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Namibia-focused uranium explorer Extract Resources Ltd. (EXT.AU) Tuesday said Managing Director Peter McIntyre will resign in September just weeks after its largest shareholder called for his removal.

Extract said in a statement it will immediately begin a search for a replacement.

U.K.-based Kalahari Minerals PLC on May 27 requested that Extract hold a shareholder meeting to vote on McIntyre's removal from the company's board.

After spending five years in the top job, McIntyre said his decision to resign was based on personal reasons.

"There's been a lot going on with the company and obviously at the corporate level," McIntyre told Dow Jones Newswires.

"I think the company is on a very good path, certainly with the development of our project over in Namibia."

Promising assay results from its Rossing South venture in Namibia have helped Extract's share price to skyrocket this year, making it a A$1.54 billion company, and its share register has become a hotbed of activity.

Kalahari last week bumped up its holding in Extract to 40% from 39.1%.

Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. has taken a 15.6% stake in the company and Stephen R. Dattels' Polo Resources Ltd. a 10.2% stake.

Kalahari in November failed in a takeover attempt for Extract over fears the deal would give Rio Tinto, which also has an interest in Kalahari, effective control of the merged entity without having to pay a control premium.

Kalahari said at the time that it failed to get assurances from Rio Tinto that it wouldn't seek to increase its stake and pulled out of the deal, saying its shareholders would never back it.

Extract's Rossing South operations are located just seven kilometers away from Namibia's massive Rossing uranium project of which Rio Tinto has 68.6%.

Late last month, as well announcing Kalahari's attempt to oust McIntyre, Extract also announced that Polo was intending to request another shareholder meeting to get Dattels on the board.

Extract was also advised that in light of the proposed board changes, Rio Tinto had requested for a representative of its company to also sit on Extract's board.

At the time, Extract said it considered Kalahari's request for a shareholder meeting a breach of an agreement where Kalahari agreed to withhold from calling further meetings, and said it was seeking legal advice.

McIntyre's decision to step down could mean Kalahari will call off the meeting. Kalahari, however, would still like to get Mark Ainsworth Hohnen elected as a director of Extract.

It's unclear where things will progress from here, but more fireworks at Extract look a certainty.

Extract recently hired Rothschild Australia to conduct a strategic review of its business, which Extract said Tuesday is "well advanced".

McIntyre expects to still be in charge of the company when it releases new resource statements in the coming weeks.

-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8235-2957; ross.kelly@dowjones.com

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