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Morning Edition
Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton

Minnesota hastens to regulate helium mining after deposit discovery near Babbitt

Signs supporting mining spread across the Range.
Signs supporting mining can be seen on roads all across the Iron Range, including this one surrounding the "Welcome to Babbit" sign.
Tom Scheck | MPR News 2014

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Minnesota is scrambling to figure out how to regulate a potential new industry — one discovered by accident — that is both extremely valuable and in demand.

In 2011, miners stumbled upon a helium gas deposit near Babbit in northeast Minnesota. In 2021, Pulsar Helium licensed the area. In February, exploratory boring revealed the highest concentration by magnitude deposit of helium in the world.

Helium gas shortages have been a regular headline since the 2000s. While there’s a misconception that helium just fills balloons, it’s an important gas for technologies like MRI machines, rockets, computer components and respiratory treatments. The deposit could prove to be a profitable discovery for the region. Commercial exploration could start in the next 12 to 18 months, according to the state project timeline.

Newly elected Assistant Senate Minority Leader Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, led legislation last session to amend existing laws and expedite rulemaking for the gas industry, which Minnesota has never encountered before. This month, the state held two in-person public meetings to gather feedback on the proposed rules.

Hauschild told MPR News the process is going well so far and community members have offered helpful feedback.

“I just want to make sure that folks understand that helium is much different than taconite or nonferrous copper-nickel mining,” Hauschild said. “This is a very, very small drill hole, very limited exposure. And so it's not really considered the same level as some of those other mining industries.”

A multiagency gas resources advisory committee, led by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, must deliver its regulatory recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature by Jan. 15.

While the concentration of the helium is high, the volume is still unknown and could stretch for miles across many different landowners’ properties.

“So part of the regulations is figuring out, how do we pool those resources to make sure everybody gets their fair share,” Hauschild said.

He said a full legislative package is on the docket for the upcoming session. That will include the regulatory framework for tax structures, similar to taconite mining.

“I'm really excited. It's a it's a new day in northern Minnesota, another opportunity for us to really make sure that we're supporting our local schools, our local communities, and we'll be working together across the aisle,” Hauschild said.

The Minnesota legislature convenes on Jan. 14.