Imperial Helium Completes Agreement to Construct Prototype Plant for Producing 99.999% Pure Helium

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Imperial Helium Corp. (“Imperial Helium” or the “Company“) (TSX-V: IHC) is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with ON2 Solutions for the construction and delivery of a Prototype Plant for producing 99.999% pure (Grade A) Helium. The Prototype Plant is the Pilot Plant referenced in the Strategic Alliance Agreement among Imperial Helium, ON2 Solutions Inc., and Uniper Trading Canada Ltd. announced by Imperial Helium on March 22, 2021. The Prototype Plant, as stated in the Strategic Alliance Agreement is intended “to expedite the development, production and monetization of Imperial Helium projects in Canada.”

Imperial Helium has observed that the gas mixtures associated with helium are unique to each resource accumulation. The Prototype Plant has been designed to accept a broad range of gas compositions and produce pure helium. In doing so, the Company will be able to confirm the preferred plant design for producing Grade A Helium before fabrication and installation for both the Steveville asset and other future assets. The plant will be capable of creating a synthetic gas composition resembling the dry gas composition in a particular field or a discovery. It will also be capable of processing either a synthetic gas, or a dry gas from a field or a discovery and produce 99.999% pure helium. Fabrication of the Prototype Plant will begin immediately and is anticipated to be complete by December 31, 2021, at a cost of $400,000.

David Johnson, Director and CEO commented: “This Prototype Plant provides Imperial Helium with the ability to accelerate the path to monetising the Steveville asset and reduce the risk associated with plant design and fabrication before committing to installation for any asset. In the first quarter of 2022, we expect to demonstrate Imperial Helium’s ability to produce 99.999% pure Helium from the Prototype Plant, utilizing a gas sample from the Steveville asset. We remain on schedule for first production of helium from the Steveville asset in the second half of 2022.”

About the Steveville Helium Property

Imperial Helium’s Steveville property is situated over a large basement dome feature with four-way closure. The property is approximately 200Km east of Calgary and 40Km northeast of Brooks where highways 544/876 cross the structure, providing easy access for drilling and development. The property includes land leased from Heritage Royalty Resource Corporation covering 24,635 hectares (95 square miles), with rights for natural gas (including helium) below the base of the Big Valley and Nisku formations.

In the winter of 1940, the first deep well to be drilled in the area was 13-22-020-12W4, which, owing to a mechanical failure on surface, resulted in the Steveville blow-out. Production testing reported six million cubic feet a day (6MMCf/d) of non-burnable gas, dominantly nitrogen. Four subsequent wells, drilled exploring for hydrocarbons, 08-22-020-12W4 (1947), 14-11-020-11W4 (1953), 16-11-020-12W4 (1974), and 01-24-020-11W4 (2002) confirm the structure. Imperial Helium has acquired seismic to provide an improved understanding of the structure, and has drilled two appraisal wells, IHC-Steveville-2 (103/10-22-020-12W4) and IHC-Steveville-1 (102/03-01-020-12W4), to define the resource potential on the Steveville structure. IHC-Steveville-2 confirms the presence of producible gas in the Steveville structure with a Helium concentration of 0.43%

About Imperial

Imperial Helium is focused on the exploration and development of helium assets in North America. Driven by Canadian geoscience and engineering expertise, in combination with its proprietary helium well database, the Company is developing its asset base to meet the growing global helium demand and supply shortfalls in the market. Imperial Helium’s operations office is based in Calgary, Alberta, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “IHC”. To learn more about the Company and expand on the subject of helium, please visit www.imperialhelium.ca

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Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain information included in this press release constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “estimate”, “propose”, “project”, “will” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information in this press release may include, but is not limited to, statements concerning: the exercise of the Company’s option under the Lease Agreement; drilling activities; discovery activities including re-discovering and capturing the Steveville blow-out; and the business plan of the Company, generally, including helium development and extraction. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Imperial. Although Imperial believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Imperial can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the helium industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), constraint in the availability of services, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, the current COVID-19 pandemic, changes in legislation impacting the helium industry, adverse weather or break-up conditions and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures.

The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and Imperial undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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