Primary Hydrogen Stakes Northumberland Project in Nova Scotia’s Emerging Natural Hydrogen District
Primary Hydrogen has established a new position in Nova Scotia’s rapidly developing natural hydrogen sector, staking the Northumberland Natural Hydrogen Project along the northern margin of the Cumberland Basin.
The project comprises two exploration licences covering 72 claims and approximately 1,166 hectares between Northport and Pugwash, with frontage along the Northumberland Strait and road access through the Route 6 corridor.
The location is particularly notable: Northumberland directly adjoins a licence block associated with the partnership between Calgary-based Kavenex Energy and Koloma, the heavily financed U.S. natural hydrogen explorer that has raised more than US$400 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and United Airlines.
Primary acquired the ground through map staking, giving the company relatively low-cost entry into what has quickly become one of Canada’s busiest natural hydrogen exploration districts.
The Cumberland Basin has attracted growing attention following a series of company-reported hydrogen readings from exploration programs elsewhere in the region.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. reported a peak mud-gas hydrogen reading of 10.77% at 848 metres from its West-Advocate drilling in May, followed by a peak field reading of 16.0% hydrogen at 236 metres from Bennett Hill in June.
First Atlas Resources has also reported soil-gas hydrogen values of up to 1,652 ppm from its position near Springhill on the basin’s northern margin and is preparing a 2,500-metre drilling program.
Primary is careful to note that these are third-party exploration results and do not demonstrate the presence of hydrogen at Northumberland itself. No natural hydrogen drilling has yet been conducted on the project, and no hydrogen occurrence has been documented there.
Instead, the company’s exploration thesis is based primarily on regional geology and structure.
The Cumberland Basin contains thick sedimentary sequences overlying Windsor Group evaporites, with salt structures locally deforming the sedimentary section. Primary believes these structures could potentially provide sealing mechanisms for migrating gases, while reactivated faults along the basin margin may provide pathways for migration from depth.
The nearby Pugwash salt structure, which hosts an operating salt mine, provides an additional geological feature of interest near the project.
Primary plans to begin with data compilation, structural interpretation and a soil-gas orientation survey during the current field season, providing an initial test of that geological thesis before considering more advanced exploration.
The acquisition also comes as Nova Scotia develops one of Canada’s first purpose-built regulatory regimes for natural hydrogen.
Legislation passed in April created the Subsurface Energy Resource Extraction Act, designed to establish a dedicated framework for natural hydrogen, helium, geothermal energy and carbon storage. The legislation has not yet been proclaimed in force and detailed regulations remain under development.
Primary’s current licences were therefore issued under Nova Scotia’s existing Mineral Resources Act, while future natural hydrogen exploration and development rights will ultimately be governed by the new framework once implemented.
Northumberland expands Primary Hydrogen’s portfolio across Canada and the United States while giving the company exposure to an increasingly competitive exploration district at an early stage.
Full press release is attached:
Calgary, Alberta – August 17, 2026 – Primary Hydrogen Corp. (TSXV: HDRO, FRA: 83W, OTCQB: HNATF) (the “Company” or “Primary”) is pleased to announce that it has staked the Northumberland Natural Hydrogen Project (“Northumberland” or the “Project”), comprising two exploration licences totalling 72 claims (approximately 1,166 hectares) along the northern margin of the Cumberland Basin in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. The Project adjoins the land package associated with the partnership between Kavenex Energy and Denver-based Koloma Inc., establishing Primary Hydrogen in one of North America’s most active natural hydrogen exploration districts.
Highlights
Two exploration licences (58173 and 58174) totalling 72 claims and approximately 1,166 hectares between Northport and Pugwash, fronting the Northumberland Strait on the Cumberland Basin’s northern margin.
The Project adjoins the licence block associated with Kavenex Energy’s partnership with Koloma Inc., the Denver-based natural hydrogen company that has raised more than US$400 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and United Airlines.
Drilling elsewhere in the basin in 2026 has returned company-reported field readings of up to 16.0% hydrogen (Quebec Innovative Materials Corp., hole DDH-26-04 at Bennett Hill, June 29, 2026) and 10.77% hydrogen (QIMC, hole DDH-26-03 at West-Advocate, May 20, 2026).
Nova Scotia passed purpose-built legislation in April 2026 creating a dedicated regulatory framework for natural hydrogenInitial work program: data compilation, structural interpretation and a soil-gas orientation survey planned for the current field season.
“This year the Cumberland Basin has produced some of the strongest natural hydrogen drill readings yet reported in Canada, and the land around those results has been locked up by companies ranging from well-funded juniors to one of the most heavily financed private hydrogen explorers in the world,” said David Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Primary Hydrogen.
“Northumberland puts Primary on the basin’s northern margin, adjoining that ground, at staking cost. That is the kind of asymmetric entry we built this company to find.”
