"Not only does this give us approval to conduct bulk sampling, trenching and diamond drilling, this establishes Irving as a mining company in Japan," president and director Akiko Levinson said.

Levinson is also on the board of Western Australian conglomerate gold-focused Novo Resources. Novo chairman Dr Quinton Hennigh is a director of Irving, after the pair worked together at Gold Canyon Resources.

Following the approval from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Irving said it must now submit its Omui mine safety regulation for acceptance.

It is working with Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering and Rodren Drilling to mobilise a diamond drill to Omu.

Irving completed the acquisition of the project in February and received approval in May for nine of the 50 further prospecting licences it has applied for near Omu.

The company also has joint venture agreements with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) for exploration programmes in Tanzania, Malawi and Madagascar.

It reported working capital of C$4.7 million (US$3.6 million) at the end of August and has since received close to $600,000 (US$457,000) through the exercise of warrants.

Shares in the company were trading around C80c a year ago and rose 11.57% yesterday to $1.35 to capitalise it at $55 million.