BABBITT — Pulsar Helium commenced drilling operations on its third exploration well this week at the company’s Topaz development site near Babbitt as the international helium developer works to establish what could become the state’s first commercial helium extraction facility.
The company announced that drilling equipment and support infrastructure arrived at the site last week, marking the beginning of continuous 24-hour operations using rotating crews.
“The mobilization of the drill rig signals the start of an exciting new phase at Topaz,” said Thomas Abraham-James, Pulsar Helium’s president and chief executive officer. “Building on the strong results from Jetstream #1 and #2, this next program is critical in confirming the scale of Minnesota’s helium potential.”
The latest well follows successful drilling results from two previous appraisal wells at the site. Pulsar’s initial well, Jetstream #1, struck helium at 2,200 feet in 2024, located approximately 50 feet from a hole where Duluth Metals discovered helium in 2011 while exploring for copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals.
The company subsequently deepened Jetstream #1 and drilled a second well, Jetstream #2, to a depth of 5,638 feet. According to Pulsar, analysis of both wells revealed “world-class concentrations of helium and exceptional well performance.”
The company plans to drill up to 10 additional wells at the site to better define the helium reservoir’s geometry, extent and productivity. Pulsar currently holds mineral rights on 4,181 acres of private land at the Babbitt location and recently announced plans for a plant engineering study.
However, regulatory challenges remain. Minnesota currently lacks guidelines for extracting gas resources like helium, and proposed legislation to establish such frameworks failed to advance during the 2025 legislative session, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Lands and Minerals Division.
Beyond its Minnesota operations, Pulsar maintains a helium project in Greenland called Tunu, which the company says is also showing promise. The firm has additionally proposed acquiring Quantum Hydrogen Inc., which holds non-hydrocarbon mineral rights on 59,100 acres across St. Louis and Itasca counties.
Abraham-James emphasized the project’s broader significance for domestic supply chains, stating that each well brings the company “closer to quantifying the resources, advancing Topaz toward commercial development, and reinforcing Pulsar’s role in strengthening U.S. helium supply chains.”