The Russia and Colombia-focused developer said the approval from the Russian Federal Subsoil Agency was an important milestone towards obtaining exploration and mining licences for the project.

Tigers Realm Coal managing director and chief executive Martin Grant said the company would immediately begin preparing the application for a mining licence which would confirm legal tenure over the deposit for a period of up to 25 years.

“This clearly demonstrates that TIG and our Russian team have the necessary experience and capability to progress the project through the key permitting processes,” he said in a statement.

A mining licence for the project is targeted to be acquired in the 2012 fourth quarter.

The company said the site has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 406 million tonnes of coking coal, 308Mt of which has been identified in the open pit area less than 400m from the surface.

A prefeasibility study for Amaam is on track for completion in December 2012.

The PFS will seek to examine the most viable options for areas including integrated mining, coal washing, logistics and port allocation.

Tigers Realm has the opportunity to acquire an 80% stake in the project following the completion of a bankable feasibility study.