Name of the Project
Virginia gas project.

Location
The project spans 187 000 ha across Welkom, Virginia, and Theunissen in the Free State, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Development stage advanced materials company ASP Isotopes completed the acquisition of Renergen in January 2026.

Project Description
The Virginia gas project involves building a 52 km gas-gathering pipeline and cryogenic liquefaction facilities. It aims to meet South Africa’s helium demand and export the surplus, alongside the country’s first commercial LNG output.

Phase 1 is expected to reach nameplate production of 58 000 cubic feet a day of liquid helium and 2 500 GJ/d of LNG in the third quarter of 2026.

Phase 2 will significantly scale up output and infrastructure.

Phase 2 will entail drilling additional gas wells, building additional gas-gathering pipelines and a larger processing and liquefaction facility, as well as the associated road tanker distribution and downstream customer dispensing facilities.

In this phase, production is expected to increase to 34 000 GJ/d of LNG and 895 000 cubic feet a day of liquid helium.

Potential Job Creation
An estimated 360 temporary jobs during development and 160 permanent jobs once fully operational.

Capital Expenditure
Phase 1 – about R1-billion.
Phase 2 – about $1.16-billion

Planned Start/End Date
Phase 1 helium nameplate capacity is expected to be reached in the third quarter of 2026. Phase 2 is expected to take 44 months to build after completion of Phase 1.

Latest Developments
ASP Isotopes has reported that Phase 1 drilling has been completed ahead of schedule and that the project is expected to reach helium nameplate capacity in the third quarter of 2026. 

The drilling campaign has achieved the cumulative flow rate required for Phase 1 nameplate production and the remaining work to reach full production capacity is to tie the wells into the processing plant.

The company is also in active discussions with potential customers regarding offtake arrangements for both phases.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Phase 1 contractors include: Sproule (helium reserve independent expert); VGI (owner’s engineer – engineering and procurement phase, or EPC); EPCM Bonisana, a subsidiary of EPCM Holdings (EPC contractor for the gas-gathering pipeline); Western Shell Cryogenic Equipment (technology and equipment); Babcock (DAF CF 430 trucks); and Volvo (FM440 trucks) were provided by Babcock and Volvo respectively.

Phase 2 contracts include: Saipem (front-end engineering design – downstream LNG and helium processing facilities); Sproule (evaluation and certification of reserves, based on ongoing drilling, building on previous work done by MHA Petroleum Consultants); Worley RSA (owner’s engineer scope for the expansion). 

Contact Details for Project Information
Renergen, tel +27 10 045 6000 or email info@renergen.co.za/investorrelations@renergen.co.za.