China Growth Minerals ups stake in Botswana-focused Impact

Staff Writer | Friday March 26, 2010 00:00

In September, CGM reached an agreement with Polo Resources to acquire an initial 5,92-million ordinary shares in Impact, for 17,5c a share.

CGM also had the option to acquire a further 5,92-million shares from Polo. CGM has now exercised that option.

CGM, which was formed to invest in mineral projects worldwide, has advised Impact that the acquisition as a strategic long-term investment was based in particular on Impact's large uranium exploration portfolio in Botswana.

The shareholding in Impact complemented CGM's investment in uranium explorer A Cap Resources, which also has exploration tenements in Botswana, as well as Impact's uranium resource in Western Australia.

A Cap owns the 150-million pound Letlhakane uranium project, in Botswana, while Impact's Botswana uranium project comprises about 27 000 km2 of prospecting licences containing significant strike extensions to the host rocks found at the nearby Letlhakane project.

Impact Minerals last year  reported that a soil geochemistry programme at its Lekobolo uranium prospect, , has defined a large area of up to 16 km long and 7 km wide that contained elevated uranium-in-soil values.

Within this 110 km2 area of elevated uranium-in-soil values, there were at least six strongly anomalous areas that covered about 30 km2, and which were positive for uranium deposits hosted by Karoo rocks and younger calcrete.These samples have now been drilled.

Impact stated  that follow-up field checking and the selection of specific areas to be drilled was currently in progress.

The company was progressing with similar soil programmes at four other priority areas within the prospecting licence in Botswana, which covered 27 000 km2 of uranium prospective rocks.