Russia's parliament has today taken another significant step on the road to transparency in its platinum group metals (pgm) industry.

Having laboured for many years under the priority of state secrets, the pgm industry today saw the State Duma lower house approve a bill allowing disclosure of data on pgms and gems excluding stocks held by the country's central bank and the state repository Gokhran.

Under the terms of the bill, the government has reserved the right to classify data on strategic minerals, but effectively large sections of previously unreadable material will be made available to investors and industry analysts.

A massive majority of 392 deputies out of the total 450 voted in favour of the bill drafted by the government.

The news is likely to please Russia's metals giant Norilsk Nickel, the world's top producer of palladium, which has been seeking to move into line with the more transparent trading practices of most multinational firms.

The bill must now be given the green light by the Federation Council upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The bill will come into force 3 months after official publication.