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Microcap & Penny Stocks : NAMX -- North American Expl.-- Que Sera Sera! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: M. M. Jones who wrote (3217)	4/1/1998 7:16:00 AM
From: M. M. Jones	Respond to of 4736

Continued... Maybe helium is not so valuable at the moment. Its value seems to be mainly related to anticipated future uses, to emerging technologies, to possible uses. There also are large government stores of helium that may or may not be maintained in the future. According to some old information I have, the government was at one time contemplating selling off these reserves. Could it be the recent drop in NAMX's price has something to do with its UPR agreement re natural gases and a change in UPR's strategy re natural gas? NAMX investors should be kept informed of these developments, IMO. These are facts that are extremely relevant to investors. Will they be reported? M.M. ---------------------------- Helium properties and uses Helium is absolutely essential to achieving the extremely cold temperatures required by many current and emerging technologies. The cryogenic (low temperature) uses of helium stem from the fact that liquefied helium has the lowest boiling point of any substance, including hydrogen....Since modern technologies often require extremely low temperatures, cryogenic applications of helium have risen steadily in recent years and currently amount to 25% of total usage. In particular, liquid helium is the only cryogenic fluid that can be used to reach the low temperatures required for today's superconducting electromagnets. Helium-cooled superconducting magnets are employed in the increasingly important medical diagnostic tool known as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Superconducting magnets also are a standard feature of the high-energy accelerators physicists use for research on fundamental particles, and superconducting magnets will be required in the emerging transportation technology known as MAGLEV, wherein trains are to be magnetically levitated above their tracks, thereby permitting very high speed operation without the usual friction losses. Superconducting electric power transmission lines are a potential technology that will require large quantities of helium. Such lines would avoid the wasteful energy losses in present electric power transmission.... Superconductivity is also essential to so-called Josephson junctions, from which SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) are manufactured.... In addition to these technological applications, liquid helium is an essential cryogenic fluid in almost every field of modern laboratory research, and thus to the technologies of the future. Indeed, it was basic research into the unusual properties of matter at liquid helium temperatures that led to the technological uses of superconductivity. Helium is also used to cool infrared and other detectors (in modern telescopes for example) to very low temperatures to reduce background noise, permitting detection of far weaker signals. Cryogenic pumping at liquid helium temperatures produces the extremely high vacuums often required in research. Apart from its cryogenic applications, there are also more conventional uses for helium. The second lightest gas (after hydrogen), it is also chemically inert, which makes it a safe "lifting gas," as compared to hydrogen, but less than 10% of current helium consumption is for lifting. Helium is also used to create an inert environment to prevent oxidation or corrosion in welding, which accounts for about 25% of total helium consumption. Other uses include inert atmospheres for advanced fabrication techniques, such as semiconductor crystal growth and fiber-optic production (about 12%), purging large tanks, such as NASA fuel tanks (23%), leak detection in sealed systems (2%), and medical applications (another 2%)