Skip to main content

Large Deposit of Helium Worth Billions Of Dollars Discovered In Tanzania



A vast field of helium has been discovered in a section of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania, scientists are reporting.
The scarce gas, which is used in high-tech devices such as MRI medical scanners and radiation monitors, is currently priced at about $70 per 1000 cubic feet.



A team of British and Norwegian researchers estimate that the deposit they located in Tanzania could contain about 54 billion cubic feet of helium, which puts the potential value of the find at more than $3.5 billion.

The discovery was reported on Monday in the US journal Popular Science and is being formally presented at the Goldschmidt geology conference taking place this week in Yokohama, Japan.

“This is a game changer for the future security of society's helium needs,” University of Oxford earth scientist Chris Ballentine said in a statement.

“We sampled helium gas (and nitrogen) just bubbling out of the ground in the Tanzanian East African Rift valley,” Prof Ballentine added.
The amount of the gas so far found in Tanzania could fill 1.2 million MRI scanners, he said.

LARGEST SUPPLIER
“To put this discovery into perspective,” Prof Ballentine continued, “global consumption of helium is about 8 billion cubic feet per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world's largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 billion cubic feet.”
The Tanzania find could thus be sufficient to meet global demand for nearly seven years, and may be more than twice as large as the US helium reserve.

Other parts of East Africa's Rift Valley may contain additional deposits of helium, geologist Jon Gluyas of Durham University in the UK told Live Science, a website that also reported the discovery.
Helium accumulates inside rock in Earth's crust over billions of years. The gas remains trapped in the rock until released by intense volcanic heat such as in the geothermally active regions of East Africa's Rift Valley, Prof Gluyas explained in his comments to Live Science. 
The researchers said the Tanzania discovery results from a new method of searching for helium.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Security Alert; Bart Ransomware Bypasses Corporate Firewalls

A new ransomware variant has emerged that’s similar to widespread threats such as Dridex 220 and Locky Affid=3, but uses a security-evading technique that may allow it to attack organisations protected from other malware, according to computer security researchers. Ransomware has spread quickly in the last few months, as a number of payouts have attracted cyber-criminals to the technique.

Buhari Considers Hadiza Bala Usman As Head Of NPA

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, has submitted Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman’s name to President Muhammadu Buhari to take over as the new managing director of NPA, says Reporter.Should Buhari approve the recommendation, Ms. Bala Usman, 40, will become the first female chief executive of a top tier federal government agency and of the NPA. She shall take over from Alhaji Habib Abdullahi, who was reinstated by Buhari in August 2015 as the managing director of NPA, after he had been shown the exit by former President Goodluck Jonathan in April 2015.

Yahoo Fails To Reveal Buyer, Suffers £332m Loss In Q2

Yahoo has failed to update investors on the sale of its core internet business as it revealed it suffered a £332 million loss in its second quarter. Instead, CEO Marissa Mayer said that “progress” has been made on its strategic alternatives but failed to define what that subjective term meant. Yahoo saw a rise in revenue to $1.3 billion (£1bn) in the second quarter, with mobile revenue growing from £252 million to $378 million (£287m).