Helium One to start drilling world’s rare gas in Tanzania
Dar es Salaam. Helium One, Australian private company with a licence for helium gas exploration and development of the Rukwa Project has announced the commencement of the acquisition of seismic data.
The Rukwa project in south western Tanzania is described as the largest known primary helium resource in the world.
Through its website the company announced that it has successfully mobilised a data acquisition team, and other equipment for the acquisition of the data which will be helpful in planning and monitoring the development and production.
Helium One chief executive officer Mr David Minchin stated that the data acquired will enable them to better visualize subsurface structures that could be trapping substantial helium resources and reduce geological risk ahead of the drilling campaign.
The company appointed Ms Lorna Blaisse as Principal Geologist. She is a skilled petroleum geologist with 15 years’ experience in exploration and appraisal across Africa.
“The appointment of Lorna Blaisse as Principal Geologist will allow us to bring the interpretation of this data in-house, giving us greater control over our modelling of the basin and optimizing our drill targeting,” said Mr Minchin.
Ms Blaisse has direct experience of rift basin geology, conducting work in the Lake Albert Rift Basin in Uganda, as well as operational experience managing successful exploration campaigns in North and East Africa. Last year, on December 3 the company was listed at the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM) after it entered into an amalgamation agreement with Attis Oil and Gas Limited.
The company was looking forward in raising £4 million ($5.31 million) of capital from the London bourse to fund the project.
The current global market for bulk liquid helium is thought to be worth over $2.7 billion, with the unit price (dollar per thousand cubic feet) rising by over 135 percent in the past two years.
The requirement for helium is currently increasing, mainly in the medical, technology and aerospace sectors for MRI scanners, medical treatments, computer components, fiber optics and microscopes.
