Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM:MSMN) leapt 16% after the junior made its first significant move towards building a global helium-focused portfolio.
The group has an asset in Australia where it has started to explore for the gas, but today it announced it had acquired a 10% working interest in a prospect in Colorado, US.
The Vecta project is in an area in Colorado where drilling has already discovered helium at grades of between 7-11%.
Vecta Oil and Gas is the operator and has a record of producing helium in Colorado, Mosman said in its statement.
The initial consideration is US$500,000 but five exploration wells are scheduled to be drilled at Vecta this year and with Mosman putting up its 10% pro-rata share, the total cost of the investment is US$630,000 to be funded from cash resources and asset sales said the statement.
Shares rose to 0.21p in early trades.