The light inert gas helium does not have its own deposits and does not linger in the earth's atmosphere. It is mined either as a by-product from natural gas or extracted from the extraction of other minerals. Until recently, helium was mined mainly at three large sites: one in Qatar and two in the United States (in Wyoming and Texas). These three sources provided about 75% of the world's helium production. In fact, the US has been the world's largest supplier of helium for decades, but that has changed. Helium stocks in the US are critically depleted.
At the last auction organized by the US authorities in September last year, where quotas for helium supplies in 2019 were sold, the price of this gas increased by 135% year-on-year. There is a possibility that this was the last auction when helium was sold to private companies. In 2013, a law was passed according to which the US would withdraw from the international helium market. The Texas helium site is owned by the government and depleted. Meanwhile, helium is widely used in aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing, scientific research, medicine (to cool MRI scanners), and entertainment. In fact, helium balloons have so far been and remain the main commodity in the United States using helium.
To mitigate the shortage of helium, scientists propose to introduce recycling technologies with purification and return of gas to the market. But so far there are no acceptable solutions for this. There are also proposals for rigid distribution of helium, without which the mass of scientific equipment simply will not work. But you can't beat the market. Party City, the largest party equipment retailer in the US, has already lost 30% of its stock in the past year and is not going to put up with it. For her, helium balloons are the main source of income.
With some delay, the helium shortage may be eliminated thanks to international companies that plan to start helium production before the end of the next decade. So, with a delay of a couple of years, Qatar will open a new site in 2020 (the sanctions of the Arab coalition against this country affected this country in the winter of 2018). In 2021, Russia will bite off its piece of the pie from the helium market by launching another large helium production facility. In the US, Desert Mountain Energy and American Helium will enter the market. The helium will be mined by companies in Australia, Canada and Tanzania. The helium market will no longer be a US monopoly, but a certain shortage will probably still not be avoided.
Source: 3dnews.ru