The approval extends EL7429 to December 18, 2019.

Malabar said project activities continued to be focused on preparing the environmental impact statement and development application for submission later this year.

In its recent half-year results Malabar flagged seeking a strategic partner for the Spur Hill project at the “appropriate juncture” while it was also investigating longer term financing options for project development.

The company has a 37.39% interest in the Spur Hill Joint venture with the right to acquire up to 80% interest.

While engineering work remains underway, last year the project was targeting 6-8 million tonnes per annum of capacity with first longwall coal expected in the second half of 2018.

The project is near the Mt Arthur mine and Anglo American’s Drayton South project.