DULUTH — Two years after a company confirmed the presence of helium beneath the surface of Northeastern Minnesota, other companies are poking around the area for confirmation of a lightweight gas from the other end of the periodic table of elements: hydrogen.

At its remote site between Babbitt and Isabella, Minnesota, Pulsar Helium has drilled three additional wells since October, bringing its total to five as it seeks to better estimate the size of the helium reservoir and characterize its resource, which already ranks among the highest concentrations in the world.

Most notably, the company recently announced that some of the helium released by its original well includes helium-3, a rare isotope that can be used for nuclear fusion, scanning for nuclear weapons at ports of entry and sup

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