Surface degassing of water from the "Fontaines Salées sec" borehole, at Availles-Limouzine in west-central France, during pumping in 2022 Gas composition: approximately 94% nitrogen and 5% helium.
© BRGM - F. Gal
Project background and objectives
Helium is a strategic resource with high added value, essential to a wide range of industrial, scientific and medical applications, yet its global supply is becoming increasingly constrained in the face of growing demand. Unlike other critical raw materials, helium cannot be produced artificially: it is generated exclusively by geological processes spanning millions of years. It is therefore a major scientific and strategic challenge to find it and exploit it in a sustainable way. In Europe, and more particularly in France, national helium resources are still not well characterised, leading to heavy dependence on imports.
Current knowledge in France focuses mainly on CO₂-helium systems. Conversely, nitrogen-helium systems, which often have higher helium contents and the decisive advantage of being decarbonised, remain largely under-explored. However, recent measurements showing exceptionally high concentrations of helium in regions including Poitou, Morvan and the west of the Massif Central have revealed the real but still virtually unexploited national potential. Getting the most out of these resources requires targeted, interdisciplinary research and the development of new-generation exploration strategies tailored to these specific geological contexts.
H-eXPLORE's ambition is to advance underground gas exploration by developing innovative, integrated workflows that match the complexity of geological systems. The project aims to improve scientific understanding of promising, decarbonised nitrogen-helium systems. By targeting regions with high-potential but that have not been thoroughly explored, H-eXPLORE is opening up new prospects for national helium exploration.
Interdisciplinarity is crucial to the approach, drawing on all the geosciences to understand the complexity of the subsurface. The project also focuses on research boreholes, to maximise data acquisition and improve the calibration and reliability of non-invasive exploration methods.
Expected results
H-eXPLORE should produce results in scientific knowledge, exploration technologies and strategic assessment. In scientific terms, the project will provide a better understanding of nitrogen-helium systems, in particular their geological controls, the origin of fluids, their migration routes and their accumulation mechanisms. Thanks to an integrated approach combining geochemistry, isotope analyses, geophysics and modelling, new conceptual models will be developed that can be applied to helium as well as to other underground gases, including natural hydrogen.
In terms of methodology, H-eXPLORE will develop and validate innovative exploration workflows, combining large-scale mapping and in-depth characterisation of pilot sites. These workflows will be tested on a selected site, including a medium-depth scientific borehole, to generate high-resolution data sets and refine the calibration of models and hypotheses. This approach will strengthen national expertise in scientific drilling and integrated subsurface investigation.
Strategically, the project will provide an up-to-date and scientifically sound assessment of France's helium potential, identifying priority areas and the main gaps in our knowledge. These results will be used by public authorities and industrial stakeholders for resource exploration, the energy transition and the critical-raw-materials strategy. Beyond helium, the spin-offs will have broader relevance for decarbonised underground resources, strengthening France's position in emerging exploration technologies and contributing to economic, technological and societal benefits in the medium term.
Partners
The H-eXPLORE project has won the first call for proposals under the exploratory PEPR ‘Sous-sol, bien commun’, a research programme for the responsible and sustainable use and exploitation of the subsurface, co-led by the BRGM and the CNRS and funded by the France 2030 investment plan.
This project receives public funding administered by the French National Research Agency under the France 2030 scheme, under reference number 25-EXSS-0004.
This project brings together several partners :
- BRGM
- Grenoble Alpes University
- CNRS
- Geolinks
- 45-8 Energy
