Royal Helium Ltd (TSX-V:RHC, OTCQB:RHCCF) said it has appointed Shayne Neigum as the company's chief operating officer (COO) and head of Exploration.
The company noted that Neigum has worked closely with Stephen Halabura in identifying and acquiring Royal's key helium land positions and prospects since 2017 and has executed the drilling and completion operations on all of Royal's wells to date. It added that Halabura will be stepping down from his position as the company's VP Exploration, handing the reins to Neigum.
The company pointed out that having spent his entire career in the Saskatchewan oil and gas industry, Neigum has extensive experience in deep-hole drilling, land evaluation, geological mapping, formation modelling and reserves analysis. He also has a well-developed understanding of all operations management on a drill site and a strong technical background of upstream, midstream, and downstream aspects of the industry. Neigum holds a BSc Honours in Geology from the University of Saskatchewan.
In a statement, Andrew Davidson, Royal's president and chief executive officer commented: "We are pleased to have Shayne leading the charge as we move from pure exploration to continued exploration, development, and production within our vast helium land packages that he helped secure. Beyond his management skills in bringing our drilling in on budget, his geological expertise, foresight, and tenacity at the drill bit was instrumental in making the Nazare discovery at Climax."
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Davidson added: "We all would like to extend our tremendous gratitude to Steve for the extensive study and work he has provided Royal since its inception. Without Steve, Royal would not have achieved what it has to date. Royal wishes Steve all the best in his next venture and are very pleased that Steve will remain available as a technical consultant going forward."
Royal Helium controls over 1,000,000 acres of prospective helium land across southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. All of Royals' lands are in close vicinity to highways, roads, cities and importantly, close to existing oil and gas infrastructure, with a significant portion of its land in close proximity to existing helium-producing locations.
With stable, rising prices and limited, non-renewable sources for helium worldwide, Royal intends to become a leading North American producer of this high-value commodity.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com