The Race Is on to Re-Establish Australia’s Natural Helium Production Capabilities

International and local explorers are in a race to bring a natural helium industry back to Australia, where no local production has been available since the country’s only extraction plant in Darwin shut down in late 2023 after the depletion of the helium-rich gas supply from the Bayu-Undan field.

However, analysts see Australia as having world-class untapped resources in natural gas and helium, with recent exploration successes confirming large reserves are potentially available.

Helium’s unique properties make it critical for sectors like medical imaging, high-tech manufacturing and space exploration.

Offtake Early Adopters

The desire to develop new helium resources here has already led to potential buyers seeking to tie-up offtake from projects in the earliest stages of exploration.

UK-listed Georgina Energy recently received an expression of interest for helium offtake from its wholly owned subsidiary Westmarket Oil & Gas.

The offtaker would also be responsible for capital outlay to finance downstream processing facilities including the PSA systems for helium/hydrogen separation and cryogenic systems for purification.

Georgina is focusing on a prospective combined recoverable helium resource of 430 billion cubic feet across its two major projects—Hussar in Western Australia’s Officer Basin and Mt Winter in the Northern Territory’s Amadeus Basin.

Sizeable Helium Potential

Central Petroleum (ASX: CTP) has also identified helium potential in its permits within the Amadeus Basin, where consultants previously identified drilled evidence of helium grades as high as 9% in the subsalt zones.

The company is actively assessing opportunities to commercialise the valuable resources, part of its long-term strategy to focus on non-hydrocarbon resources in the region.

Central believes the Bonaparte, Surat, Gunnedah, Carnarvon, Canning, and Perth basins hold significant helium reserves within their natural gas deposits.

South Australian Land Rush

Gold Hydrogen (ASX: GHY) has reported what it believes to be the world’s highest helium purities at their Ramsay project in South Australia, reaching up to 36.9% on an air and nitrogen-corrected basis.

Its success has led a number of foreign-based companies from to acquire exploration acreage in the state, with UK-headquartered Thor Energy (ASX: THR) recently acquiring three exploration licences at the HY Range.

D3 Energy (ASX: D3E) has also brought its South African helium experience to South Australia with its acquisition of two exploration permits in the Arckaringa Basin, a region of increasing helium and hydrogen exploration activity.

The company is adding petroleum exploration licences PEL 121 and PEL 122 via the purchase of all the issued share capital in Unleash Energy.