Where Does Helium Come From?

Helium comes from two main sources: cosmic nucleosynthesis during the Big Bang and radioactive decay of uranium and thorium within the Earth’s crust. However, the helium we use on Earth comes almost entirely from underground deposits formed by radioactive decay—not from the helium produced during the Big Bang. 

WestAir supplies helium across California and Arizona.

Most Helium Was Formed During the Big Bang

In the first three minutes after the Big Bang, a process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis occurred, which produced around 25% of all the mass in the universe as helium—the remaining 75% was mainly made up of hydrogen, with trace amounts of lithium and other light elements. 

Stars keep producing helium through nuclear fusion. Our sun alone fuses roughly 600 million metric tons of hydrogen into helium every second.

Still, the vast majority of the universe’s helium dates back to those first few minutes after the Big Bang.

How Helium Is Formed on Earth

Most of Earth’s helium originates deep underground as a byproduct of radioactive decay, where elements such as uranium and thorium emit helium-4 nuclei. 

Over millions of years, that helium gets trapped in the same underground pockets that hold natural gas. Impermeable rock above keeps it sealed in. That matters because helium is so light that it escapes Earth’s gravity once it hits the surface. Gone for good.

Helium concentration in natural gas deposits varies wildly. Rich deposits hit 7-8% helium. Most sit below 0.3%.

The United States has historically been the world’s largest producer of helium, with significant deposits in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Other countries with substantial helium reserves include Qatar, Algeria, Russia, Canada, and Tanzania.

How Helium Is Extracted from Natural Gas: Step-by-Step

Helium is extracted from natural gas by cooling the gas until other components liquefy, leaving helium in a gaseous state for easy separation and purification.

Here is the process, step-by-step:

Step 1: remove impurities such as water, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide from the natural gas.

Step 2: cool the cleaned gas mixture to cryogenic temperatures (around -200°C). At these low temperatures, most gases liquefy while helium stays in gas form.

Step 3: separate the helium-rich gas from the liquefied components.

Step 4: further purify the helium using pressure swing adsorption or other methods.

Step 5: collect helium at the required purity level, often 99.995% or higher.

Will We Have Enough Helium in the Future?

You can’t produce helium synthetically at any reasonable cost, and shortages are already hitting the supply chain. Helium keeps MRI machines running, semiconductor fabs operating, and rocket engines tested—among other use cases.

So the industry is focused on two fronts: conserving what we have and finding new sources.

How Helium Is Being Conserved

Helium recovery systems capture and reuse helium instead of letting it vent to the atmosphere. Hospitals, for example, now run closed-loop systems on their MRI magnets that recover over 90% of the helium used.

There Are Efforts to Find New Helium Sources

Helium specialists are looking for new ways to meet demand for helium.

Geological surveys continue to identify new helium reserves globally, with promising discoveries in countries like Tanzania, Canada, and Russia. 

Scientists are also exploring alternative production methods: extracting helium from air (where it exists at roughly 5 parts per million) and harvesting helium-3 from the lunar surface for potential fusion energy applications. Neither is economically viable yet, but both are active areas of research.

Lawrence Haynes

Lawrence is the Marketing Director at WestAir Gases & Equipment in San Diego, CA