Looks odds on a discovery this year for Helium One
“…once we have made our discovery this year, we will then be able to transfer a large number of these into mining licences quite quickly…”
The macro supply side of helium is in a dire situation.
That’s not just according to David Minchin, the chief executive of Helium explorer Helium One Global, but the gas industry at large. Supply from Russia has been shelved and ongoing technical problems at the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) facility in the United states has created a perfect storm.
Although there’s nothing perfect about a global helium deficit, a high-grade primary helium supply coming into production is what the world needs. That’s Minchin’s words. Experts would concur and that’s what Minchin is hopeful for at the company’s prospects in Tanzania.
The prospects in the vast licence area of four and a half thousand kilometres in Tanzania are good with Helium One’s 2021 campaign yielding positive indicators with “good to excellent quality reservoir.”
The big ‘but’ is that the indicators lack credence. They haven’t been tested due to down hole issues which prevented access to wire lines and sampling equipment.
“There’s so many unanswered questions about what we’ve actually got,” says Minchin. “I’m desperate to get back out there again and be able to declare a discovery.”
He says the company has proof of concept of a working helium system, but untested there’s even more unanswered questions which are leading into the 2022 campaign.
“We’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg, and that’s why we’re going back to Tai. We see Tai as the key to unlocking an entire helium province.”
Tai is the prospect at the flagship Rukwa Basin, and Minchin and his team are pulling out all the stops to return there, and doing so in a cost effective way. A 100 ton mast weighting drill is booked and being assessed.
If it passes the audit and gets to the project, it can drill an eight and half inch hole to two and a half thousand metres “no worries at all.” Minchin describes the drill as well overspecced for what the company wants to achieve which is a depth of about 1300 metres. Drilling in each hole should take less than three weeks, which Minchin says is plenty of lead time before the rainy season in December.
A discovery will expedite the admin with existing licenses transferred into mining licenses, and although Minchin views the company as a discoverer “We’re perfectly capable of taking this into production ourselves.”
And as David explains to Sarah Lowther the more the company does, the more it can discover in what is a very exciting time for Helium One.
Watch David speak to Proactive London’s Katie Pilbeam about the return to Tai.
Watch the company’s AGM on the Investor Meet platform
View the company’s corporate presentation from March 2022
Read Hannam&Partners’ research note
Follow the company on Twitter @Heliumone1
The author was remunerated but does not hold shares in the company
