Aspire has only drilled about 10% of its Ovoot project in the Ovoot Basin, about 60 kilometres from the Russian border.

The second batch of samples backed up earlier quality results.

Aspire has tested about 124 samples, or 36% of the samples received so far, and noted that no thermal coal fraction was present.

Coal washability results indicated the raw coal could yield 87% of product coking coal with a 7.7% ash content and a crucible swelling number (CSN) of 8.7.

“With such low ash results, it is likely that not all of the raw coal will need to be washed to produce a high-quality blended product,” Aspire said.

The average raw coal quality is at 6541 kilocalories per kilogram, with ash of 20.2% and sulfur of 1.1%, all on an air-dried basis.

This raw coal also averages a CSN of 7.5 and inherent moisture of 0.7% (adb).

A rig is undertaking infill drilling to establish a “direct ship ore” operating open pit.

Another rig will drill possible resource extension targets by the end of this month.

Aspire shares closed up 4.9% to 75c on Friday.