Authorities in the Asian nation has given the green light to the $30 million joint venture between Australian coal-based energy company MetroCoal Ltd (ASX: MTE) and a Chinese state-owned company.

MetroCoal said on Monday that the China Coal Import & Export Company (CCIE) received approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

"The transaction has been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and the joint venture agreement will now become unconditional upon the minister giving indicative consent to the assignment of a 51 per cent interest in the tenement to CCIE."

According to MetroCoal, its joint venture terms with China Coal would give the Chinese company up to 51 percent of stakes in the Columboola project on Surat Basin in exchange for a $30 million expenditure commitment that the foreign company is set to provide.

In an earlier 2009 prospectus, the Australian miner declared that it was targeting an exploration goal of between 830 million tonnes and 1165 million tonnes of thermal coal for the Columboola project site, figures which were predominantly suited for underground mining.

The funds raised from the deal will be used to explore and evaluate the potential for future commercialisation options within the permit, MetroCoal said.

Last week, MetroCoal was forced to issue a clarification that the company has yet to finalise its actual resource estimate on its Columboola project in central Queensland following statements from its Chinese partner that showed estimates based merely on historic and publicly accessed data.