The name *helium* is derived from the Greek word, ‘helios’, meaning sun. Helium was first detected in the sunlight during a solar eclipse in 1868 by Georges Rayet and other
scientists.The world’s helium demand has doubled over the last two decades, and its price surged by over 135% in 2018 alone. In recent times, the cost of helium has been in the range of US$ 30-70 per kilogram of helium.
Helium has recently been added to the critical minerals’ lists of both the USA and the European Union (EU).
Main uses of helium gas include:
Arc welding shield. Helium’s inert and high heat transfer properties make it a perfect shielding gas for welding materials with high conductivity such as copper and aluminium. It protects melts from oxygen and water effects
Medicine
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners: Liquid helium cools down the superconducting magnets, which generate images of the human body, to a temperature below -269°C. NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectrometers, whereby, liquid helium is also used here as a cooling medium.
Helium respiratory therapy: Heliox is a mixture of helium and oxygen that is used for medical conditions where there is a need for increased oxygen intake, such as upper airway obstruction in asthma and COPD.
Airbags
Approximately 80 per cent of car airbags contain a mixture of two gases, namely, helium and argon
Ballons
Helium gas is safe, non-flammable, and thus, it is used to fill party and parade ballons.
High-tech manufacturing
Manufacturing of equipment or devices containing chips (carriers made of semiconductor materials) requires helium at different stages in their production processes. They include TVs, computers, tablets, phones, fibre optic cables, and many more.
National Defence
Applications include rocket engine testing, air-to-air missile guidance systems, scientific balloons, surveillance craft, etc.
Space Exploration
Cutting edge space science and research requires helium. NASA consumes approx 75 million cubic feet annually to cool liquid hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
Where can we find helium deposits in the world? Sedimentary rocks aged 541-252 million years (Palaezoic era) host major deposits of helium. Thus, helium forms from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium deep in the Earth. Faults, fractures, and concomitant igneous intrusives and extrusives have brought about the migration and accumulation of helium gas from deep to shallower traps in the Earth’s crust.
Helium is most commonly recovered from natural gas deposits as a by-product. Rich helium deposits like those in Texas and Kansas (USA) have concentrations between 0.3 per cent and 2.7 per cent of helium within the associated natural gas deposits.
Global helium supply
USA is the world’s largest helium producer. In 2022, the USA produced 2.65 billion cubic feet (Bcf). That was about 55 per cent of the world’s production. Other major producers are; Qatar (32 per cent), Algeria (6 per cent), Australia (3 per cent), Russia (2 per cent), Poland (1 per cent), and the rest of the world (1 per cent).
Does Tanzania have commercial sources of helium for the world’s market? From the above-mentioned helium deposits, we may now be tempted to conclude that helium’s known occurrences around the world are of two types, namely:
(i) Helium resource associated with natural gas and is recovered as its by-product. This is the case for the helium reserves in the USA, Qatar, Algeria, etc.
(ii) Helium accumulated in sedimentary rocks resulting from the decay of radioactive uranium and thorium elements. This is considered as a “primary resource.” The Lake Rukwa nitrogen-rich helium deposit falls under this category.
Going back to the above question: The answer is yes. The presence of helium in Tanzania was first reported in 1956 by a British Geologist, Mr Thomas Clive James. He found it in hot springs with helium concentration levels of 13-18 per cent.
The Lake Rukwa Helium Resource of Tanzania
This lake is within the western branch of the East African Rift System (EARS). The Tanzanian government has issued helium exploration licences to a consortium of collaborators led by the UK universities of Oxford and Durham. This research group collaborates with Helium-One and Noble Helium commercial companies.
Tanzania’s collaborators include earth scientists from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). Three Tanzanian earth scientists have completed their master’s degrees through this helium project.
One UDSM staff member, Mr Ernest Mulaya will complete his PhD in helium geoscience next year (2024), and hence, he will be the first Tanzanian to acquire such high calibre qualification in this earth science domain.
How much helium does Tanzania possess?
The above-mentioned group of experts gives us an estimate of a prospective recoverable helium resource in the Lake Rukwa area, amounting to 138 billion cubic feet (138 Bcf). Facts and figures on annual helium global demand remain unclear, ranging from approx 7 to 6 billion cu. ft. (Bcf). China alone imports about 1 Bcf a year. The 2022 USA’s helium consumption was at approx 1.52 Bcf.
The preliminary data on our (Tanzania) helium resource in the Lake Rukwa area reveals its world-class size of primary helium deposit that can alone meet the global helium demand for about two decades before being complemented by other Tanzania’s helium deposits being explored in the Lakes Nyasa, Eyasi, Balangida and elsewhere.
Tanzania’s economic growth has to reach at least 8-10 per cent annually and remain at that level for a minimum of one decade if drastic poverty-reduction measures have to be successfully implemented.
Non-renewable resources such as natural gas (mostly methane), helium gas, and modern technology metals may contribute significantly to the desired accelerated growth (>8-10 per cent yearly). They remain to be the most reliable giant boosters and game-changers for other productive (e.g., agriculture) and service-provider (e.g., tourism) sectors. Next will be on carbon dioxide.
- The writer is Musoma Rural Member of Parliament and former Minister for Energy and Minerals.
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