On its first day of listing on the ASX on Thursday, AltX-listed Renergen had more than 290 000 shares traded, at an official listing price of A$0.80 apiece.

“On day one, we saw the price trade up to A$1.02 at the close, or up 27.5% from [the] listing [price], with encouraging volume in total shares traded,” CEO Stefano Marani said in a statement.

Renergen, a prospective producer of helium and liquid natural gas (LNG) from its flagship Virginia gas project, in South Africa, has a market capitalisation of about $90-million, according to law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.  

Norton Rose Fulbright assisted the company on all corporate law aspects of its capital raise and secondary listing on the ASX, providing advice on both Australian and South African law.

“Renergen is the ASX’s first helium company and has attracted international interest, including from the US government,” said Norton Rose partner Jeremy Wickens.

US government development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation previously committed $40-million in debt funding for Renergen to develop the Virginia gas project.

The project spans 187 000 ha of gasfields across Welkom, Virginia and Theunissen, in the Free State.

Engineering News this week reported that Renergen expects the project to meet South Africa’s helium requirements, while also potentially exporting some volumes. It will also produce the first locally available LNG for commercial consumption.

The company has determined that it is feasible for the project to produce between 1 000 kg/d and 1 500 kg/d of helium, which could increase to about 5 000 kg/d, should Renergen have the option of tapping into contingent reserves.

Additionally, Renergen will produce, concurrently, up to 10 000 GJ/d of LNG upon reaching full production. This amount of energy is equivalent to 277 000 ℓ/d of diesel.

Contractual award is expected to start within the first half of this year, with construction estimated to begin in the second half of the year.

The project is expected to reach commercial production by early 2021.