North American Helium (NAH) has started its ninth helium purification facility at Antelope Lake, Saskatchewan, bringing its total investment in the province to $0.5bn.
The Antelope Lake facility is expected to have a production capacity of around 50 MMcf/year of purified helium, bringing the company’s total production capability to around 210 MMcf/year.
NAH is currently responsible for around 7% of all helium production in North America. The company has set itself a medium-term goal of reaching 20% of total supply in the region.
Marlon McDougall, President and Chief Operating Officer at NAH, said that the facility has been brought online both on time and on budget.
Analysis of wells drilled by NAH in the area of the province have yielded some of the highest helium concentrations that NAH has encountered to date.
NAH believes that the results suggest the potential for even better economics in future development projects as exploration of the basin continues.
The company’s Chairman and CEO, Nicholas Snyder, said, “Our ability to rapidly scale up our business is possible, in part, through progressive incentive programmes such as those recently announced by the Government of Saskatchewan.”
“These have ultimately led to NAH attaining another significant milestone – $0.5bn of investment into the Saskatchewan economy.”
Incentives like the new Critical Minerals Processing Investment Incentive (CMPII) and the Saskatchewan Critical Mineral Innovation Incentive (SCMII) were created specifically for critical mineral projects in the province of Saskatchewan, such as helium.
To date, NAH has drilled over 100 helium wells, which have provided both the reserves for the company’s existing facilities as well as resulting in several future opportunities for new production sites, in various stages of development.
McDougall added, “To support future growth, NAH continues to actively explore in several new geographic areas of our nine-million-acre land base in Saskatchewan, running the most active exploration programme in the industry.”
“NAH’s exploration efforts, derived from the deep experience of the company’s geoscience teams, have resulted in more than a half dozen unique helium play types being proven-up, with additional new play concepts progressing concurrently through various stages of testing and delineation.”
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