Interview with Thomas Abraham-James, President & CEO of Pulsar Helium Inc.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/pulsar-helium-tsxvplsr-building-americas-primary-helium-supply-9105

Recording date: 8th June 2026

Pulsar Helium (TSXV:PLSR) sits at the intersection of a structural commodity supply crisis and an accelerating domestic US critical minerals agenda. The company is developing the Topaz helium project in northern Minnesota, a primary helium resource that does not depend on natural gas production economics, carries an average helium concentration of 8.1% across seven drilled wells, and is now backed by a completed regulatory framework, a major US engineering partner, and production-ready drilling scheduled for September 2026.

More than 95% of global supply is produced as a byproduct of natural gas processing, which means output cannot be increased in response to price signals. When a major production node goes offline, the market has no rapid self-correcting mechanism. Two major nodes are now offline simultaneously. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz to container shipping has cut Qatar's export route — Qatar historically supplying approximately 35% of global helium. Russia, contributing a further 10%, has introduced export controls. The combined disruption has removed approximately 45% of global helium supply from the market. The CEO of QatarEnergy has indicated that restoring full production capacity could take three to five years. US customers are already reporting order allocations of 50% of typical volumes, with premiums on top.

Against this backdrop, Topaz's geological profile is genuinely differentiated. The project was identified following an accidental discovery during nickel and copper exploration drilling, when a drill hole returned helium concentrations between 10-12% and is among the highest ever recorded. Since listing via IPO in the third quarter of 2023, Pulsar has drilled seven wells across the project area. All seven encountered gas. The current average concentration of 8.1% places Topaz in an entirely different grade regime from conventional byproduct production and makes primary extraction commercially viable as a standalone helium operation.

The regulatory picture has materially improved. Minnesota had no prior framework for gas production. In 2024, the state legislated helium as a regulated commodity. In June 2026, the operational regulations were finalised — a process driven substantially by Pulsar's own work at Topaz. The removal of this non-geological risk represents a meaningful de-risking event for the project's development timeline.

The confirmation of Helium-3 at Topaz adds a longer-horizon dimension. Helium-3 has applications in quantum computing and fusion research and is currently transferred between US government agencies at approximately US$18.7 million per kilogram. No commercial separation process exists at scale yet, and management has been measured in how it frames characterising Helium-3 as the cherry on top whilst keeping Helium-4 production as the operational priority. That framing is appropriate, but the optionality is real.

The risk profile is consistent with a development-stage company. The resource has not yet been independently quantified at full scale. The economic assessment is pending. Production-ready well drilling has not yet commenced. Investors should size positions accordingly. But for those with the risk appetite for early-stage resource exposure, the combination of a 100% drilling success rate, a completed regulatory framework, a confirmed supply crisis with a multi-year recovery horizon, and an engineering partner already at work makes the near-term catalyst pathway unusually clear.

View Pulsar Helium's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/pulsar-helium