A huge reservoir of helium has been found in Babbitt, northern Minnesota. After exploratory drilling found the store of gas hundreds of meters below the earth, further tests have found it to be in “mind-bogglingly” high concentrations.
Helium has uses that go far beyond balloons, being used in everything from
The problem is that once helium escapes, it encounters the
If the buoyant force of a fluid is greater than the weight of an object placed within it, the object will float. Helium, being lighter than the other elements in our atmosphere, rises. It’s the same when air is heated inside a hot air balloon, making it less dense per volume inside the balloon than it is outside, causing it to rise.
This takes it to the edge of our atmosphere, where it gradually escapes, for
After initial drilling at the site showed concentrations of
“That’s just a mind-bogglingly large number,” Thomas Abraham-James, the president and CEO of Pulsar Helium who ran the drill, told
“Comparing this to our extensive database for helium occurrences around the world, we are pleased to say the results from the Jetstream #1 appraisal well are the highest helium concentrations that we have ever seen,” the company added in a
As the gas rises naturally, there would be no need for fracking at the site, according to Abraham-James, with a facility at the surface able to process the helium as and when it is needed.
The team is continuing to assess the reservoir to attain information about its size, shape, and pressure before it is deemed safe and suitable for commercial production.
[H/T: