Drill, Pulsar, drill.
Pulsar Helium Inc., the international company that hopes to develop a commercial helium operation in northeastern Minnesota, will drill up to 10 new wells, the company said.
“We are thrilled to kick off our multi-well drilling campaign at Topaz in the coming weeks,” Thomas Abraham-James,PulsarHelium president and chief executive officer said. “This program aims to significantly expand our understanding of the helium reservoir and accelerate our path toward production.”
Pulsar Helium has already drilled two wells near Babbitt, both which have proven to hold high concentrations of helium.
A drilling contract and Master Services Agreement has been signed with Timberline Drilling Inc., to drill the new wells, Pulsar Helium said.
The new drilling is expected to start in late September on a 24 hours per-day, seven-day-a-week schedule until the drilling program is complete, according to Pulsar Helium.
“Crucially, as we map the reservoir’s continuity, results will be plentiful, regular, and rich in insight— providing the granular detail and real-time analysis needed to successfully guide the program across our land position, target the most prospective locations, and unlock the full potential of this regional- scale opportunity,” Abraham- James said. “The outstanding results from Jetstream #1, which flowed substantial volumes of gas with minimal assistance, underscores the reservoir’s exceptional potential. Armed with these well results and our partnership with Chart Industries on advanced processing solutions, we are well positioned to unlock Topaz’s full value as a primary helium project.”
In addition to the new drilling, Pulsar Helium reported that the Jetstream #1 well at the site is flowing at a peak gas glow rate of over 1.3 million cubic feet per day under well-head compression.
The compression test provides critical data on the well’s maximum deliverability for use in production facility design, according to Pulsar Helium.
Pulsar Helium in 2024 struck helium in a 2,200 foot-deep well at the site.
The well was drilled about 50 feet away from a Duluth Metals hole that in 2011 struck helium while exploring for copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals.
The project was dubbed Topaz and the first well called Jetstream #1.
The well was later deepened and a second well, Jetstream #2, was drilled to 5,638 feet. Both wells, drilled on private land, hold promise for commercial helium production, according to Pulsar Helium.
Pulsar Helium now holds mineral rights on 4,181 acres of private land at the site.
If developed, it would be Minnesota’s first commercial helium operation.
However, the state Minnesota doesn’t have any guidelines covering gas extraction in the state.
Legislation that would have created guidelines did not make it through the 2025 Minnesota legislative session, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Lands and Minerals division.
Without passage of the legislation, a moratorium remains in place on gas extraction within the state, according to the DNR Lands and Minerals division.
Timberline Drilling Inc., is headquartered in Hayden, Idaho with field offices in Virginia, Minn., and Elko, Nevada.
Pulsar Helium has offices in Portugal and British Columbia.
Pulsar Helium also has a project in Greenland called Tunu.
