Helium One Management Changes

02 May 2019

Solo Oil plc

("Solo Oil" or "The Company") 

Helium One Update

Management Changes

Solo Oil (AIM: SOLO), a natural resources investment company focused on acquiring a balanced portfolio of production, development and exploration assets, notes the appointment of Ian Stalker as new Managing Director of Helium One Limited (Helium One) with immediate effect.

Solo holds a 13.8% interest in Helium One which owns the Rukwa Project in Tanzania, that has an estimated Unrisked Prospective Recoverable Helium Volume (P50) of 98.9 billion standard cubic feet.

Mr Stalker is an international mining executive with over 40 years' experience. Mr Stalker was previously Chief Executive Officer of London and TSX listed Uramin Inc. until its US$2.5 billion sale to Areva in August 2017. Most recently, he has acted as the Chief Executive Officer of LSC Lithium and as an advisor to First Cobalt. He has also previously held several C-suite level positions, including Vice President of Gold Fields and Chairman of Plateau Energy Metals.

Commenting on the changes, Helium One's Chairman Neil Herbert said:

"Ian has a lifetime of experience of taking projects from exploration to production and will lead the Company as it advances towards drilling our prospects in Tanzania. Ian and I have worked together in the past, notably as Managing Director and Finance Director of UraMin Inc which was sold for US$2.5 billion, and we are delighted to be working as a team again. We thank our outgoing Managing Director Thomas Abraham-James, who has managed Helium One since its inception and overseen US$11 million of investment by shareholders to advance exploration, and wish him every success for the future."

Commenting on the update, Solo's Executive Chairman Alastair Ferguson said:

"We are pleased to see such a high calibre appointment at Helium One and think this reflects the high level of potential associated with this exciting growth company. Through our Board representation on Helium One, with Tom Reynolds acting as a Non-executive Director, we will continue to maintain close dialogue with Ian and his team, and offer our technical and commercial counsel as required, as we seek to enhance the value of our investment in the company."

For further information:

IAN STALKER

Mr. Stalker is an international mining executive with 40 years of experience in mine development and operations in Europe, Africa and Australia. Mr. Stalker was the chief executive officer of UraMin Inc., a London-listed and Toronto-listed uranium company, from July, 2005, until its $2.5B acquisition by Areva in August, 2007. Mr. Stalker was a vice-president of Gold Fields Ltd., the world's fourth-largest gold producer, where he spent considerable time on the ground on its international operations.

He has worked his way up from operational roles in the base and precious metals arenas to executive positions in some of the largest mining companies in the world and has successfully managed eight mining projects through feasibility study, development and construction phases. In recent years, Mr. Stalker has been involved in raising in excess of $500-million for various exploration and development projects around the world.