Helium, an extremely rare gas, has been discovered accumulated under the goldfields of South Africa, having the potential to support global production for decades.

A significant geological discovery has been made in South Africa, where helium, an essential gas for technology, has accumulated for billions of years beneath the goldfields of the Witwatersrand basin. The Virginia project has identified a deposit that could contain over 11.320 billion cubic meters of helium, with a content of up to 12% helium in the extracted natural gas. Helium is generated through the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in ancient rocks, and researchers led by Fin Stuart from the University of Glasgow are studying its migration and formation.

The Witwatersrand basin, with gold reefs aged 2.8–3 billion years, provides a natural laboratory to understand how helium forms and is preserved. The project uses advanced techniques to analyze minerals that contain helium and to assess the lifespan of the deposit. Helium is vital for hospitals and the technology industry, and this discovery has global implications, having the potential to address helium supply crises. The company Renergen is working on the production of liquid helium, essential for various industrial applications.