Saskatoon-based helium company makes massive discovery

Massive helium discovery in southern Sask. WATCH: CTV's Tyler Barrow reports on a discovery that may help with the helium shortage.

SASKATOON — Saskatoon-based helium company Royal Helium Ltd., has discovered a large amount of the element in southwestern Saskatchewan.

"The funny thing about it is, we found everything we expected to find, and then we found something much bigger below it," said CEO of Royal Helium Ltd., Andrew Davidson.

Helium was discovered in 3,000 hectares of that land, in what Davidson calls a "small portion."

The discovery happened near the Village of Climax, located about 429 kilometres south of Saskatoon.

The drilling for the project takes up 50,000 hectares of land.

In a May 12 news release the company said it estimates there is six billion cubic-feet of helium in the prospective area.

According to MarketWatch the discovery boosted the company’s stock up to $0.64 compared to this time last year of $0.08.

Scott Moe celebrated the discovery on Twitter.

When many people think of helium, they consider helium balloons. Davidson said there is much more use for the element.

"Helium is used in everyone’s day-to-day life, whether they know it or not," Davidson said, adding helium is a major resource in tech manufacturing.

"Microchips, semiconductors, fiber optic cables, LCD screens. All these things cannot be manufactured without helium," he said.

Hospitals also use helium as the healthcare field accounts for 20 per cent of helium’s demand in North America.

"In North America the largest use for helium is healthcare," said Davidson. "Helium is used in MRI machines to cool the magnets as they spin."

It’s also used for rocketry, small-scale nuclear reactors and the cryptocurrency market has also found a use for it.

"These Bitcoin mines are very energy-intensive and generate a lot of heat. The use of liquid helium as a coolant is prevalent and growing."

Davidson said Royal Helium Ltd. still has lots of land left to explore in southwest and southeastern Saskatchewan.