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Helium in Southwestern Saskatchewan

Abstract

The southwestern corner of Saskatchewan has anomalous values of helium (up to 2%), which have been documented in several locations since the late 1950's and have been found in sediments 2,000 m below the Earth's surface in Deadwood Formation (Upper Cambrian). The helium and other non-hydrocarbon gases found in the southwestern corner of the province are related to the migration of gas into the Phanerozoic from the underlying Swift Current anorogenic province. In the Swift Current area, tests show an inert gas, which flowed at a rate of 1 to 5 million cubic feet per day, and was composed of 97% nitrogen, 2 % helium and 1 % carbon dioxide from the silicified siltstone and mudstone reservoir on a local basement topographic high. Production, initiated in 1964 and continued until 1975, was limited to 4 wells in the Swift Current area, producing a combined total of 464,181 mscf helium. With the higher prices of helium, along with the known success of the Swift Current area, companies are once again exploring the potential for helium in the area, and recently a new well was placed on production. Helium, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide shows from gas analyses were compiled from the Government of Saskatchewan well files for the complete stratigraphic column for the southwestern corner of the province. Elevated levels exist from the Basal Cambrian (Deadwood Formation) to the Upper Cretaceous (Second White Speckled Shale Formation).