Australian critical metals producer, Queensland Pacific (ASX:QPM), experienced a significant increase in its shares, soaring as much as 9.7% to A$0.068.

This is the highest level the shares have reached since Sept.

The company announced that its unit, QPM Energy, had received approval from the Queensland State Government under the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act (ECBC).

This series of approvals specifically pertains to what is being called ‘Northern Hub’, located 43 km north of the company’s Moranbah Project in Eastern Australia.

In addition to these major approvals, Queensland Pacific (ASX:QPM) also met all native title requirements for the Northern Hub.

The ECBC approval enables the company to develop infrastructure that will allow for the collection of waste gas from coal mines located north of their existing operations and to connect these into the North Queensland Gas Pipeline.

Despite this surge, the company’s stock is still down 43.6% YTD, as of the last close.

Queensland Pacific (ASX:QPM) is an Australian-based critical metals producer.