In the South African countryside, once one of the world’s richest gold regions, the natural gas producer Renergen found another promising resource: a helium field, essential for electronic chips, medical scanners or space exploration.
The finding not only places South Africa among the ten countries that produce this resource in the world, but also places its deposit as the richest and cleanest on the planet according to Renergen, which plans to have it operational in a few months.
Stefano Marani and Nick Mitchell, CEO and director of the operation, were not looking for helium when they bought the gas rights in this 187,000 hectare area in 2012.
It cost them barely a dollar since the owners wanted to part with that asset due to the numerous associated debts, explains Marani.
His initial idea was to use natural gas from four pre-existing wells to fuel an adjoining gold mine. “This had to be a small side project for us,” explains the CEO.
They took some samples to analyze the chemical composition. “Then we understood that we had found something special,” says Marani.
The tests revealed that the helium concentrations in the gas were between 2% and 4%, notably higher than usual.
According to Jon Gluyas, director of the energy institute at the British University of Durham, concentrations below 1% may be commercially viable depending on the existing infrastructure in place and the rest of the gases present in the mixture.
In the United States, for example, helium is mined at concentrations of 0.3%.
Calmer exploration of the South African deposit found concentrations of up to 12%, Renergen said.
The global helium market was valued at $ 10.6 billion in 2019, according to Research and Markets.
No hydraulic fracturing
Renergen estimates that its helium reserves can reach 9.740 million cubic meters, which, according to Marani, would represent a value of more than US $ 100 billion.
Other more prudent estimates place the contained volume at 920 million cubic meters.
The United States, historically the world’s great helium producer, has 9.540 million cubic meters of proven and probable reserves. The other major producers are Qatar and Algeria.
But Chris Ballentine, holder of the chair of geochemistry at Oxford, recalls that this production is a happy consequence of the extraction of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Although it is less harmful than oil, this fuel also contributes to climate change and environmental activists call for a reduction in its consumption.
“We already see the pressures exerted on the supply of hydrocarbons by climate targets. If the LNG disappears, the helium supply will also disappear ”, he warns.
“It is essential to discover primary supplies in helium and that of Renergen falls into this category,” he adds.
What distinguishes the find from South Africa is the way the gas is extracted.
Typical LNG production requires hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting pressurized water, sand, or chemicals into the rock to release oil or gas.
The groundwater pollution and minor earthquakes it causes, in addition to the fossil fuels it helps extract, make it a controversial practice. “We don’t use fracturing,” says Marani.
“Our rocks are already cracked, there is a giant fracture under the ground. When we drill, we do it precisely in this fracture where the gas that escapes naturally is found, without any other stimulus ”, he explains.
Renergen is currently installing around twenty 500-meter deep wells. The gas obtained is used in a pilot project to power less polluting buses.
It is also planned to launch LNG truck refueling stations in South Africa before the end of the year in collaboration with the French energy group Total.
And most importantly, at the beginning of 2022 they want to have a factory operational to liquefy 350 kilos of helium every day at -269 ° Celsius to be exported around the world.
In the coming years, the company forecasts a production of five tons per day, which represents 7% of world production. “Huge,” sums up Marani.
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
