Vortex Energy Launches Natural Hydrogen and Helium Review at Newfoundland Salt Project
Vortex Energy has commissioned a desktop geological study to evaluate the potential for naturally occurring hydrogen and helium at its 100%-owned Robinsons River Salt Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, adding a new exploration angle to a property previously focused on salt and potential underground hydrogen storage.
The company has engaged Lonquist Field Service (Canada) to conduct the review using geological, geophysical and well information already available for Robinsons River.
Rather than beginning with new fieldwork, Lonquist will assess the existing dataset against the geological conditions that would be expected in a functioning natural hydrogen or helium system.
The review will focus on three fundamental components: generation, migration and trapping.
Those elements address different parts of the subsurface system. Suitable rocks or geological processes must first be capable of generating hydrogen or helium, pathways must exist for those gases to migrate, and appropriate reservoir and sealing conditions would be needed for an accumulation to form and persist.
Lonquist will compare the available Robinsons River data with those requirements and identify areas where additional investigation may be warranted.
The resulting recommendations are expected to provide Vortex with a basis for determining whether natural hydrogen and helium should become a more substantial part of its exploration strategy at the project.
CEO Paul Sparkes said the objective is to make use of information already collected at Robinsons River before deciding where additional exploration expenditure would be justified.
Vortex plans to provide an update after Lonquist completes the study and the company has reviewed its findings.
The project is located approximately 35 kilometres south of Stephenville in Newfoundland and Labrador and has historically been advanced for its salt potential, including the possibility of developing salt caverns for hydrogen storage.
Vortex's latest initiative introduces a separate question: whether the surrounding geological system could also be prospective for naturally occurring hydrogen or helium.
The distinction between those two hydrogen concepts is important.
Hydrogen storage in salt caverns involves placing hydrogen produced elsewhere into engineered underground cavities for later withdrawal.
Natural hydrogen exploration seeks hydrogen that has been generated by geological processes in the subsurface and potentially accumulated naturally within suitable reservoirs.
Robinsons River could therefore be evaluated from both sides of the hydrogen value chain — as a geological setting with potential for engineered storage and, depending on the outcome of the new study, as an area warranting investigation for naturally occurring gas.
The presence of salt also makes trapping and sealing relationships an obvious component for Lonquist to examine, although Vortex has not yet established that the project's salt geology is associated with a natural hydrogen or helium accumulation.
Full press release is attached below:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vortex Energy Corp. (CSE: VRTX) (OTC: VTECF) (FSE: AA3) ("Vortex" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has commissioned Lonquist Field Service (Canada), ULC ("Lonquist") to conduct a desktop geological study to evaluate the potential for naturally occurring hydrogen and helium at its 100%-owned Robinsons River Salt Project in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The study will review existing geological, geophysical, and well data and compare the data against the expected conditions for potential hydrogen and/or helium generation, migration and trapping. Lonquist will evaluate the available information and recommend further investigation where warranted, providing a basis for the Company to determine its next steps. Vortex will provide an update following completion and review of the study.
"We want to make appropriate use of the information already available at Robinsons River," said Paul Sparkes, Chief Executive Officer of Vortex Energy. "Lonquist's review will help us determine whether natural hydrogen and helium warrant further exploration and where follow-up work could be most useful."
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jared Suchan, Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
For additional information concerning the Project and the Company's data-verification and quality-assurance procedures, readers are referred to the Company's technical report entitled Independent Technical Report on the Robinsons River Salt Property, dated July 31, 2023, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+.
About Vortex Energy Corp.
Vortex Energy Corp. is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in North America. The Company is currently advancing its Robinsons River Salt Project, located approximately 35 kilometres south of the town of Stephenville in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Robinsons River Salt Project is prospective for salt and potential hydrogen storage in salt caverns. The Company has also acquired the Meadows Project, comprising approximately 21,609 hectares across 338 Crown parcels in west-central Saskatchewan near the Alberta border, which it intends to explore for salt with potential applications for compressed air energy storage and hydrogen storage. In addition, the Company holds its Fire Eye Uranium Property in the Wollaston Domain of northern Saskatchewan.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Paul Sparkes
Chief Executive Officer, Director
+1 (778) 819-0164
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the scope, conduct and completion of the desktop study by Lonquist; the potential for naturally occurring hydrogen and helium at the Robinsons River Salt Project; any recommendations arising from the study; the Company's determination of next steps and any further exploration; and the Company's intention to provide an update following completion and review of the study.
Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information, including, in respect of the forward-looking information included in this press release, assumptions that Lonquist will complete the study as contemplated; that the existing geological, geophysical and well data are sufficient and reliable for the purposes of the study; and that the Company will have the resources to carry out any follow-up work it determines to be warranted.
Although forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions of the Company's management, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among other things, the risk that the study is not completed on the timeline currently contemplated, or at all; that historical and third-party data relied upon in the study may be incomplete, inaccurate or not indicative of subsurface conditions; that the study may not identify conditions favourable to hydrogen or helium generation, migration or trapping, or may not support further investigation; that a desktop study does not establish the presence, quantity or recoverability of any hydrogen or helium; that the Company may be unable to obtain financing, permits or approvals for any follow-up work; risks inherent in the exploration of mineral properties and natural gas resources; and other factors beyond the Company's control, including geological conditions. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release.
