After discovering a large deposit and drilling Canada’s first-ever natural hydrogen well, Saskatchewan mining company Max Power is using AI to expand and commercialize.
The news: The Regina-based company is advancing commercialization of Canada’s first facility at a natural hydrogen well, after discovering the system late last year. The mining company is using proprietary AI software to identify and develop potential expansions near the site, which is located in southern Saskatchewan and known as the Lawson Natural Hydrogen Complex.
From the source: Natural hydrogen, also known as white hydrogen, is an emerging energy source seen as being greener than manufactured hydrogen. It occurs naturally in underground rock formations and, unlike manufactured hydrogen, which requires expensive and emissions-heavy industrial production, natural hydrogen emits only water vapour when burned. The Lawson complex occupies 28 square kilometres, with several secondary drilling projects underway to validate commercial prospects.
The context: Max Power is an early entrant in the natural hydrogen space. It gained national attention when it discovered the large-scale, commercial natural hydrogen system. The company began the process of commercializing via a multi-well validation drill program at the Lawson site last month. To aid in that effort, it has been utilizing an AI-driven geological assessment tool called Maxx Lemi (short for Large Earth Model Integration). The platform helps target and identify potential future natural hydrogen pathways by processing large geological and geophysical data sets. The company said it’s continuing to integrate machine learning into Maxx Lemi with the aim of reducing traditional site identification processes by months or years. Earlier this year, the company raised nearly $50 million CAD, including investment from precious metals financier Eric Sprott.
Final thought: Natural hydrogen is an emerging sector of an overall Canadian hydrogen market that was worth an estimated $4.1 billion last year (and expected to grow to more than $5 billion by 2030). Interest in the natural resource is growing, and it is prized for its low emissions and lack of industrial processing. With more than two million acres of permitted land belonging to Max Power—the largest such swath in Canada—the company claims to have already identified several “lookalike” sites similar to its Lawson discovery.
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Feature image courtesy Max Power via LinkedIn.