Successful helium discovery which flowed sustained 5.5% helium to surface during an extended well test of the ITW-1 well in August 2024. The Company is now finalising a 480km2 Mining Licence in order to move the project towards commercialisation.
Southern Rukwa project
The Company’s flagship southern Rukwa Helium Project is licensed within 831km2 in the Rukwa rift basin in southwest Tanzania. This geological basin occupies the western branch of the East Africa Rift System, an area that contains surface helium seeps of up to 10.4%, and no associated hydrocarbons or CO2 and only nitrogen as the carrier gas.
This project is entering an appraisal and development stage following the success of the 2024 exploration drilling campaign, which provided a helium discovery on the Itumbula West-1 (“ITW-1”) well. During an extended well test (“EWT”) in Q3 2024, the well successfully flowed 5.5% helium continually to surface and up to 7.6% helium was measured from the faulted Karoo and fractured Basement plays. Prior to this, the Company drilled two additional exploration wells (Tai-1/1A and Tai-3) on the Tai prospect in 2021 and 2023 respectively, and these wells encountered elevated helium shows during drilling and recovery of the first successful downhole helium sample in Tanzania (measured at 0.8% helium). This discovery is globally unique as it is one of the few helium projects which is not associated with hydrocarbons or CO2, positioning it within the “green” helium space.
Following the success of the extended well test in 2024, the Company completed a comprehensive feasibility study and is in the process of finalising a 480km2 Mining Licence (“ML”) with the Mining Commission of the Tanzanian Government. This encompasses the wider Itumbula, Tai and southern prospective areas for commercial development.
In June 2025, the Company completed an independent competent persons report with Sproule ERCE. A deterministic sum of 2C Gross Helium Contingent Resources for the Itumbula development has been evaluated by Sproule ERCE as 296 million standard cubic feet (“mmscf”) and a 3C case of 1.3 billion cubic feet (“Bcf”) Bcf Gross Helium Contingent Resources. Additional Prospective Resources within the remainder of the ML area, excluding resources assigned to the Itumbula discovery, have been evaluated by Sproule ERCE as 709 mmscf (2U) and 3.2 Bcf (3U) (Unrisked).
Outline (red) of offered 480km2 Mining Licence in southern Rukwa and remaining Prospecting Licenses (grey).
Geoseismic section illustrating the helium bearing intervals from the Itumbula West-1 well during the EWT programme in Q3 2024
The exploration programme undertaken in 2021 involved acquiring ~400km of 2D seismic and the drilling of two wells (Tai-1/-1A and Tai-2). This provided proof of concept and enabled the Company to reduce the exploration risk in the southern Rukwa Basin. The drilling of the Tai prospect demonstrated a working helium system.
Gravity derived Basement map over Tai and Itumbula prospects, with 2D seismic surveys overlaid
