u/JetsFanYEG

When asked for clarification on timeline QIMC IR responded:

QIMC IR answered a question about how long seismic data collection by Echo Seismic and data interpretation by Earth Signal will take, here is the response:

With 4 trucks and a team of 15, Echo is acquiring with a cable-free INOVA nodal system and vibroseis trucks working off existing roads, so there's no line cutting, no shot holes, no permitting drag, and ~50 line-km should be a matter of days, with raw records and QC stacks reviewed in near real time so data quality is confirmed as lines are shot rather than months later. Just as important, this isn't a sequential pipeline. Earth Signal begins processing completed lines while Echo is still acquiring the remaining ones, and QIMC's interpretation team already has five drill holes, ~6,000 soil-gas samples and ground magnetics in hand to calibrate against as the sections come in. That parallel workflow compresses the schedule from acquisition to a depth-imaged subsurface picture into roughly a single season rather than the year-plus cycle these programs used to take. And the output isn't just a faster image; the high-density 25 m receiver spacing and 5-Hz geophones are designed to resolve fault geometry and potential structural closures at depth, which is exactly what's needed.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Quick update from the team. Our President and CEO John K is at the Hyvolution Conference in Trois-Rivières this week, meeting with industry, government and technical partners focused on hydrogen in Québec.

Good timing, because the Cumberland system keeps on growing.

Hydrogen, helium and natural gas (C1–C4) all appear to be moving through the same fault system, sourced off the same basement structure, and accumulating toward the same interval. Practically, that means one seismic program images several targets at the same time. We don't need three exploration efforts for three gases.

Each gas carries its own value
- Helium: scarce, strategic, with very few secure North American sources
- Natural gas: established market, established infrastructure, revenue path
- Clean natural hydrogen: the energy-transition upside

A system that can deliver more than one of these has much more strategic value than a single-gas play. And because the gases share the same plumbing, each one we detect adds support to the geological model behind the others. Helium showing up isn't a side note; it's evidence the system works the way we think it does.

That's what we mean when we say the Cumberland multi-gas system keeps growing.

We'll share highlights from Hyvolution as they come in with John K on the natural hydrogen panel tomorrow.

Karagiannidis is confident.

“With the amount of money that is being committed now for these deep geophysics, I think we have kind of an idea of ... where we’re heading,” he said when asked about what he expects to find.

Day two, so let's talk numbers. Of the 526 samples GeoFrontiers analyzed at New Salem–Apple River, 63 came back anomalous and 18 strongly anomalous — against a background of 5.40 ppmv and a threshold of 5.48. That's not noise; that's a signal with structure. Zone C alone runs 800 metres of continuous anomalous stations along F-III, and Zone B stretches 1.5 km on the same fault. Four zones, three faults, one system — all on the eastern side of the basin, the side we hadn't drilled yet. Put that beside the 30% clean natural hydrogen at Bennett Hill in the west and the picture is now a district-wide multi-gas system: helium and natural hydrogen, east and west, moving through the same fault architecture. Here's what happens now: densification sampling at 50-metre spacing tightens Zones B and C; the C1–C4 hydrocarbon results on the same sample set get interpreted; and the seismic program, now ~50 line-km across Quebec and Nova Scotia, images the fault architecture at depth. Same basin, same plumbing, one company holding the corridor. The basin cooks it. The fault delivers it. 🫧

MAX Power’s hydrogen appraisal campaign
Canada is one of the frontier countries in natural hydrogen exploration. At the forefront is MAX Power, originally a mining company and now holding nearly 4,700 km2 of hydrogen exploration acreage in Southern Saskatchewan

Arnout Jw Everts, AEGeo
Published Date: September 18, 2026

In December 2025 MAX Power drilled its first well targeting the Lawson structure, a Precambrian basement high draped by Cambrian clastics. Similar “buried hill” plays elsewhere in Saskatchewan and neighbouring Alberta and Montana, are known helium reservoirs. Lawson-1 recorded hydrogen shows up to 28.6 %, mostly from the basement complex, whilst elevated helium readings up to 8.7 % were noted in overlying Paleozoic strata. An attempt to free-flow the well after casing perforation but without tubing fitted, resulted in momentary inflow of gas immediately followed by strong influx of formation brine. This suggests the well perforated near or into an overpressured water leg with the brief, initial gas flux either comprising headspace gas or a very short gas column straddling the perforation.

MAX Power then acquired 3D seismic over the structure and mapped a 14.2 km2 closure with around 100m elevation upside relative to Lawson-1. A free gas cap up-dip of Lawson-1 could indicatively contain up to 200,000 tons of hydrogen in the basement with another 350,000 tons potential in the basal Cambrian. Lawson-2 targeted the apex of the 3D closure. Elevated hydrogen readings were reported but no flow was attempted. Lawson-3 was drilled 1.2 km south of Lawson-1 in a similar down-dip position, to “triangulate the discovery”. Little is known about its findings other than that some helium upside was noted in the Paleozoic formations. Lawson-4 again targeted the basement high. Like Lawson-1 and -2, it noted elevated hydrogen readings in the basal Cambrian and basement as well as elevated helium in the shallower Silurian strata but again, no evidence of flow.

