Uranium developer Neo Energy Metals has said the formal acquisition documentation for its acquisition of the Henkries South uranium project, in the Northern Cape, is progressing as planned and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

On October 14, the company announced that it had signed a binding agreement with South African uranium exploration company Eagle Uranium to acquire the Henkries South project.

The company's South Africa-based lawyers are finalising the formal share sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition. Once the paperwork is completed, the company and its advisers will seek the necessary regulatory approvals for the acquisition.

Neo Energy has also confirmed that the 25-million shares, initially scheduled to be issued upon the signing of the share purchase agreement, will now be issued on November 1. These shares will be issued at a price of 1.25p a share and will be subject to a six-month lock-in agreement.

The balance of shares due to Eagle Uranium shareholders under the agreement will be subject to the completion of certain regulatory milestones, including the transfer of the mineral rights. These shares will also be issued at 1.25p a share and will also be subject to a six-month lock-in period.

The Henkries South project comprises one granted prospecting licence that extends over about 1 050 km² and is immediately south and adjoins the company's existing Henkries uranium project.

The acquisition of Henkries South will increase the company's strategic landholding in the region by more than 130%, from a current 742 km² area to almost 1 800 km².

It adds a further 10 km strike length to the current 36 km of strike length of shallow paleo-channels that have been demonstrated to host the shallow uranium mineralisation at the company's Henkries project from the multiple resource drilling programmes and feasibility work completed as part of the historic $30-million of exploration and development expenditure.

Previous exploration, combined with investigations completed by the company's technical management team, had shown that Henkries South contained multiple radioactive anomalies located throughout the licence area. Given the extent of these radiometric anomalies, these targets were expected to add significantly to the resource potential at the Henkries project, Neo Energy said.

Uranium mineralisation is seen at surface and at shallow depths of up to 8 m, demonstrating good continuity and averages between 300 ppm triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) to 400 ppm U₃O₈.

In line with the acquisition of Henkries South, the company is revising and expanding its planned resource drilling programme and metallurgical testwork at the project. The updated programme will now extend to cover the Henkries South project, with the aim of exploring and quantifying the resource potential across the expanded licence area.

The Henkries South acquisition is the second of three strategic uranium acquisitions being undertaken by the company and follows shortly after the acquisition of the Beisa North and Beisa South uranium and gold projects, which have existing resources of 90-million pounds of U₃O₈ and 4.2-million ounces of gold extending over an area of about 80 km² in the Witwatersrand basin, located in the Free State province of South Africa.

These acquisitions are being undertaken in line with the company's strategy to establish itself as South Africa's leading uranium mining company and one of Africa's major uranium mine operators and developers.

"The acquisition of Henkries South marks an important milestone for the company. We are fast progressing formal documentation, and once complete we will seek the necessary regulatory approvals. This process will run in parallel with the ongoing approval process work being progressed for the Beisa North and South projects.

“We view this acquisition as a crucial step in our growth strategy within South Africa's uranium sector. It reinforces our commitment to the region and strengthens our position in one of the most promising uranium areas in the country, where we are eager to accelerate exploration and advance the mine development," Neo Energy Metals CEO Sean Heathcote said on October 25.