Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, April 24, 2023 – Royal Helium Ltd. (TSXV: RHC) (TSXV: RHC.WT) (OTCQB: RHCCF) (“Royal” or the “Company”) is pleased to report that it has taken its first drawdown of CAD $5 million from its CAD $17.5 million debt facility provided by Canadian Western Bank (“CWB”) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (“BDC”). Based on the binding letter agreements (see news release of February 6, 2023), final indenture agreements have now been signed by all counter parties and the staged commitments towards the Steveville plant have begun.
Andrew Davidson President and CEO comments. “We are pleased to have the lending process completed and thank both CWB and BDC for their diligence. This funding is significant for the continued advancement of the Steveville helium processing facility. We continue to be impressed with the progress and quality that Arjae Design Solutions is making with the fabrication of the Steveville helium processing facility. Manufacturing is progressing steadily and is now 65% complete with only minor and manageable supply chain delays. The large, modular, CAD $25 million plant has been under construction since November of last year with the pre-ordered longer lead items secured, major supply chain disruptions have been avoided.
With first helium deliveries approaching, the Company’s management, engineers and initial offtake customer are in constant contact with Arjae, including a successful site visit to the manufacturing facility with all stakeholders conducted on April 4th. We will continue to provide updates as progress is made towards initial production.”
About Royal Helium Ltd.
Royal controls over 1,000,000 acres of prospective helium land across southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta. All of Royals’ lands are in close vicinity to highways, roads, cities and importantly, close to existing oil and gas infrastructure, with a significant portion of its land in close proximity to existing helium producing locations. With stable, rising prices and limited, non-renewable sources for helium worldwide, Royal intends to become a leading North American producer of this high value commodity.
Royal’s helium reservoirs are carried primarily with nitrogen. Nitrogen is not considered a greenhouse gas (GHG) and therefore has a low GHG footprint when compared to other jurisdictions that rely on large scale natural gas production for helium extraction. Helium extracted from wells in Saskatchewan and Alberta can be up to 90% less carbon intensive than helium extraction processes in other jurisdictions.
Andrew Davidson,
President and CEO
Royal Helium Ltd
1 (306) 653-2695
For more information, please contact the Company.
Spiro Kletas
VP Investor Relations
1 (604) 723-0710
[email protected]
Dean Nawata
Business Development
1(604) 561-2821
[email protected]
Media enquiries:
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This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.