Global helium supplies are set to balloon after discovery of huge deposit in Tanzania

World supplies of helium, the gas that floats balloons and makes your voice squeaky, may be on the ascent.

Scientists and a Norway-based exploration firm this week hailed a huge find of the rare element in Tanzania as a potential game changer.

Helium, the second most abundant gas of the universe after hydrogen but found only rarely on Earth, is used notably as a liquid coolant in hospital MRI scanners, electronics and the manufacturing of fibre optics.

Until now, helium had been discovered only as an accidental by-product of oil and gas drilling, said Oxford and Durham university researchers and the exploration company, Helium One.

But for the first time, they said, an exploration team had found helium deliberately, using their knowledge that volcanic activity can release the gas from ancient rocks.

“We show that volcanoes in the Rift play an important role in the formation of viable helium reserves,” said researcher Diveena Danabalan of Durham University, which joined with Oxford University and Helium One in the search.

Oxford University professor Chris Ballentine said the team had calculated that helium reserves in just one part of the African Rift valley amounted to 54 billion cubic feet, enough to fill more than 1.2 million medical MRI scanners.