Shares in Edenville Energy PLC (LON:EDL) sparked over 36% higher in London as it revealed big progress had been made on the development of its Rukwa coal to power project in Tanzania.
Among the milestones passed is that a project concept note (PCN) which started in July 2015 as part of a formal review process, has been reviewed and accepted by the State-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd ( Tanesco).
The group also revealed it was also in discussions with power plant developers that could finance the project up to construction.
Rufus Short, the chief executive and chairman of Edenville, told investors: "The project has now reached the critical point where the technical, financial and commercial requirements can be completed, in line with the timeframes and conditions set out by the Tanzanian authorities, as we also seek to secure the project finance.
"The completion of both the EIA and Mining Licence for the mine allows the power plant section of the project to proceed at a faster rate as a large proportion of the obligations concerning the fuel source have been completed."
The plan at Rukwa is to build a combined coal-to-power operation at an initial cost of US$175 mln.
The power plant would have an initial capacity of 120MW in the first phase of construction.
According to a feasibility study in 2015, there is enough coal in the ground at Mkomolo to support at least 30 years of power generation.
On a strategic level, the thinking is that the Rukwa operations could tie in with a national expansion of the grid.
Shares shot up 36.36% to 0.0375p.