Baraka had engaged Royal Bank of Canada and Patersons Securities to manage the capital raising, which has now been pushed back to later in the year.

But the explorer stressed that the capital raising had not been cancelled, but deferred, and investors had shwon strong interest during an international roadshow for the funding drive.

Royal Bank of Canada and Patersons had advised that any rasing at current priuces would have been too dilutive to existing shareholders.

In the five weeks since the capital raising was announced, Baraka's share price has fallen from 30 cents to just under 20 cents. Being a frontier explorer, Baraka has been more hard-hit than most in the Australian sharemarket's recent plunge.

"The company and its advisers will closely monitor the conditions in the Australian and overseas markets with a view to identifying a more opportune time to complete the raising," Baraka said.

The money from the raising was earmarked for ongoing exploration and development activities in Mali and Mauritania.