The US Department of Energy (DOE) designated helium as a critical mineral on 23 October, citing growing supply risks and its importance to domestic semiconductor manufacturing and advanced technologies.
The helium designation could strengthen the investment case for US helium extraction and refining projects and support domestic semiconductor manufacturing supply chains.
This comes after Cliff Cain, President of helium exploration firm Pulsar Helium, presented the case for adding helium to the US Critical Minerals List at gasworld’s Helium Super Summit in Houston.
The helium designation follows significant disruption to global helium supplies following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February.
It formally recognises helium as essential to strategic industries and vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is required by the Energy Act of 2020 to refresh the List of Critical Minerals at least every three years, with helium being from the USGS’s List of Critical Minerals in 2022.
Cain pointed to US helium allocations amid ongoing global supply chain disruptions as a reason for designating helium as a critical mineral.
“We’re…the fallback for our allies since this disruption in Qatar… I think this would help strengthen the message for the critical minerals list,” he noted.
Following the addition of helium to the US Critical Minerals List, Cain commented, “With global supply chains facing increasing uncertainty, the need to develop reliable domestic sources of helium has never been more urgent.”
At the Summit, Cain pointed to repeated systemic shortages and a single critical point of failure in US supply as reasons to reassess its removal.
“[If] the biggest source in the US…went offline tomorrow…we can literally point to a single critical point of failure in the system,” he told delegates.
Industrial gas firm Messer closed on its purchase of the Federal Helium System in The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) confirmed that the sale of the Helium System provided the US Treasury with $460m.
Helium projects and semiconductor industry
The helium designation could potentially support domestic helium extraction and refining projects and the continued buildout of semiconductor manufacturing.
It could strengthen the investment case for US helium extraction and refining projects. However, the designation itself does not provide new funding or introduce measures to accelerate permitting or expand capacity.
Helium exploration company Helix Exploration believes it provides further recognition of the strategic importance of investment in US helium production, processing and liquefaction infrastructure.
It could also support the semiconductor industry and AI infrastructure, with the DOE citing helium’s unique properties as “indispensable” to semiconductor manufacturing.
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, said, “Helium is essential to producing the semiconductors and advanced technologies that power our economy…by designating helium as a critical material, we are taking another step toward securing our supply chains.”
Companies across the US semiconductor supply chain have announced a in private investment since 2020, across more than 160 projects spanning 30 states, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
