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OK so how does one profit from this? I have tried to find a way to buy Helium futures before, but haven't been able to. Does anyone know where/how this is possi
by phreeza 16y ago
OK so how does one profit from this? I have tried to find a way to buy Helium futures before, but haven't been able to. Does anyone know where/how this is possible?
- mhb 16y agoWhy would you think that it's a better idea to buy helium now than it was to buy lithium before the recent discovery of large lithium deposits in Afghanistan?
- phreeza 16y agoI don't follow... More lithium was found, whereas helium is going to become scarce. What do the two have in common?
- harshpotatoes 16y agoWell, we could always find another large deposit of helium in some undiscovered salt mine. Unlikely, but there are still parts of the earth largely unsurveyed. So maybe. After that, maybe in 50 years we'll start mining helium3 from the moon, or producing it ourselves in a fusion reactor.
- phreeza 16y agoFrom what I understand, He-3 would actually be consumed in plausible energy-netting fusion reactions, which is the reason for the whole lunar mining speculation. I think prices would need to be pretty steep before lunar mining makes economic sense.
- harshpotatoes 16y agoThe reaction you're thinking of is: Deuterium + He3 -> proton + He4 + energy. So the reaction also yields helium. Helium is a very common product from fusion reactions. We can produce it now, just not in very large quantities. But cryogenics have money, and a need for helium, meaning they might be willing to pay for it being produced in such a way in the future.
- evgen 16y agoGiven the amount of energy that is produced for every atom of helium you are getting this is an unlikely path to adding to the global helium reserves. We would be able to power a small country with the energy that would be produced in the course of getting enough helium to fill a small blimp.
- mhb 16y agoBefore more lithium was found, it was thought that lithium was going to become scarce. The more fundamental point is what do you think you know that isn't known by the people, including speculators, whose livelihood depends on helium supplies? Do you think the information you've just received isn't reflected in the price of helium futures?