevant to the economic development of NSW since most of the gold and copper in NSW comes from two belts of island arc rocks in the Central West," Mr Macdonald said.

As part of the conference, there will be field trips to local mines and key aspects of Macquarie Arc geology.

"These visitors are keen to see the major NSW mineral deposits and also the results of DPI research into the evolution of Macquarie Arc."

Media contact: Tom Braz 0428 256 596