Helium Crisis Averted? The Latest Findings In Northern Minnesota

HELIUM IS RUNNING OUT

Helium is running out worldwide, and there will be NONE left once it's gone. Back in January, the US government sold the Federal Helium Reserve in Texa,s which supplied up to 30% of the country's helium, to Messer LLC, which has operated the system on a contract basis over the past two years. Messer sells helium to hospitals, semiconductor manufacturers, NASA, and other customers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HELIUM TO MODERN SOCIETY

Many industries rely heavily on Helium, so having access to it in North America is crucial. You might think it's just used to blow up your kid's birthday balloons. Still, Helium is crucial for things like drones, lasers, data storage through helium hard drives, and robotics, and used in leak detection tests during battery cell, module, and pack production processes. Running out is not an option if the world is going to continue using it for all of these important technologies of modern society.

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WILL MINNESOTA HOLD THE LARGEST HELIUM SUPPLY?

Amazingly, in February this year, Pulsar Helium Inc. announced the incredible news; that 'extraordinarily high helium concentrations' were found at their Topaz project in Babbit, located in northern Minnesota. That well now has the highest concentration of helium discovered in North America.

In a recent press release, Cliff Cain, CEO of the Edelgas Group said, "Comparing this to our extensive database for helium occurrences around the world, we are pleased to say the results from the Jetstream #1 appraisal well, are the highest helium concentrations that we have ever seen. This marks an important milestone for Pulsar and we are delighted with such a positive outcome for our client."

Photo Courtesy of Pulsar

THE AMAZING FIND

The well is located only 50 feet from a hole drilled in 2011 by a mineral exploration team that was looking for nickel, and instead, unexpectedly found gas. When the gas was sampled to see if it was explosive, it was found to contain 10.5% helium by concentration, according to the press release.

David Oliver who helped cap the hole, described the venting as, "screaming like a jet engine."

Pulsar is in the process of gathering more seismic, gravity, and magnetic geophysical data from the Topaz Project, which has suggested other areas of potential interest.

More drilling is happening this month, and once testing is completed, the data will be shared with an independent consulting and advisory firm, to conduct a resource calculation update.

Qatar is the world's largest helium-producing nation currently, and Russia's 'Gazprom' is working on achieving full operational capacity in 2025.