JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Perth-based Impact Minerals would receive a A$3-million financial injection from Aim-listed gold explorer Polo Resources, after shareholders endorsed the capital injection.

Impact Minerals MD Michael Jones said that the approval, which was granted at a general meeting of shareholders in Perth, was for the second part of a two-tiered capital injection into Impact by Proto, a mining and investment company.

Polo would pay a further A$1,2-million into Impact, following a placement earlier this year to Polo of 18,6-million Impact shares at an issue price of 16,07c a share, to raise A$1,79-million.

“Today's approval delivers medium-term financial security to Impact and will allow the company to immediately and confidently proceed with implementing an aggressive exploration program, in particular on our exciting Botswana uranium project where there is the potential to deliver several significant discoveries,” Jones said.

“This will ensure that Impact will benefit particularly from the improving outlook both in Australia and globally for uranium exploration and uranium project development. The new funds will also be directed towards furthering our highly prospective nickel and gold projects,” he added.

Polo would hold a 19,9% equity interest in Impact following the completion of the capital raising.

Impact’s 100%-owned Botswana uranium project comprises about 25 000 km2 of prospecting licences, that cover about 350 km of the strike extensions of rocks that host uranium deposits near the town of Serule, where ACAP Resources has the Letlhakane uranium project.

This project was said to contain three deposits hosted by near-surface calcrete and by Karoo Group sedimentary rocks. ACAP has reported an inferred resource of 98-million lbs at an average grade 158 parts per million (ppm) at a cut-off grade of 100 ppm.

Impact also owned about 40% of the inferred resource of uranium oxide within the Nowthanna calcrete-hosted uranium deposit located 70 km south east of Meekatharra in Western Australia.

Polo’s primary focus was investment in, or acquisition and development of advanced stage uranium mining projects. It currently has an investment portfolio of uranium and coal interests, and 50% of a joint venture with Peabody Energy Corporation, formed to hold all of Polo’s coal and uranium assets in Mongolia.

As a result of Monday’s Perth vote, Polo nominee, Paul Ingram, joined the Impact Board as a non-executive director.

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