Unfortunately, MAX Power’s fragmentary and highly selective reporting makes it difficult to decipher what has been proven by the drilling campaign. One surprising result is that the top basement picks in Lawson-2 and -4, supposedly drilled up-structure, are some 100m deeper than in Lawson-1. This brings into question whether the wells proved or disproved existence of the seismically mapped 3-way closure. Maybe the closure is at a shallower level, e.g. at the top-Silurian unconformity? The structure may be more complex than initially suggested and the lack of reported flow in supposedly apex wells is not particularly encouraging. Whilst MAX Power claims “Lawson is advancing toward commercial evaluation”, public records leave many unanswered questions regarding the nature of this hydrogen-system.

We reached out to MAX Power but they declined to answer our questions.

Message from QIMC IR:

Morning, everyone — a question we get a lot: why three provinces at once?

Fair question for a company our size. The short answer is that it isn't three strategies — it's one exploration model being run in three places.

The model: R2G2™

Reactivated Rift and Graben Geostructure born out of our early work in Témiscamingue.

The premise is simple to state and hard to execute: ancient rift and graben structures that have been tectonically reactivated are what create the fault networks natural hydrogen migrates along and collects in. So you map the structure first, and you drill second. That's the opposite of drilling wherever a soil-gas hit happens to be strongest.

Where the model has taken us

Témiscamingue Graben — Québec + Ontario

This is where R2G2™ was built, and it's the single best illustration of the model at work: the graben is one continuous rift structure, and it doesn't stop at the provincial border. That's why we hold and are actively working ground on both sides of it.

Québec — ~36 line-km of 2D seismic at Ville-Marie / St-Bruno-de-Guigues

Ontario — infill soil-gas + geophysics with DiagnaMed, hydrogen-bearing corridor now traced over 11 km

Two jurisdictions, one geological system.

Cumberland fault system — Nova Scotia

A completely separate basin, over 1,000 km away, chosen on the same structural criteria.

Bennett Hill DDH-26-05: 30.0% H₂ at **413 m

Methane 0.0%, CO₂ ≤0.1%

Percent-level hydrogen now recorded at two drilling centres roughly 15 km apart

The model:

A model that only works where it was invented is a lucky hole. A model that predicts where hydrogen sits in a second, unrelated basin is an exploration and development business.

Nova Scotia is what turned R2G2™ from a Témiscamingue observation into a repeatable framework — and it's the reason we can now walk into a new district and know what we're looking for before we spend a dollar on drilling or seismic.

The 78 line-km of 2D seismic across Québec and Nova Scotia is the next step: resolving those structures in the subsurface so pilot-pathway targets get picked on data, not inference.

Discovery → pilot production pathway.

Please read our full news releases and forward-looking statements disclaimer.

Statement from the CEO of QIMC

QIMC has become aware of deeply troubling anti-Quebec and anti-French comments directed toward QIMC, members of our management team, and others associated with our company, including comments that appear to originate from individuals associated with other companies operating in the hydrogen sector.

Let me be unequivocal: QIMC will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or attacks based on language, culture, nationality, or Quebec identity.

Competition in the hydrogen and natural-resource sectors should be based on science, exploration results, technology, execution, and the merits of each company—not personal attacks or discriminatory rhetoric.

We are documenting the material that has come to our attention and will refer matters, where appropriate, to the relevant regulatory and other authorities for review. We will also take whatever additional steps are necessary to protect QIMC, our management, our shareholders, and our reputation.

QIMC is proud to operate in Quebec and Nova Scotia and proud to work with Quebec and Nova Scotia communities, professionals, researchers, businesses, and institutions. Respect for Quebec’s French language and culture is not negotiable.

We will remain focused on building QIMC and advancing our work professionally and responsibly. We expect others in our industry to conduct themselves to the same standard.

Chief Executive Officer
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp.

Statement from the CEO of QIMC

QIMC has become aware of deeply troubling anti-Quebec and anti-French comments directed toward QIMC, members of our management team, and others associated with our company, including comments that appear to originate from individuals associated with other companies operating in the hydrogen sector.

Let me be unequivocal: QIMC will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or attacks based on language, culture, nationality, or Quebec identity.

Competition in the hydrogen and natural-resource sectors should be based on science, exploration results, technology, execution, and the merits of each company—not personal attacks or discriminatory rhetoric.

We are documenting the material that has come to our attention and will refer matters, where appropriate, to the relevant regulatory and other authorities for review. We will also take whatever additional steps are necessary to protect QIMC, our management, our shareholders, and our reputation.

QIMC is proud to operate in Quebec and Nova Scotia and proud to work with Quebec and Nova Scotia communities, professionals, researchers, businesses, and institutions. Respect for Quebec’s French language and culture is not negotiable.

We will remain focused on building QIMC and advancing our work professionally and responsibly. We expect others in our industry to conduct themselves to the same standard.

Chief Executive Officer
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp.

