International commodities trader Noble Group has formed an alliance with Australia's Aspire Mining to market Mongolian coking coal, driving Aspire's share up sharply last week.

The alliance giving Noble marketing rights to at least half of the first 5 million tons of coking coal produce at Aspire's Ovoot mining project marks the latest move by Noble into Mongolia's burgeoning coal sector.

“The strategic alliance with the Noble Group is an important step for the company as it pushes ahead with development of the Ovoot coking coal project,” Managing Director David Paull said.

Shares in Aspire galloped more than 12 percent after the partnership was announced to AUD 0.32. The stock traded as high as AUD 1.14 in April, but has been in near-steady decline ever since. Earlier this year, Noble partnered with Australia's Xanadu Mines, which is also exploring for minerals in Mongolia alongside sector behemoths, including Rio Tinto, Xstrata, and Vale.

Noble, which currently owns 8.3 percent of Aspire, is one of the world's largest commodity trading and logistics companies and moves coal into most major global markets. Aspire in October raised AUD 32.8 million via a discounted placement of new shares to fund exploration at the Ovoot site in Northern Mongolia.

Aspire's biggest shareholder, SouthGobi Resources, majority held by Ivanhoe Mines, at the time exercised anti-dilution rights to retain its 19.9 percent stake in Aspire.