ECR Minerals looks set to be the latest natural resources junior to add a helium project to its investments.
Citing recent excitement in the share prices of companies that have pivoted towards helium, ECR wants a piece of the action and announced the expansion of its strategy to include US helium projects.
A number of UK-listed shares that have hit a dead end with existing operations have shifted to helium to revive the company’s prospects.
ECR Mineral’s Chairman and Managing Director, Nick Tulloch has experience reinventing cannabis company Voyager Life as a helium play.
Voyager’s shares collapsed early in 2024 following a failed merger with another cannabis firm, and the company emerged as a helium producer.
Helium has a wide range of medical and industrial applications and is important for space travel.
ECR Minerals says it sees value in selling and distributing helium in the US and will target only assets in production or with the potential for near-term production.
Comments accompanying today’s announcement highlight the difficulties of extracting helium, and the company made it clear it didn’t want to get involved in helium exploration.
“Although it is often tempting to think that the important part of developing a natural resources play is to find the resource, in fact we consider that it is production and sales that really define a company,” said Nick Tulloch, Chairman of ECR Minerals.
“There are many substantial resource deposits globally that are simply not economic – or possible – to extract and sell. This is particularly the case with helium. Despite its high value, it is not a straightforward element to process or transport.”
“Therefore, as we examine this possible expansion of ECR, it is critical that we source assets that are capable of near term production, and therefore sales, of helium and access to nearby infrastructure, both gathering lines and a processing plant, is a must.”
Touching on the funding of ECR Mineral’s expansion into helium, the company said it wouldn’t conduct a placing at a discount to the current share price.