A contract signed on Wednesday between alternative energy company Renergen, JSE-listed Afrox and The Linde Group, of Germany, is expected to open the way for a €13-million investment into the commercialisation of a Free State natural gas resource and the creation of a large-scale helium separation facility. Afrox officially signed the deal in Johannesburg with TETRA 4, a subsidiary of AltX-listed Renergen and holder of South Africa’s only onshore production right, covering 187 000 ha and spanning the Free State gold mining towns of Virginia, Theunissen and Welkom.