Rift Helium PLC made a promising start to life as a public company on Wednesday, with its shares quoted at 11p, a 10% premium to the 10p issue price at which it raised £8.1 million in its initial public offering.
The London-listed helium explorer, which is focused on the Rukwa Basin in southwest Tanzania, admitted 134.14 million ordinary shares to AIM, giving it a market capitalisation of approximately £13.4 million at the issue price.
The fundraising, conducted via a placing and subscription of 80.86 million new shares, will be deployed against a near-term work programme including environmental impact assessment approval, 3D seismic-led prospect definition targeted for summer 2026, and drilling at its Upepo Project, which covers 283 square kilometres of licence acreage adjacent to confirmed helium discoveries.
An independent competent person’s report prepared by NSAI estimates the project’s gross, unrisked prospective helium resource at approximately 19 billion cubic feet (Bcf) at the P50 level, rising to a mean estimate of around 41 Bcf.
Chief executive Charlie FitzRoy said the company is entering the market against a “highly favourable backdrop,” citing recent supply disruption in Qatar, which typically accounts for close to one-third of global helium supply, and new Russian export controls adding further uncertainty.
Rift describes its approach as a “third-mover strategy,” designed to apply lessons from earlier entrants to the Rukwa Basin to target helium accumulations more efficiently.
Helium is a critical industrial gas used in semiconductors, medical imaging, defence and aerospace, with global demand projected to grow at 5% – 7% per year through to 2030.
Asia represents the largest and fastest-growing import market for the commodity, and FitzRoy said Tanzania’s eastern coastline offers a clear export route to that region via the port of Dar es Salaam.
