Helium One Global Ltd on Tuesday said it will need ‘additional funds’ before it can go ahead and drill the Itumbula asset in Tanzania.

The company added that it has received unsolicited approaches from potential investors. It is assessing these approaches as well as other financial options.

‘The company is confident of securing the additional funding in the near future so as to realise the cost synergies of avoiding a delay to the drilling of Itumbula and will provide an update in due course,’ the Tanzania-focused helium explorer.

Helium One’s share price slumped 25% to 2.20 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

The additional costs and time delays, caused by the movement of operations and the replacement of a roughneck drill rig component, are the reason the company needs the additional cash before drilling can commence.

Chief Executive Lorna Blaise ‘is confident of securing additional funding in the near future’.

The company said Tuesday it purchased a replacement iron rough neck from the US for its Epiroc Predator 220 drilling rig, expected to be installed at the new Itumbula well location within three weeks.

Following positive drilling results from the Tai-3 well and a review of the geology of the surrounding area, the company has now shifted its focus to the Itumbula well, allowing it to more directly target a fault thought to contain elevated concentrations of helium.

Civil works at the new well pad have been successfully completed, and the company expects to spud the Itumbula well in early January 2024.

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