As the nation’s supplies of the noble gas are running low, drillers in Minnesota’s Iron Range state dug deep beneath the forest floor this week, perhaps uncovering a possible source for helium.

The Canadian business Pulsar Helium Inc. said in a press release on Thursday that during its drilling rig’s descent to a total depth of 2,200 feet at the Topaz Project drill site, its team discovered gases that contained up to 12.4% helium. Concentrations of helium greater than 0.3% are regarded as commercially feasible.

The president and CEO of Pulsar, Thomas Abraham-James, expressed his “delight” at the “outstanding result.”

“It is a big day for helium exploration, confirming the original discovery in the new jurisdiction of Minnesota. I look forward to keeping the market updated with further results as they are received,” Abraham-James said.

The company stated that samples of the collected gas will be transported to a “specialist gas laboratory for full molecular composition, removal of atmospheric (air) contamination, and isotopic characterization.” The concentration was detected at the drill site using a mass spectrometer.

Nearly all helium is a byproduct of producing natural gas, Abraham-James told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, but those firms don’t prioritize the lesser gas.

Because of its special properties, helium is a valuable and sought-after resource.

Helium is commonly used as a lightweight gas for filling balloons and blimps, but it may also be liquid and used as a coolant for superconducting magnets, which are used in semiconductor manufacturing and to run MRI machines. In the defense sector, the gas is also used for air-to-air missile guidance systems, rocket engine testing, and other purposes.

A $26 billion deal to purchase energy for the Permian pump is being repaid.

The Federal Helium Reserve system (FHR) sale by the US government “could lead to severe disruptions in the U.S. helium supply chain,” the Compressed Gas Association wrote in a letter in January.

Twenty percent of the helium used in the United States comes from the fields in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

According to local news sources, the Minnesota helium reservoir was unintentionally discovered in the Iron Range in 2011 while a business by the name of Duluth Metals was drilling for palladium and platinum.