The company has now secured permits for the 1,244sq. km of land in the Saskatchewan province. The natural hydrogen was discovered during oil and gas drilling in the region.
The Rider Natural Hydrogen Project, situated within the 200km Torquay-Rocanville corridor, has been split into five blocks. The data is based on findings from 45 wells, with seven identifying hydrogen concentrations of more than 10%, with the other wells showing range of 1-10% and a maximum of 96.4% found near Midale.
© Max Power Mining
Two found high concentrations of hydrogen from the wellhead, 4% at Weyburn and 87.4% at Stoughton. Max Power claimed two addition high grade showings (3% and 75.6%) from the wellhead also occurred within 800m and 200m, respectively.
Going forward, geologists will design a near-term programme to verify and validate the “existance of a naturally occurring hydrogen trend at Rider.” Max Power will also review an extensive array of datasets in Saskatchewan and elsewhere to build on its “first mover advantage” in the Canadian natural hydrogen sector.
Max Power CEO, Rav Mlait, claimed the key permits will allow the company to “hit the ground running with the largest target area in the country for natural hydrogen in one of the best jurisdictions globally for exploration and resource development.”
The CEO added, “Natural hydrogen is the cleanest form of hydrogen and can be developed at the lowest cost relative to other hydrogen variations. Max Power has the potential to ignite a whole new energy boom in Canada and North America.”
Special Advisor, Denis Brière, VP-Engineering for Chapman Hydrogen and Petroleum Engineering, previously supported the “world’s first” discovery of natural hydrogen in Mali, west Africa.
He said, “This news from Saskatchewan – the scale of opportunity and the very high historical grades – represents a watershed development for the world and the rapidly emerging natural hydrogen sector.”
An Australian start-up claimed it had uncovered 95.8% pure hydrogen at a test well near Adelaide in May (2024). The company confirmed that the natural hydrogen was found in seven different zones.
Read more: Australian start-up uncovers high-purity natural hydrogen at test well
Analysis: Is natural hydrogen the next breakthrough or bust?
The next gold rush, a game-changer for decarbonisation and an underestimated resource: all terms used to describe natural hydrogen, which has grabbed an ever increasing number of headlines in recent months.
Formed by natural processes inside the Earth’s crust through processes such as serpentinisation and iron oxidation, natural hydrogen can accumulate in underground reservoirs. It has been coined as the climate solution under our feet and is capturing the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers alike, often touted as a low-cost, low-impact energy source.
While fossil fuel-based grey hydrogen costs less than $2/kg on average, many anticipate natural hydrogen costs, depending on deposit purity and depth, to be around $1/kg1.
Since 2021 a growing number of new natural hydrogen exploration ventures have been set up, but it has only been in recent months the natural energy carrier has received serious attention. Current exploration efforts are being undertaken in Australia, US, Spain, France, Albania, Colombia, South Korea and Canada.
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