THERE'S nothing quite like a big, fat cheque to dull the searing pain of rejection. Perth mining investor Vladimir Nikolaenko has been told that the administration services he provides to uranium explorer West Australian Metals are no longer required. It seems the company will be answering its own telephones from here on. Nikolaenko's Corporate Admin Services was contracted by the tiddler's previous board in May 2006, under a "non-cancellable service agreement" worth more than $1.4million over five years. But anything can be cancelled for a fee, and in this case West Australian Metals has advised shareholders that it intends to pay Corporate Admin Services about $880,000 to get out of the arrangement two years early. At those rates we can only assume that Nikolaenko was providing a first-rate service. The previous consultancy to provide secretarial, accounting and financial administration to the group was paid just $46,000 a year. Still, after all that Nikolaenko has done to help shape West Australian Metals into the company it is today, he'd be forgiven for feeling a little hard done by. As the miner's largest and most active individual shareholder, he requisitioned two shareholder meetings last year in a bid to forcibly remove and replace a few directors. Two of his three nominees have since left, including former WA public servant Gary Stokes, who has been charged with leaking unauthorised information to controversial lobbyist Brian Burke.
Stokes resigned as West Australian Metals' managing director in November, "pending the resolution of issues raised in the Corruption and Crime Commission's report". He does not appear to have entered a plea as yet and is due to return to Perth Magistrate's Court on June 17. Meanwhile, Nikolaenko's influence looks set to be diluted further, along with his stake in the company. West Australian Metals has announced the issue of 82.6 million new shares to raise $9.9million. The capital raising is being supported by the AIM-listed Polo Resources, which will take a 12 per cent stake in the company. West Australian Metals' shares shot to a year high of 23.5c on the news.
WME Price at posting:
22.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
