Gold Hydrogen confirms elevated levels of rare and valuable helium-3 isotope at Ramsay project

The share price of Gold Hydrogen (ASX: GHY) surged in Wednesday morning trade on news that its Ramsay project in South Australia contains one of the world’s most valuable energy commodities.

New studies by England’s Oxford University identified elevated levels of helium-3, a rare isotope used in advanced fields such as quantum computing, fusion energy and nuclear material monitoring.

At prices exceeding $28.4 million per kilogram, helium-3 is 140,000 times more valuable than helium-4, the element’s most common isotope.

Lunar mining plans

Lunar mining has been proposed to boost stocks of the gas, which is predominantly found in the US in volcanic regions.

Helium-3 has high neutron absorption capability and plays an essential role in neutron detection and future technologies.

The development was among several major findings following the successful completion and analysis of the inaugural drill program at the 100%-owned Ramsay project.

Shallow hits

The breakthrough helium-3 confirmation comes via gas samples taken from the Ramsay 2 well at depths ranging from 280 metres to 1,000m.

Company chair Alexander Downer said the confirmation of helium-3 is a material development for the Ramsay project.

“Superpowers China, Russia and the United States are planning to go to the moon to mine for helium-3 and – although we are at an early stage and more exploration and analysis need to occur – we have found it here in SA, which could be incredibly exciting not just for the state but for Australia as a whole.”

The news comes a week after Gold Hydrogen confirmed substantial levels of helium on the Yorke Peninsula in SA.

Preliminary discussions

Mr Downer confirmed that Gold Hydrogen has been in preliminary discussions with leading US scientific and research organisations.

Some among them are being funded by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to advance technology for the separation of helium-3 and helium-4 in land-based systems.

The potential need for increased amounts of helium-3 has been boosted by successful fusion energy tests from Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems, backed by major stakeholders including the DoE and the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures.