Helium tipped as next big thing to balloon in SA
Experts say South Australia is the only place in the nation where miners are on the hunt for a niche gas – one company launching its first field survey, saying “it’s not just for party balloons”.
Gas and hydrogen exploration company Prominence Energy is sending its first teams to conduct a field survey at its Gawler Helium and Hydrogen Project in central South Australia.
The soil and gas survey at Prominence’s approximately 64,000 square metre Gawler Craton portfolio will target helium, hydrogen and methane – key energy sources in Australia’s sustainable energy transition.
Dr Krista Davies, who is a geologist and chief operating officer at Prominence Energy, said that if found in commercial quantities, hydrogen would be the “ideal energy source” for the future and helium was “super critical for us right now”.
Helium is an important source of energy for health and technology, being used for MRI machines, data centres and to power artificial intelligence.
Davies said helium was “super critical”, particularly after a 30 per cent reduction in production due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
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Australia currently produces none of its own helium, but if Prominence Energy is successful in its field survey, this could all change.
“It’s not just for party balloons. For helium, there are a bunch of different uses,” Davies said.
Davies said that while some wells drilled on the Yorke Peninsula indicated the presence of hydrogen and helium, there are currently no other reserves in Australia.
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She told InDaily that if a smaller amount of the gases were found, it would be more likely to be used domestically; however, if there is a larger accumulation, it could be exported around the world.
Over the next 10 or so days, around five people in two teams from the Perth-based company will collect samples to analyse the presence of these naturally occurring fuel sources in central South Australia.
According to Prominence, the Gawler Craton is noted as a “highly prospective” region for its helium and natural hydrogen due to the presence of ancient radiogenic granites, iron-rich sedimentary rocks and deep crustal structures.
Hydrogen was particularly useful for heavy industries, powering trucks, ships, planes and even rockets such as Artemis II, which recently touched down after a 10-day lunar flyby mission.
“What we’re doing is we’re looking to see if we can find any hydrogen or helium micro seepage coming up through the soil, and that will give us indications of whether or not maybe deeper down underground there are larger stores of hydrogen and helium,” Davies said.
Davies said there is no CO2 generated by the use of natural hydrogen, making it vital in Australia’s clean energy transition.
“Why we’re looking for naturally occurring hydrogen is because it has the potential to be the lowest carbon-emitting source of energy on earth,” she said.
Finding the hydrogen and helium, which occur together naturally, would create local jobs and “vitally important” resource security for Australia, she said.
“We’re all experiencing the impact of having reliance on our fuel sources coming from overseas, so in terms of having our own source of energy in Australia, I think that is enormously valuable,” Davies said.
An Energy and Mining Department spokesperson said Prominence Energy had been given approval “to undertake low-impact soil gas surveys within its Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL 803) areas on South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf, Eyre Peninsula and west coast”.
“These surveys represent the early stages of exploration for natural hydrogen, helium and methane,” the spokesperson said.
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