(Stock photo.)
News outlets across the globe have been excitedly covering billionaire Sir Richard Branson flying into space with five crew members on the VSS Unity. As
Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) aims to begin taking private citizens to space next year, the future of space exploration hinges on second most abundant element in the universe, its depletion on Earth makes it all the more valuable, especially for companies working to extract this resource.
That resource is helium.
All of the major space companies, from Virgin Galactic to Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, and NASA depend on non-renewable helium to power their rockets.
However, there is a limit on how far the helium market can expand, despite its strong demand, the resource is quite finite here on Earth … and it is drying up fast.
This puts a big magnifying glass on
Desert Mountain Energy Corp. (TSX-V: DME, OTCQX: DMEHF, Forum), whose team is working to establish this as the only primary helium producer in the world. The Company is building a vertically integrated producer of this valuable gas.
Recently, the resource Company reported that it encountered
significant showings of helium across four formations in its fourth wildcat well at its Holbrook Basin in East Central Arizona, where the formations proved up geological models involving the traps that will allow the Company to exploit the helium reservoirs.
Since announcing this news, DME shares shot up nearly 18%. Even more impressive, its shares are up 196% year to date and 422% since this time, last year, to sit well beyond its all-time high from 2010.
Grades coming out of Desert Mountain’s wells are multiples higher than commercial grades of helium, with 5% to 12% being recorded, compared to common grades of .3% with high grade being 1.5%.
Helium is normally associated with natural gas and produced as a by-product, and Desert Mountain’s resource is associated with nitrogen that can be vented at the well head.
The team decided to set production casing and cement the helium into place. While this is underway, indications also suggest there was very limited background levels of gases other than nitrogen and helium present during drilling.
Looking ahead, the Company is scheduling the completion equipment and announced that it has been assigned a direct payee number by the US government, to enable immediate same day payment for gases shipped. Most recently, the Company appointed Jessica Davy as VP of Land and to the Board of Directors.
Space exploration is just one avenue for helium. It is highly sought after for its numerous applications and plays a significant role in many industries from medicine to quantum computing. Global supplies are limited to just a few countries, the United States, chief among them as the only safe jurisdiction in the world.
With a market cap over $318 million (CAD), Desert Mountain Energy represents a solid path to diversify your portfolio within a growing, yet limited market niche.
For more on this Company’s operations, visit
desertmountainenergy.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.