HeLIX Exploration boosted by new US Air Force hydrogen venture
HeLIX Exploration PLC (AIM:HEX, OTCQB:HHEXF) shares moved up 5.2%, rising to 42.13p, after it was selected by Renaissance Philanthropy’s Chimaera Fund to join a US Air Force-backed demonstration programme, giving the AIM-listed gas explorer a foothold in a project tied to military energy resilience and highlighting a possible second strategic use for its Montana geology.
The group was chosen from nearly 30 respondents to a request for information aimed at finding partners with relevant well infrastructure, hydrogen-related subsurface data and active exploration programmes near key Air Force bases.
Helix will work with the Chimaera Fund on a techno-economic assessment of geologic hydrogen potential near Malmstrom Air Force Base and other targeted sites, using data and expertise from its Rudyard project in northern Montana. The company said it will receive funding from the Chimaera Fund for its contribution.
That matters because Rudyard lies around 120 miles from Malmstrom, home to the 341st Missile Wing and one of only three US Air Force bases operating the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
Helix said its October 2025 deep well programme had already confirmed geological indicators for hydrogen generation while exploring for helium, and it is now preparing further coring and laboratory work to characterise the resource.
Chief executive Bo Sears said the selection “reinforces the significance of the geological indicators we have identified at Rudyard”, while also linking the asset to US energy security priorities.
He added:
We are genuinely excited to be working alongside the U.S. Air Force and the Chimaera Fund as partners in this effort – not simply as data providers, but as active collaborators bringing subsurface expertise and field operations to bear on a shared objective.
The convergence of national energy security priorities with our existing geological assets at Rudyard represents exactly the kind of opportunity we have been building toward, and we look forward to advancing this work together.”
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HeLIX Exploration boosted by new US Air Force hydrogen venture, source
