Helium Discovery in Babbitt, Minnesota, my improved Yada Yada series on Minnesota Geology

Helium Discovery in Babbitt, Minnesota. Probably a little too much gloss over on the geology in this video but the main point is that Helium is 100% of the time found in association with natural gas wells so you have to look for a source of natural gas to understand where helium might be found. On the Earth, most helium is a radioactive decay product of uranium and thorium. It is found under the Earth's crust with other natural gases. Commercial helium is extracted from natural gas when the helium concentra on is above 0.3%. In the well recently drilled in Babbitt, Minnesota by Pulsar Helium the percentage of helium was at about 12%, an extremely high percentage for the gas coming from the well. The bigger question is if there are commercial quantities of helium in the Babbit area. An independent company invited by Pulsar Helium will test for the sustainability of the current Pulsar Helium well to produce helium at a commercial level. The first well drilled in the area by these geologists was in the search for copper bearing rock a number of years back. That well had a blow-out where the blow-out lasted several days before the well was capped. A sampling of that gas in that blow-out showed extremely high levels of helium. There might be a lot of copper bearing rock in the Babbitt area worth mining but mining of any type has the potential for a large environmental impact, especially for surface water adjacent to the area being mined, so politically it would be much more of an uphill battle getting permitting for copper mining than drilling for helium which should have a very low potential for a substantial environmental impact in the Babbit area. Pulsar Helium is hitting helium gas at about a 1000 feet deep which for drilling is very close to the surface and a very cheap well to drill. It is something like a 125 dollars a foot to drill a oil/gas well. The average oil/gas well depth in the United States is about 6000 feet. Feel free to leave comments and let me know if I stated something dead wrong. Thanks. -Greg For more news: stockhouse.com/news/press-rel... www.reuters.com/plus/acumen/g...
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what are the top uses for helium
Helium is a versatile gas with various applications across different industries. Some of the top uses for helium include:
Balloons: One of the most well-known uses of helium is filling balloons, especially for celebrations and events. Helium balloons are popular due to their ability to float.
Industrial Purposes: Helium is used in various industrial applications, such as welding, where it is used as a shielding gas to protect materials from contamination during the welding process.
Cryogenics: Helium is used as a coolant in cryogenic applications, particularly in the cooling of superconducting magnets, such as those used in MRI machines and particle accelerators.
Gas Chromatography: Helium is commonly used as a carrier gas in gas chromatography, a technique used in analytical chemistry to separate and analyze compounds.
Medical Applications: Helium is used in certain medical applications, including respiratory treatments and as a carrier gas for administering anesthesia.
Pressurizing and Leak Detection: Helium is used to pressurize and leak-test various systems, such as automotive airbags, fuel tanks, and pipelines, due to its small molecular size and inert properties.
Aerospace Industry: Helium is used in the aerospace industry for various purposes, including purging fuel and oxidizer from rockets and pressurizing liquid fuel tanks.
Research and Scientific Experiments: Helium is used in various scientific research applications, including experiments in physics, chemistry, and materials science, often due to its low boiling point and inert properties.
Balloon Gas for Scientific Research: Helium-filled balloons are used for scientific research purposes, such as atmospheric studies, weather monitoring, and high-altitude research.
Cooling Nuclear Reactors: Helium is used as a coolant in certain types of nuclear reactors, particularly high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, where its inertness and excellent heat transfer properties are advantageous.
These are some of the primary uses of helium, but the gas has many other applications across industries due to its unique properties.