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Well I am pretty perplexed by the recent turn of events.
All the traders were due to book a quick juicy profit on this one and instead they're nursing fairly rapid and hefty losses, which show little sign of abating. Plenty of them selling up I would imagine, together with the nervous ones.
And not just the traders nursing losses, but everyone. There can't be many showing any profit.
Then we've had the speculation as to why, no gas shows, rig gone wrong, well gone wrong etc. We've even had a teenager wanting to do a deal with Saint Lorna. Where will it all end?
Another fundraise? Surely not at this stage. Corporate action requiring a lower share price? Mmm...interesting, but haven't they got enough on their plate at the moment?
They were drilling ahead a couple of days ago, and presumably they still are, whether they be on schedule, ahead or behind. The last "schedule" tweet was pretty ambiguous, so possibly behind, a little. I'm assuming they're just reaching around the Lake Beds about now.
But to digress slightly, and as someone else has raised it, Heritage is interesting. I did do some posts their situation around 6 months ago, so have a number of pics on Flikr already prepared. Heritage licences, for oil, seem to date from 2011, so they may have expired by now.
This is their licence area dating from around 2017/8 -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/52874694658/in/dateposted-public/
and until recently at least it appears they they were seeking offers of a farm in.
Note the licence areas marked A-F. A drill pad was actually prepared by Heritage in August/September 2018, which was almost immediately abandoned as the political climate soured, under the previous administration. The now partly submerged drill pad can be seen here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/52875020854/in/dateposted-public/
Now remember those Heritage oil plays a-F in the previous image? Well this is an image of He1 plays on the east side of Lake Rukwa, where the Heritage plays are.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/52873601568/in/dateposted-public/
Look familiar?
Well they should as the Heritage oil plays are almost identical to the He1 helium plays!
This is them superimposed on each other, and with the licences He1 retained in 2022, they cover, almost exactly, the Heritage oil plays.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/52874703598/in/dateposted-public/
Now I don't pretend to know what this all means. I had imagined that Nobles failed suitor, was Chinese, but maybe Heritage also now has access to all that juicy stuff in the data room, including the 3D of the Lupa fault.
And what of Noble? Rig arrived on 21-9-23, and they were rigging up on 28-9-23, but not a single picture. Noble are never publicity shy.
Further how's this for a crazy idea? A little bird told me Noble Helium may be misnamed - they're not all that interested in the squeaky light stuff, but are really lookin
Many are no doubt on the edge of their seats awaiting news from Tai-3, me included.
However, other interesting things are happening in the background, although I wouldn't pretend to know why.
A few posts back I put on Flikr the original map at IPO in 2020 of He1's licences and applications - around September 2022, perhaps a little before He1 gave up some of those licence areas as they were not worth pursuing.
The original licences are here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53206195230/in/dateposted-public/
A few post back I pointed out that one of these licences, had found its way into the licence portfolio of Kidunda, soon to be transferred to D3 Energy. Kidunda is owned (maybe entirely, maybe in part) by the same people who founded He1.
On 6-9-2023 Noble announced that it had applied for an additional 36km2 of licence area, here -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53226087560/in/dateposted-public/
The new area is the uppermost of the bottom two.
(Incidentally whilst I can get all Nobles licence areas to line up with my existing templates, the new areas in red do not line up in this instance - maybe a rush job by Noble?)
Now that new application by Noble is part of one of the applications that He1 gave up in 2022!
In fact Noble appear to be snaffling around a third of our original licence 11321, which they now say contains the prospective Ngambwa lead, and Kidunda, soon to be D3 Energy has already swallowed up around two thirds of what was our 11112 application.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53226695785/in/dateposted-public/
Odd or what?
One might think they're divvying up the pie between them.
And just for amusement this is my take on one of the photographs tweeted by He1 last week, giving perhaps a bit of context for those that are interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53220036576/in/dateposted-public/
The tree in the centre (helpfully marked "Tree") actually sits next to a small seasonal lake which actually marks the line where the E-W fault, which should be keeping all our helium safe, breaks the surface.
This is Itumbula from Google Earth, note that agricultural land surrounds the well, but extensive salt collection areas are to the north.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53224821053/in/dateposted-public/
And this is the same map with the He1 surface helium anomalies superimposed
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53224508471/in/dateposted-public/
The salt collection areas are directly related to where the helium comes to surface, just as at the Itumbula Helium Springs. But surrounding Itumbula-1 there are few helium emissions, something is keeping it underground at this location - I'm not saying though it might not escape via other routes.
Lake Rukwa is theorised to be the source of the salty water. Presumably it follows the fault lines.
Mbelele-1 is c75km from Tai, c90km from Itumbula-1.
Is anyone able to access 'USA Today' 26-9-23 edition.
Unable to access in UK presumably because of GDPR.
There may have been an article in it on Josh Bluett and the search for Tanzanian helium over the last 7 years.
Topical and interesting that Josh Bluett should be mentioned as he could be linked to D3 Energy via his possible (maybe likely) part ownership of Kidunda Tz Limited.
