Altona Energy shares have risen 14% in morning trading on news the firm has won approval from the South Australian Government for exploratory work at its Arckaringa project.
Altona also says it has agreed "key elements" of the work programme at Arckaringa with its joint venture partner, CNOOC NEI, which is a subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. CNOOC NEI has a 51% stake in the project.
The Arckaringa basin is a coal deposit in the middle of the state of South Australia, near the town of Coober Pedy.
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Altona belies it to be "one of the world's largest untapped energy banks". The current plan for the site envisages an integrated coal mine and a 10 million barrel per year coal-to-liquids plant.
The next phase of the project is to drill more bore holes to establish exactly how far the deposit extends and to take more coal samples to work out the type of coal that will be available.
Chris Lambert, chairman of Altona, commented: "Support for new fuels and power sources from the South Australian Government remains extremely strong and CNOOC-NEI have completed all delineation work required for them to push ahead with the next stage of the bankable feasability study".
At 09:15, shares in the AIM-listed Altona were at 6p. Since January the firm's value has dropped 47%.
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