There has been a growing realisation that the global supply of helium is unlikely to meet demand, in part evidenced by the rapid proliferation of dedicated helium exploration companies, demonstrating that helium can be very attractive as a stand-alone exploration opportunity.
Demand for helium is driven by the many diverse and specialised uses it has across many aspects of modern life, such as medical, electronic, aerospace, nuclear and telecommunications. There is also a strong desire to produce it with the lowest possible carbon footprint, and because it cannot be artificially manufactured, helium is considered a “critical raw material” by many jurisdictions.
The last few years have seen the topic of natural hydrogen systems receive a huge boost in publicity, as we seek economic and environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuels. Our White Paper: A Mineral Systems Approach to Targeting Natural Hydrogen Deposits explores the concept of natural hydrogen and suggests an approach to predicting its location as a geological resource which, as part of overall low-carbon hydrogen potential, is seen as a “game changer delivering a net-zero economy by 2050”. Furthermore, it has become clear that the presence of helium as an associated resource may be hugely influential on natural hydrogen exploration budgets and targets, e.g. Gold Hydrogen and HyTerra both have stated that presence of helium will boost the economic attractiveness of their projects in South Australia and the USA, respectively.
Read more about this topic in our White Paper: How Natural Helium Could Give Natural Hydrogen Exploration a Lift.