Kidunda owns the licence next to Itumbula, which for some reason has always been outside the reach of He1.
He1 just happened to (presumably accidentally) conduct some limited 2D seismic over this licence in 2022.
Josh Bluett just happened to leave He1 as Technical Director the day Saint Lorna arrived as Principal Geologist.
Greg Columbus CEO of D3 now also sits on the board of Noble Helium.
Just thought the article could reveal a few clues as to what is really going on in Rukwa.
I'm not sure, a few names have been suggested to me but I haven't had time to research. Quite likely though.
I expect some Tz interests also.
The map makes more sense now, the block to the east of Itumbula looks the best of all.
I have read that some helium samples are up to 17%, but those are closer to the volcanic region, the problem there is there appear far fewer opportunities to trap and seal.
No doubt if He1 or Noble do discover commercial helium D3 will quickly list on the ASX allowing the investors to exit with large profits.
Are the investors confident of a discovery? One would presume they are, hence this route to large scale returns.
Buying the rig was a big clue for me, also. Pretty nuts, unless you have a use for it.
Still somewhat perplexed by the share price but time will out everything eventually.
Htbm - Yes, I think overall there are no adverse implications to He1 that I can see atm.
Kidunda presumably not only has He1 founders etc in it but also Tz interests, got to look after those.
The spoils potentially are so large they are divvied up in advance.
The links are -
D3/Noble - Greg on both boards
He1/Noble - rig/ "other cooperation" agreement - spud/TD same time? - both use same ship for transport from UK?
He1/D3 - same founders - licence cooperation? - one 2022 He1 seismic line over their licence, did the surveyors just walk too far...
Interesting...
Before we go down the Rukwa Rabbit hole, this is a general overview of what I regard as the current licence and drilling situation around Lake Rukwa -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53207672875/in/dateposted-public/
The key is on the page, but generally Noble are Yellow, He1 blue, D3 will be Purple after the deal with a company known as Kidunda (Tz) Limited (remember that name) is completed.
All very neat.
Now then.
This is the licence map in He1's admission document dated around 20-11-2020.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53206195230/in/dateposted-public/
Concentrate on the three licence applications ongoing at 20-11-2020 at the top11321, 11320 and 1112, the one middle left 12868, and the tall thin one towards the middle bottom 12867. There has always been a gap in the licences just east of Itumbula, I had expected Her1 to go for it as it looks like prime property, but they never did.
Now we don't know when He1 gave up on those licence applications, maybe during 2022 (RNS 14-9-2022) when they were trying to save money and relinquished some areas. Giving up the northern areas could make sense, as the lake has encroached there, but I'm not sure about the other two prospective licences.
But now look at D3's map of their licences in their May 2023 presentation -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53205752246/in/dateposted-public/
Surprise! The licences which they intend to acquire from Kidunda are two of the licences for which He1 had submitted applications in 2020, essentially 1112 (slightly reduced in size), 12868 and the licence that formed the big gap east of Itumbula. Those licences appear to have been awarded in October 2022 to Kidunda, and will be acquired by D3 in return for 11M D3 shares going to the owners of Kidunda and a listing on the ASX.
Lucky for them He1 decided not to pursue those applications sometime prior to 14-9-2022! Especially as the ones to the N and E appear to contain some juicy and large prospects, which would have been a neat fit for He1 -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53207169151/in/dateposted-public/
Now then this may be all normal commerce (I'm sure it is), but the map above from D3 also contains a number of yellow diamonds highlighting He1's best prospects, one is Tai, another Itumbula, strange how they knew that Itumbula was a prime target prior to He1 announcing they were drilling there.
And another thing, in the D3 presentation it states p23,
"Kidunda vendors were key founders of Helium One (including geological and other technical) and are well known to D3 Energy team"
So the owners of these to be D3 licences are the founders of He1.
Cont/...
Part2/cont..
So if one lets your imagination run wild one could envisage a scenario in which the original founders of He1, confident of a discovery at Rukwa, but not wanting to spend too much of their own money, hive off some licences to another company (lets call it "He1"), get that listed Aim, raise something like $60M via issuance of 700M shares, let them do all the seismic, investigations and drilling, whilst retaining some choice acreage for themselves and a new Tz company.
Once He1 hits big at Tai and/or Itumbula the value of their adjacent acreage with its large juicy prospects and 10% helium increases in value massively, and they haven't even had to lift a theodolite, or break sweat by muttering the words "drillbit".
Nice work if you can get it.
And just in case they ever did want to do a bit of drilling themselves they could be offered an "owned" rig just a few km away residing at Camp Rukwa, on very reasonable terms I'm sure, and paid for by the shareholders in that company known as He1.
And helpfully one of He1's 2022 seismic lines went deep into the Kidunda licence area.
So some people, the very patient original founders of He1 (who are nameless in the D3 presentation) , have played a long waiting came in their quest to reap rewards from Lake Rukwa. Confident of success, possibly...
