By Adriano Marchese
Avanti Helium shares were higher Thursday morning after the company said it signed an agreement to develop a helium recovery plant to process the raw gas from its helium pool in Montana.
At 9:52 a.m. ET, shares were trading nearly 17% higher at 77 Canadian cents (58 cents).
The Toronto-listed helium exploration and development company said it signed a midstream agreement with IACX Resources Montana, a subsidiary of IACX Energy to build, finance and operate a helium recovery plant to process the raw gas from Avanti’s Sweetgrass helium pool.
IACX will be tasked with building, financing and operating the helium recovery plant on site near the Sweetgrass pool.
Initially, the plant is expected to process 10 million cubic feet of raw gas a day, with the option of increasing production to 15 million cubic feet a day.
Avanti expects initial production early in the first quarter of next year, it said.
As part of the agreement, Avanti will pay a monthly fee for seven years with an option to renew annually for the life of the pools.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com