The news of pressurized gas flowing to surface overcoming drilling water is actually incredible and many don’t understand the significance yet.

To me it screams that they have found a potential flowing well (similar to Mali). However it still seems like the deeper source will be the target of the pilot project. I think they just found a garden hose and the geophysics will point them to the fire hydrant. It’s very important to establish a flow rate from hole 5 as it helps solidify the pilot project which will blow us all away imo.

The key distinction is concentration vs. deliverability.
At ~413–416 m, QIMC reports they observed free gas moving up the borehole under its own pressure, even after drilling water was introduced.

The drilling water acts as a column that creates hydrostatic pressure that the gas has to overcome. For roughly 413 m of water, that’s about 580 psi of pressure.

So if formation gas is able to push into the well and migrate upward against that column, the formation is demonstrating a pressure differential and a connected pathway for gas flow.

There are several increasingly important levels of evidence:

1. Hydrogen exists
   A gas analysis detects H₂.
2. Hydrogen is concentrated
   QIMC is reporting 30% at 413 m.
3. Hydrogen occurs as free gas
   The gas is present as a separate gas phase rather than merely being dissolved or adsorbed.
4. The gas has pressure
   It can overcome the hydrostatic head of drilling fluid.
5. The gas can flow through the formation/wellbore
   This is the really interesting part from an economic perspective.

The jump from #2 to #4/#5 is important because a potentially commercial natural-hydrogen system needs not only high H₂ concentration, but also a source, migration pathway, and sufficient permeability/pressure to deliver gas.

And that’s why I think the company’s statement that it is now evaluating pressure and flow measurement equipment is arguably more important than the headline 30.0% number.

🔥 Hole 5
Monday reset for anyone who missed last week. This one deserves a closer read than the headline.

The geology story is hole 4 vs hole 5.

DDH-26-04 was our record hole — 24.3% H₂, but it took 707 metres to get there. DDH-26-05, drilled into the same structurally controlled system, returned 23.5% H₂ at 170 metres and 20.8% at 158m. Within striking distance of the record at less than a quarter of the depth.

That's not a fluke reading. Higher concentrations, higher frequency, better geological continuity, stronger structural observations. A second double-digit interval at 260–263m. And the hole is still open at depth.

Then there's 164 metres. 🎯

A ~54-metre corridor of sustained percent-level hydrogen runs 143–197m — and at 164m, drilling observations were consistent with free gas entering the borehole.

This is the part worth understanding. Percent-level concentrations tell you hydrogen is present in the system. Free-phase gas migrating into the hole on its own tells you the system is charged and mobile — it moves toward a wellbore without being coaxed. As our CEO put it, at 164 metres the system *"did something remarkable — it came to us."*

That is the distinction between an interesting anomaly and something you can start engineering around. An important milestone in moving Bennett Hill from exploration toward pilot production development.

The headline number was 23.5% H₂. The more consequential line in Tuesday's release is the depth mark at 164 m.

Advancing through competent siltstone, DDH-26-05 intersected a mud seam at 164.7–165.1 m with ~40 cm of lost core. As it did, rig-mounted monitors detected elevated hydrogen in ambient air at the rig. Three metres on, at 167 m, the drill hit an open void with complete loss of water return. Further voids followed at 257 m and 296 m. Our interpretation and observations: free gas entering the borehole.

That's a different category of result. Mud-gas geochemistry shows hydrogen is present in the rock. Free gas shows it can move and mobile, free-phase gas is the fundamental for any pilot test. When we began evaluating a pilot pathway on July 20, deliverability was a modelled assumption. This is the first direct drilling evidence supporting it.

Then the depth. DDH-26-04 needed 707 m to reach 24.3% H₂. DDH-26-05 reached 23.5% at 170 m — roughly 540 m shallower, at less than a quarter of the depth. Shallow isn't a vanity metric: it's simpler, lower-cost wells, faster drill cycles, smaller footprint. High concentration is encouraging. High concentration that is shallow and mobile is what a pilot model is built on.

And it isn't one spike:

▪️ ~54 m corridor of sustained percent-level H₂, 143–197 m
▪️ 20.8% at 158 m and 23.5% at 170 m — bracketing the gas-charged structure above and below
▪️ second double-digit zone: 13.9% at 263 m
▪️ ~74% of 192 valid readings (32–305 m) at or above 1% H₂, vs ~37% in DDH-26-04
▪️ methane at zero; no hydraulic fracturing, no reservoir stimulation

Two consecutive Bennett Hill holes, ~700 m apart on the same structure, both intensifying.

Please see full release and forward-looking statements

$QIMC $QIMCF #NovaScotia #Cleanhydrogen #Naturalhydrogen #Cleanenergy

Some highlights include:

QIMC is renting an 8,000 sft building in Parrsboro as the base of operations, the base will host a core shack, offices, laboratories and research.

"Karagiannidis said that about 26 people are working there, and the headcount should double going into the winter."

"The company plans to continue drilling in the Allen Hill-South Branch Road, Bennett Hill, Port Greville, Kirkhill and News Salem areas over the summer"