D3 presentation here -
d3energy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230517-D3-Energy-PPT-Presentation.pdf
I'm sure some will still say, "I see no linkage here!". They will, I know.
But consider this - one of the directors of D3 Greg Columbus, non executive Chairman, was appointed a non executive director of Noble Helium on 20-9-2023 - one his resume he just happens to omit the word "D3".
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/NOBLE-HELIUM-LIMITED-134070209/news/Noble-Helium-Limited-Appoints-Greg-Columbus-as-a-Non-Executive-Director-44890839/
And they'll still be saying "I see no linkage, I see no linkage" (in ever increasingly breathless voice)...
As always IMHO, DYOR etc, etc...
With thanks to Dai for the D3 presentation, and my correspondent for linkage between directors...
And some people still don't think that this is all carefully choreographed.
Watch out for that Mining Conference next month, all the big TZ political hitters will be there.
And our helipad will be in use.
Almost time to go down the rabbit hole again, this time with D3...
Yes, interesting that JW put his name down yesterday as speaking at the conference, just around the time Mbelele-1 could be reaching TD.
In He1's recent fundraise reference was made to funds put aside for "additional licence opportunities" without saying where these might be.
This is the current licence map around Rukwa -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53203732336/in/dateposted-public/
The area immediately to the east of Itumbula-1 has never been licenced for some reason, I would imagine that success at Itumbula-1 would make it a prime target.
Success for Noble in the BMF plays would make the remaining BMF areas south of He1's licences prime targets for both companies - cooperation here, or competition?
The "unknown" pin is an area which looks like it is being used for drilling, probably for coal seam information.
A closeup of the southern areas relinquished by He1 confirms that the new licence areas follow fault lines, to the north of the faults is agricultural land, to the south areas of salt collection, which presumably are also helium emission areas,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53202896992/in/dateposted-public/
The area under Camp Rukwa is the Mzizi prospect, which the recent geology map released for Itumbula-1 shows that this is also a gravity high, with a small cursor slightly to the SE of Camp Rukwa - possible drilling location?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53204162804/in/dateposted-public/
May do more in a few days on the apparent relationship between the helium emissions, the salt collection areas (which appear to be largely the same areas) and where He1 appears to target drilling, in areas where there are fewer helium emissions and little salt collection. We may however be overtaken by events.
As to Noble this is Mbelele-1 from Sentinel 10, 5 and 0 days ago, with an insert for context
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53204047660/in/dateposted-public/
Same for Mbelele-2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53204011939/in/dateposted-public/
And I have an idea for a film - with an all star cast - Amy Adams, George Clooney, Kate Winslet, Hugh Laurie and Baldrick, playing the characters we all know, something along the lines of "Four Weddings and Funeral", but helium themed.
No guessing about it, there is much going on here that we don't see, we can only see the shadows playing along.
When our rig was 14km away theirs was 8000km distant, yet we will spud almost simultaneously.
Also suddenly He1 reveal that they have 10% he samples at a place other than the Itumbula helium springs, I bet that is news to the geological world. And where else have they been collecting samples, loads of places I bet, but they never tell?
There is more here than hitherto revealed, imho.
Without comment
Google Earth Maxar
Itumbula-1 4-9-2023 early construction
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53199627048/in/dateposted-public/
Itumbula-1 and surrounding area 4-9-2023/9-9-2023
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53199400496/in/dateposted-public/
Camp Rukwa 4-9-2023
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53199207724/in/dateposted-public/
Sentinel Itumbula-1 18-9-2023 showing roadway and slightly expanded pad area
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53199741015/in/dateposted-public/
No!
I think they are drilling in the right place.
I could never quite get my head round DM drilling in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the fault, when not only did he have seismic, but you can also see the fault on the surface.
Maybe with Tai-1 he always intended by passing the Lake Beds and headed directly for the Karoo, where theoretically the big pay is. Maybe it was his 'A Bridge Too Far' moment when the drill went wrong, and he couldn't get definite provable results from either the Lake Beds or the Karoo.
Maybe a risk on top of the other risks he was taking with the rig etc.
When it did all go wrong maybe it was just easier to say we drilled in the wrong place.
Tai-3 is playing safe, going for both Lake Beds and Karoo, but maybe not at the ideal spot for either, a compromise, but with a good chance of intercepting at multiple levels.
Itumbula could be just unfinished business, and if the Karoo has good seals, then it could be big.
Also there are some interesting dashed lines He1 has drawn on the geological map of Itumbula leading from the springs at 10.2% towards the Itumbula High and Itumbula well site and beyond.
They actually follow quite closely a line of trees and shallow valley on the surface. Are these theorised migratory routes for the helium, or am I just imagining things?
Anyone notice the similarity between Tai-1, supposedly drilled by mistake on the "wrong" side of the fault, and the proposed Itumbula-C?
They each have helium anomalies immediately adjacent, between the drill site and the fault line through which the drill passed/will pass.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934344@N06/53187241736/in/datetaken/