Under the long-awaited deal, the plant will be built adjacent ot Darwin LNG and will use vent stream from the LNG operation.

This vent stream is about 3 percent helium, 95 percent nitrogen and 2 percent methane, and can be processed to produce pure helium.

The plant was first announced in 2005, but progress on the project has been slower than expected.

The plant is expected to produce about 4.2 million tones of liquid helium a year. About a third of this will be sold in Australia and New Zealand; the remainder will be exported to Asia.

Darwin LNG and BOC had little to say on the deal, which was signed in Perth last week. But the Northern Territory Government was keen to trumpet its benefits.

Chief Minister Clare Martin said the deal was a significant step forward for the territory.

“Gas is the future for the territory – and this helium plant in Darwin shows why it has so much potential,” she said.

Martin has long been pushing for some of the gas piped into Darwin to be used in other downstream industries.

Downstream gas industries deliver more employment and investment benefits per unit of energy than LNG does.

Downstream gas projects give greater direct and flow-on benefits in employment and investment than LNG, and can also encourage investment in derivative industries, according to the NT Government.

Martin is now urging other companies to follow BOC’s lead.

“Our deep port, rail line and potential gas supplies in the Timor Sea area make Darwin an attractive option for investors,” she said.

“Darwin is now established as Australia’s second international gas hub with the LNG plant at Wickham Point in production and exporting to Japan.”