The milestone just passed involved Queensland Treasury notifying Metro it "will not exercise its veto right regarding the … Bauxite Hills mine expansion proposal and supports its progression to the loan documentation stage".
Metro is to use the loan to nearly double production to 6 million tonnes per annum of bauxite, with a "floating terminal" at the operation the key bit of kit required.
Metro started 2020 with cash of about $40 million and debt of $35 million.
Site earnings in the December quarter were $12.6 million.
Shares in Metro were up 6% to 10.5c, capitalising the company at $146 million.
The stock was at levels around 16-17c in January.
