EMED Mining said that, while it has yet to be issued, the crucial permitting for the restart of the Rio Tinto copper mine is now at an advanced stage.

The mine developer is awaiting a key sign off termed ‘Administrative Standing’ and it told shareholders that the company has been ‘consistently advised, albeit informally, that there are no outstanding matters other than a regulatory policy to await the approval of the environmental plans’.

Based on the process to date and the current status the environmental sign off would ‘ordinarily be capable of approval’ in the first quarter of 2013.

The company could still be on course for commissioning by the end of next year.

Mr Harry Anagnostaras-Adams MD said in a statement that "We are poised at a very delicate and exciting stage, working very closely with the authorities in Andalucía and making every effort to expedite the triggering of the project, to start commissioning by the end of 2013 and ramp-up production by the end of 2015.”