Following agreements with two Russian port operators, Australia’s Aspire Mining said it has secured export routes to Europe and northern Asia for its fully-owned Ovoot coking coal project in Mongolia.

Aspire’s deal with Russia’s OTECO, the Taman Port operator on the Black Sea, will enable it to load coall onto the connecting Trans-Siberian Railway from the Russian town of Naushki located near the border with Mongolia for delivery to steel producers in eastern and southern Europe. OTECO is building a coal-handling terminal in Taman Port due for start-up in 2015.

Aspire said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with OTECH for the port to handle up to two million tonnes of coal per year for five years.

Aspire also signed a similar five-year agreement with a terminal operator of the Nakhodka Port on Russia’s Far East coast to handle up to two million tonnes of coal exports per year to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and southern China.

Aspire said the Nakhodka Port non-binding MOU compliments its January 2013 MOU with Noble Group that gives it access to a Russian Far East port owned by the Hong Kong-based company to handle coal exports to northern Asia.

“These non-binding MOU’s are important in outlining the company’s strategy for geographically diversifying the customer base for the Ovoot coking coal project,” said Aspire’s Managing Director Mr David Paull.

 “There is now an identified path for Ovoot’s coking coal from northern Mongolia to penetrate European markets. The agreement with the Russian coal terminal operator along with the previously disclosed Noble Group agreement now provides for sufficient volume and flexibility in meeting the Ovoot project’s Far East Russian port needs in delivering coking coal into North Asia’s seaborne markets.”

Subject to funding, approvals, licenses and construction of rail infrastructure, the Australia-listed company is targeting to start production at the Ovoot mine, which has probable reserves of 255 million tonnes, in 2017.