Onfolio eyes Arizona helium deposit in Paramount deal, merger planned

Onfolio Holdings and Paramount Helium signed a binding letter of intent July 7 to pursue a deal around helium assets in the St. Johns Unit of northeastern Arizona, a move that could put Apache County land at the center of a merger or other business combination. Onfolio disclosed the agreement in an SEC filing July 8 and said the target resource includes more than 20 billion cubic feet of recoverable helium, plus helium-3.

The company said it intends to raise at least $40 million in new investor funding as part of the broader transaction structure. Onfolio is also under pressure on another front: Nasdaq sent it a bid-price deficiency notice Jan. 6, 2026, and a July 9 filing said the company had received notice of delisting or failure to satisfy a continued listing standard.

The St. Johns deposit is being pitched as more than a gas field. Onfolio said the asset could position it in the industrial gas market, which has been valued at about $122 billion, and that domestic helium production could help supply semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, defense and other industrial users. The helium-3 component adds a second layer of interest because the isotope has advanced-technology uses, including quantum computing.

For Apache County residents, the bigger issue is not the market pitch but what the deal would mean on the ground. The SEC filing says the St. Johns assets are tied to agreed terms between Paramount Helium and Proton Green’s creditors over a lien on the property, leaving questions about control of the resource as the transaction moves forward. The filing does not spell out how many jobs would be created locally, how much water the project would need, what road or power upgrades might be required, or how much of the eventual tax base would stay in Apache County.

The St. Johns Field has been on the county’s radar for years. Proton Green said its Phase I Helium Extraction Plant began production in July 2023 and made its first helium sales in September 2023. Apache County meeting minutes from February 2025 show county officials were still being updated on the project and said the company was in a holding pattern while it worked on a larger, more efficient mobile plant to lower costs.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality records note that helium extraction in northeastern Arizona has occurred on and off since the late 1950s. That history gives St. Johns a long industrial past, but the new deal will be judged by a narrower question in Apache County: whether the next phase brings durable local jobs, tax revenue and infrastructure, or mostly shifts ownership of the resource without much staying power on the ground.