A massive, game-changing natural resource discovery is unfolding right in America’s backyard.
In this episode of In Business, host Ken Buehler travels to northeastern Minnesota’s Iron Range, where an exploration company called Pulsar Helium has uncovered a domestic goldmine of helium. While most people associate helium with party balloons, it is actually a critical, dwindling resource essential for supercooling MRI machines, manufacturing AI semiconductor chips, and powering quantum computers.
Ken speaks with Cliff Kane (President of Pulsar Helium) about the staggering 12% helium concentrations found at the Jetstream 1 well site, and learns about the groundbreaking discovery of Helium-3—a rare isotope valued at $30 million per kilogram. We also dive deep underground with geologist Dr. Jarish Takarta to understand how 1.1-billion-year-old volcanic rock trapped this gas, and talk to Wes Minton of Chart Industries about the state-of-the-art cryogenic technology needed to bring this resource to the global market.
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0:00 – Introduction: The Global Helium Shortage & High-Tech Uses
01:31 – Welcome to the Iron Range: Pulsar Helium’s Chance Discovery
02:26 – Why This “Pure Play” Helium Find is Economically Huge
03:41 – Helium-4 vs. Helium-3: The $30 Million Space & AI Arms Race
05:22 – Minnesota’s New Legal Framework for Gas Production
05:54 – Bonus Commodity: Capturing Food & Medical Grade CO2
06:37 – Could Minnesota Become the Next Semiconductor Chip Hub?
07:31 – The Geology: Where Does Helium Come From? (Dr. Jarish Takarta)
08:52 – How 1.1-Billion-Year-Old Rock Trapped the Gas Underground
10:35 – Transporting the Gas: Chart Industries & Cryogenic Storage (Wes Minton)
11:29 – Cleaning Up the Stream: Separating Helium from CO2
12:56 – History Lesson: How Black Flies Delayed the Iron Range for 15 Years
15:08 – Outro & How to Support PBS North