The Northumberland Project
Northumberland comprises two exploration licences (58173 and 58174) on Nova Scotia claim reference maps 11E13A and 11E13B, covering 72 claims (approximately 1,166 hectares) in Cumberland County. The licences form a coastal position along the northern margin of the Cumberland Basin between the communities of Northport and Pugwash, fronting the Northumberland Strait, with road access via the Route 6 corridor. The ground was acquired by map staking through Nova Scotia’s NovaROC system.
District Context
The Cumberland Basin has become the centre of natural hydrogen exploration activity in Canada. Nova Scotia issued 814 mineral exploration licences in 2025 — almost double the 2024 total — with new claims concentrated in Cumberland County.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (CSE: QIMC) has reported results from four drill holes in the district in 2026, including a peak mud-gas reading of 10.77% hydrogen at 848 metres in hole DDH-26-03 at West-Advocate, with five readings at or above 5% hydrogen over a 69-metre interval and methane at or below detection limits (May 20, 2026), and a peak field reading of 16.0% hydrogen at 236 metres in hole DDH-26-04 at Bennett Hill, approximately 12.5 kilometres along the Cobequid Fault Zone (June 29, 2026).
QIMC has also announced an independent scientific review of its exploration model by the Institut national de la recherche scientifique following its first discovery hole (March 2026). First Atlas Resources Corp. (CSE: HHE), which describes itself as the basin’s second-largest claim holder, has reported soil-gas hydrogen values up to 1,652 ppm on the basin’s northern margin near Springhill, where the Athol syncline intersects the Oxford Fault (September 17, 2025), and is preparing a 2,500-metre drill program.
Immediately south of and adjoining Northumberland is the licence block staked in November 2025 that is associated with Kavenex Energy, a Calgary-based private company partnered with Koloma Inc. to apply Koloma’s natural hydrogen exploration capabilities in Canada.
The hydrogen readings and other exploration results reported by QIMC, First Atlas and other issuers are historical or third-party results disclosed by those issuers and are provided for regional geological context only. Such results are company-reported field and mud-gas measurements, not laboratory-certified analyses or flow-tested gas, and the Company has not independently verified them. Hydrogen occurrences and exploration results on nearby or adjacent properties are not necessarily indicative of the geology or presence of natural hydrogen on the Company’s licences, and there can be no assurance that similar results will be obtained on the Project.
Geology and Exploration Thesis
The Cumberland Basin is a late Carboniferous depocentre within the Maritimes Basin complex, where thick clastic successions overlie Windsor Group evaporites. Salt structures within the basin — including the Pugwash salt structure, host to an operating salt mine near the Project — locally deform the sedimentary section and are interpreted by the Company’s Qualified Person as potential seal elements for migrating gases. Reactivated basin-margin faults along the northern flank of the basin may provide migration pathways from depth, an architecture consistent with the structurally controlled exploration models being applied by active operators elsewhere in the district.
No drilling for natural hydrogen has been carried out on the Project, and no hydrogen occurrence has been documented on the Project to date. Natural hydrogen exploration is an emerging field, and exploration methodologies for it continue to evolve.
Nova Scotia’s Natural Hydrogen Framework
In February 2026, the Province of Nova Scotia introduced Bill 193, the Powering the Economy Act, identifying natural hydrogen as an emerging-sector opportunity the Province is preparing to regulate. The legislation, passed in April 2026, creates the Subsurface Energy Resource Extraction Act, a dedicated framework that will regulate natural hydrogen, helium, geothermal and carbon storage projects. As of the date of this news release, that Act has not yet been proclaimed in force and its regulations remain under development. The Company’s licences are mineral exploration licences issued under Nova Scotia’s Mineral Resources Act; rights to explore for and develop natural hydrogen will be subject to the new framework once it is in force.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Christopher Michael Longton, AIPG CPG #11958, VP Exploration of the Company, a “qualified person” within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. As an officer of the Company, Mr. Longton is not independent of the Company for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
Sources
1. The Globe and Mail, “Calgary startup joins the hunt for natural hydrogen,” March 8, 2026; Halifax Examiner, December 9, 2025.
2. Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. news releases dated March 10, March 19, May 20 and June 29, 2026.
3. CBC News, December 12, 2025.
4. First Atlas Resources Corp. news releases dated September 17, 2025 and May 28, 2026, and corporate presentation dated March 30, 2026.
5. Province of Nova Scotia news release, February 24, 2026.
About Primary Hydrogen Corp.
Primary Hydrogen is dedicated to the exploration and development of natural hydrogen resources. With projects in the U.S. and across Canada, the Company's portfolio includes the Blakelock, Hopkins, Mary's Harbour, Point Rosie, Crooked Amphibolite, Coquihalla, Cogburn and Northumberland projects. Primary has an option to acquire a 75% interest in a hydrogen-REE project known as Wicheeda North located in British Columbia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Dave Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Primary Hydrogen Corp.
Email: dave@primaryh2.com
