Understanding the work of Pulsar reveals their commitment to helium exploration and production, with a focus on sites where helium itself, rather than by-products or hydrocarbons, is the main resource. This approach is particularly significant given helium’s natural occurrence within the earth, which can be accessed through conventional drilling. As an element, helium stands out due to its non-toxicity, lack of radioactivity, and the fact that it cannot be synthetically produced.
Pulsar Helium Inc began operations on 30 June 2022, building on the demand for helium—a unique chemical element symbolised as He, atomic number 2. Odourless, colourless, and tasteless, helium is an inert, non-toxic gas, belonging to the noble gases on the periodic table. Its abundance in the observable universe is second only to hydrogen, composing around 24% of all elemental mass. Despite its cosmic prevalence, helium remains exceedingly scarce on Earth, as it easily escapes our atmosphere into space and can only be obtained through extraction from underground reserves.
Helium’s properties lend it to various industrial and scientific applications. In cryogenics, helium’s low boiling point and high thermal conductivity make it an ideal coolant, essential for superconducting magnets in medical imaging devices like MRIs, as well as particle physics detectors. Helium also serves as a shielding gas in welding, preventing oxidation and improving weld quality. As a lifting gas, helium’s low density makes it ideal for balloons and airships, while divers use it in breathing gas mixtures to prevent nitrogen narcosis during deep-sea dives. Helium also plays a role in leak detection due to its low molecular weight and high thermal conductivity, especially in pressurised systems. Additionally, it acts as a pressurant in spacecraft propulsion systems, pushing liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel to rocket engines, and in semiconductor manufacturing where its inert properties are valuable in cooling and material processing.
To isolate helium from raw gas, three primary techniques are commonly used. Membrane separation employs high-pressure membranes with microscopic pores that allow smaller gas molecules to diffuse selectively, thus concentrating helium. Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) involves a medium with consistent pore sizes to adsorb gases of different molecular sizes; by manipulating pressure, helium is separated, though this technique can be less efficient than cryogenic methods. Cryogenic separation, a staple in the global industrial gas sector, involves lowering the temperature to condense different gases in a fractionation tower. Given helium’s exceptionally low condensation point, this approach is particularly effective for its purification.
Helium is safe for human exposure, being a non-toxic, tasteless, odourless, and non-flammable gas. It does not carry any risk of hydrocarbon contamination, as it is a noble gas formed from the decay of radiogenic material found in granitic rocks, distinct from hydrocarbons, which derive from organic materials subjected to heat and pressure. Though helium and hydrocarbons can sometimes share the same geological reservoirs, this is not a consistent occurrence.
Pulsar Helium Inc (TSXV:PLSR) is a leading primary helium exploration and development company. Its flagship Topaz Project in Minnesota, USA, flowed North America’s highest concentration of helium at 14.5%. Commercially viable helium project concentrations begin @ 0.3%.
