17% Gain for Desert Mountain Energy in Helium's Critical-Material Week

Helium became a critical material in the United States on October 23. Desert Mountain Energy welcomed the decision in a release dated October 26. The company explores for helium and sells natural gas in Arizona and New Mexico.

Two days later its shares moved. They closed the October 28 session at C$0.205, up 17.14 per cent. That figure is per end-of-day data read at 13:28 Pacific on October 28. The source is the TMX Money quote page.

TSX Venture volume for the session was 232,508 shares, on the same page.

At the session's volume-weighted average price of C$0.198, that is roughly C$46,000 changing hands. At the C$0.205 close, the 103,703,595 shares outstanding at June 30, 2026 were worth about C$21.3 million.

Washington added helium to its list on October 23

The US Department of Energy announced the designation on October 23, 2026. Energy Secretary Chris Wright named helium a critical material under the Energy Act of 2020.

A critical material, in this law, is one the government judges essential to energy technology and exposed to supply risk. The department pointed to growing demand, limited refining capacity and long permitting timelines as the pressures on US helium production.

Helium matters to industry because almost nothing replaces it. Chip makers use it to cool and purge equipment. Hospitals use liquid helium to cool MRI magnets.

The department's announcement does not name a grant, a loan program or a purchase contract tied to the designation. The designation is a federal classification. Any money or permitting advantage would have to come through separate programs, which the announcement does not list.

What Desert Mountain said, and what it asked for

The October 26 release is short. Its substance is a quotation from Robert Rohlfing, the company's executive chairman and chief executive.

Rohlfing said the company began working with members of the US House of Representatives in 2024 to seek helium's inclusion. He said it has since made submissions to the Department of Energy and the Department of War. He added that the company continues to engage with the Bureau of Land Management. That federal agency leases mineral rights on public land.

"Helium producers across the United States welcome the Department of Energy's recognition of helium as a critical material," Rohlfing said.

The release closes by saying the company "remains focused" on its helium and natural gas operations in New Mexico. It carries no new well result, helium concentration, flow rate or sales figure.

A gas producer building toward helium

Desert Mountain was incorporated in British Columbia in 2008. Its operations and its head office are in the United States, in Surprise, Arizona.

It has two operating areas. In Arizona's Holbrook Basin it holds helium, oil and gas leases. The company's interim MD&A puts its Arizona holdings at over 100,000 acres after its 2023 additions.

The MD&A describes the Holbrook region as home to two historical helium fields, Pinta Dome and Navajo Springs. It says those fields produced gas grading up to 8 per cent helium. It sets that against an industry benchmark of 0.3 to 1 per cent for commercial grade.

The MD&A does not report a helium grade from Desert Mountain's own wells.

In New Mexico, the company owns the West Pecos Slope Abo gas field and its gathering system in Chaves County. This is where its revenue comes from today.

For the nine months to June 30, 2026, natural gas sales were C$238,421. The same period a year earlier brought C$361,968. The MD&A attributes the decline to lower gas sales while the company negotiates a more favourable contract for its natural gas.

The helium business is still being built. The June 30 statements describe a mobile processing plant "in the final stages of completion and operational testing." A processing plant separates helium from the raw gas stream so it can be sold.

The MD&A says the helium extraction plant "remains offline until enhancements can be completed." In May 2026 the company said it was raising capital to replace ageing gathering lines. The MD&A describes about 33 miles of new and larger lines, meant to raise gas and helium production. The MD&A does not give a date for continuous helium sales.

Note 11 states that, as of June 30, 2026, the company was not a producer of helium. Helium revenue, the notes say, has started but has not been continuous because of planned enhancements.

C$1.77 million in cash at the end of June

The latest filed statements cover the nine months to June 30, 2026. They were filed on SEDAR+ on August 27, 2026, and an auditor did not review them.

Cash stood at C$1,769,941 at June 30, 2026, up from C$272,542 at September 30, 2025. New shares made the difference. Financing brought in C$3,126,426, including warrant exercises.

Operations used C$968,174 over the nine months. Investing used a net C$536,968. Plant and equipment spending within that was C$664,747. Currency effects took C$123,885.

Total liabilities were C$3,661,303 at June 30, 2026.

Most of that, C$3,140,536, is a decommissioning provision. It covers closing wells and sites at the end of their lives. Trade payables were C$520,767.

The balance sheet carries C$53,992,797 of assets on that date. Most is the cost of plant, equipment and exploration, booked at C$50.3 million together.

Those carrying values depend on helium and gas being recovered profitably, according to Note 1.

Note 1 also carries the going-concern language. It states that "a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt" on the company continuing as a going concern.

Its own explanation sits beside that sentence. The company says testing indicates its helium properties "should be economically recoverable," subject to market prices when production comes. It says it relies on equity financing because gas cash flow is limited.

Note 12 adds that the company expects to raise more capital "in the near term."

Nine months added ten per cent to the share count

The share count reached 103,703,595 at June 30, 2026. Nine months earlier it was 94,184,109, so the increase is about 10.1 per cent.

Most of it came from one brokered placement in April 2026. The company sold 6,976,744 units at C$0.43 each, for gross proceeds of C$3,000,000.

Each unit carried a warrant. A warrant is a right to buy one more share at a fixed price before a set date. These warrants are exercisable at C$0.70 until April 9, 2029.

A smaller January placement raised C$337,500 at C$0.25 a unit, with warrants at C$0.35.

The MD&A of August 27, 2026 lists 12,301,690 warrants and 7,860,000 stock options outstanding. If all were exercised, the count would pass 123.8 million shares.

At the C$0.205 close, none of the warrants is in the money. The lowest warrant strike is C$0.25, on 108,000 finder's warrants. The lowest option strike is C$0.36.

About 4.7 million warrants expire in January 2027. Of those, 4,589,040 are at C$0.35 and 108,000 at C$0.25. Of the C$0.35 warrants, 3,239,040 had their expiry extended to January 30, 2027, according to Note 9. The extension came during the nine months to June 30, 2026.

Trading in Toronto and Frankfurt

The company had not commented on the share price by the close of the session.

Desert Mountain has been listed in Frankfurt since December 10, 2008, under the symbol QM01, according to Note 1.

Tradegate Exchange lists the shares under WKN A2JHVK and ISIN CA25043D1078.

On Tradegate, no shares had traded on October 28 when the order book was read that evening, Berlin time.

Most trading in the shares takes place on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Where the October 7 release fits

The company's previous release, dated October 7, 2026, set out an agreement with Hethos Ltd. It covers projects in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Under it, Desert Mountain may join projects directly. If it does not, it receives a 5 per cent royalty plus licensing fees for its helium plant design.

The same release said the Bureau of Land Management had returned certain Arizona leases to good standing after a multi-year review. They include acreage on the north side of the Pinta Dome helium field.

The release gave no revenue, cost or timetable for the Hethos projects.

A long legal dispute in Arizona has also moved. In May 2026 the Arizona Court of Appeals ordered judgment for Desert Mountain on all of Flagstaff's claims. The city has since filed a new lawsuit, which the company removed to federal court.

The next filing will say more than the designation

The designation strengthens the policy case for domestic helium.

The company holds the acreage and a plant in testing, with federal policy now behind helium.

The fiscal year ended September 30, 2026. Annual audited statements for a TSX Venture issuer are due within 120 days, by late January 2027.

Those statements will show the year-end cash and whether helium sales became regular after June. The January warrant expiries fall in the same weeks.