BABBITT- A Wyoming-based drill crew is set for more work near Babbitt as Pulsar Helium is continuing its drilling efforts at its helium exploration well. Pulsar hired Capstar Drilling, of Casper, in October, to deepen its Jetstream No. 1 well, the heart of Pulsar’s efforts to develop a commercial helium resource in Minnesota. Jetstream No. 1 was initially completed last spring with a zone open to gas flow from 1,650–2,200 feet. Pulsar has brought Capstar back to the region to further deepen the well, as reported in the Oct. 4 Timberjay.
Since the well was completed in the spring, Pulsar has collected new geophysical data, including a detailed seismic survey down the entire 13-mile length of the Dunka River Road. When combined with previously collected geophysical surveys, Pulsar’s data indicates the helium resource extends at least to a depth of 3,200 feet. This convinced the firm to deepen the well an additional 1,640 feet (500 meters) or more.
Site activities
Pulsar has been active at the well site this fall, working on preparing the pad for the Capstar drill rig and improving site access. Last year, exploration had to stop temporarily during the early breakup because the Dunka River Road became impassible to the heavy vehicles used for drilling and well logging. Since then, Pulsar has made improvements to the road this fall “in anticipation of increased traffic levels during the winter.”
The drill rig arrived at the Jetstream No. 1 site on Saturday, Dec. 7. Pulsar estimates that the actual drilling phase of deepening the well will be completed before the Christmas holidays.
During drilling, well-logging contractors will collect gas samples and will analyze those in real-time with an onsite mass spectrometer to characterize gas composition. Previous gas analyses show that the gas resource is around 70 percent carbon dioxide with up to 14.5 percent helium. The rest of the gas is nitrogen and a very small non-economic amount of methane.
Pulsar will acquire additional “wireline” surveys of the deepened well, where geophysical instruments on a cable are run through the hole to measure important physical properties of the rocks hosting the gas resource such as porosity and the distribution of the fractures that carry the gas.
Pulsar anticipates that activities at the well site will continue into 2025.
Deepening Jetstream No. 1 is a major step forward for Pulsar,” said Thomas Abraham-James, CEO of Pulsar. “The February 2024 well that was drilled within the prospect … (had helium) concentrations that are extremely high by global standards, significantly surpassing the commonly accepted economic viability threshold (of 0.3 percent helium). During this deeper drilling phase, we plan to build on this and unlock a helium resource of size and quality to advance our goal to become a significant helium supplier.”
Other developments
Pulsar announced on Nov. 20 that it has signed an agreement with a Twin Cities subsidiary of Chart Industries, a leading supplier of industrial gas processing plant and equipment. The agreement between the two firms outlines a roadmap for Pulsar to access advanced gas processing technologies for capturing helium and carbon dioxide, in anticipation of converting Jetstream No. 1 into a production well for selling these two gases commercially.
The current demand for helium is greater than the supply. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the lead U.S. agency for tracking mineral commodities, MRIs utilize 30 percent of all domestic helium sold. Lifting gas for blimps, zeppelins, and other lighter-than-air aircraft takes up 17 percent. Around 14 percent goes to analytical and laboratory equipment and 9 percent is used for welding.
The carbon dioxide from Pulsar’s Topaz project can be sold as food-grade gas, a commodity that must currently be imported into Minnesota for use in the state’s food manufacturing facilities.