Aurum Capital Ventures data center, Bismarck, North Dakota

Aurum Capital Ventures, an Iowa data center developer, told the Burleigh County Commission on June 16, 2025, it was looking at 300 acres of county-owned land in east Bismarck, North Dakota, near the Buckstop Junction historical village, for a new data center. Land agent Charlie White said the draw was a nearby electrical substation, and that Aurum was also considering several hundred acres of state land to the north.

Commissioner Steve Schwab questioned the tax benefit: "It sounds to me like the state would get more taxes out of this thing than the county ... I'm sorry that doesn't sound good." White answered that the project would add 50 to 300 high-paying tech jobs. Commissioner Steve Bakken said data centers now need to supply their own power on site, "because once it's on the grid, that's when the grid gets even more destabilized."

Commissioner Jerry Woodcox said the county received the land from the state under restrictions tying it to fairgrounds use, which would need a legal opinion before any sale. Aurum's chief executive is listed on the company's site only as "JP;" the Bismarck Tribune reported he appears to be John Paul Baric, founder of the cryptocurrency company MiningStore. White said Aurum aims to spend about $25 million a quarter placing data centers.

Within days, the Bismarck Tribune's editorial board wrote that the county should reject selling land inside city limits for a data center. The Burleigh County Commission was set to take the proposal up again on July 7, 2025; no result has been published.