Helix Exploration identifies natural hydrogen potential at Montana’s Rudyard project
Helix Exploration, a UK-listed helium exploration company operating in the US, says new geological data from its Rudyard project in northern Montana shows potential for naturally occurring hydrogen within the same formations that host its helium reserves.
The company, which listed on London’s AIM market in 2024, focuses on developing helium resources across the so-called Montana Helium Fairway – an established area of deposits close to the Canadian border.
Montana gas field could hold white hydrogen
Helix is now suggesting that its flagship Rudyard field could also hold “geological hydrogen” (also known as white hydrogen) – the type generated underground through natural chemical reactions between rock and water.
An independent study by Dr Michael Hofmann of AIM GeoAnalytics examined rock cuttings from Helix’s wells and found the presence of serpentine, olivine and magnetite – minerals known to produce hydrogen when they react with water under heat and pressure.
These minerals typically occur in what’s called mafic and ultramafic rocks, which are associated with natural hydrogen systems elsewhere in the world, including in Mali and in France.
Isotope analysis work carried out by Durham University detected a “³He/⁴He ratio of 0.74 Rₐ” – which the experts say is roughly 3,600% above the continental average.
Helix said this result confirms a measurable mantle helium component – effectively a chemical fingerprint of fluids rising from deep within the Earth. The company believes this mantle connection could help sustain both helium and hydrogen generation at depth.
“These results confirm that Rudyard sits above a deep-Earth hydrogen engine powered by ultramafic rocks and mantle gases,” said Bo Sears, Chief Executive of Helix Exploration. “If developed successfully, it could deliver hydrogen at a cost and purity level that could surpass anything achieved through conventional means.”
Potentially meeting $1 per kilogram of clean hydrogen
Helix describes Rudyard as one of the few verified hydrogen-prone ultramafic systems identified in North America.
The company believes that if commercial quantities are proven, the naturally generated hydrogen could be produced without fossil feedstocks and with zero carbon emissions – potentially meeting the US Department of Energy’s “Hydrogen Shot” target of $1 per kilogram of clean hydrogen.
First production is planned for 2025.
