South Africa dreams of being a leader in helium, a rare gas

Renergen is a South African company specializing in natural gas. The project she is carrying, Virginia gas, is located in the Free State, in the center of the country, around the small town of Virginia, 100 km northeast of Bloemfontein. Initially, for Renergen, it was a question of prospecting and exploiting a gas field of 187,000 hectares, the goal being to supply fuel to a neighboring gold mine. In exchange for a symbolic dollar and the cancellation of the debts of the owners, the persons in charge of Renergen obtain to exploit four existing gas wells.

They then take samples to analyze the chemical composition. “That’s when we realized that we had come across something special”, explains to AFP Stefano Marani, the CEO of the company. Not only is this gas very pure, with 90% methane, but it has one of the best concentrations of helium in the world, from 2 to 4%, sometimes even 12%. In the United States, even concentrations of 0.3% are exploited.

Helium is a rare gas produced by the decay of thorium and uranium in the ground, which is lighter than air. It is used to inflate birthday balloons and airships. It is mostly widely used in industry. In space exploration, where he participates in rocket propulsion, in medical imaging to cool MRI machines, in the automobile, where he fills the airbags of cars.

Since its discovery at the very beginning of the 20th century, most of the known reserves were located in United States which produced up to 90% of the helium sold in the world. Today, other countries have joined the list of producers, such as Algeria or Qatar. Abundant in the universe, helium is curiously rare on earth, and therefore expensive.

Despite its high price, helium is used for many uses which take advantage of its properties: its low boiling point, its low density, its low solubility, its high thermal conductivity. So much so that it has become a must-see that every country hopes to discover en masse. Thus in France, an area of ​​250 km² will be prospected in the south of the Nièvre, and it is hoped for exploitation there for 2023.

For the South African site, estimates of its capacity vary from 1 to 10. The most optimistic speak of nearly 10 billion m³, or a value of 100 billion dollars. A real jackpot that will now have to be confirmed. In 2022, a liquefaction plant should produce 350 kilos of helium every day.