It received approval from Romania's National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) last week for the association licence applied for in August and this week signed a pre-agreed commercial contract with head licence holder Baita SA to gain the right to mine.

CEO Andrew Prelea said, with the commercial association contract executed and the money settled, the company aimed to quickly get a proper re-start team on the ground. 

The company is aiming to start production from Baita Plai in the first half of 2019.

Vast signed an offtake with Mercuria Energy Trading in January for up to 100% of the copper and zinc concentrate produced at its Manaila and Baita Plai projects.

Vast's shares rose 4.17% on the news to 0.62p (US0.82c) Tuesday.