QIMC Drills New Company Record of 27.8% Clean Natural Hydrogen at Just 374 Metres at Bennett Hill, Nova Scotia

Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. has reported a new company record for natural hydrogen at its Bennett Hill Natural Hydrogen Project in Nova Scotia, with diamond drill hole DDH-26-05 returning 27.8% hydrogen at a depth of 374 metres.

The result surpasses QIMC’s previous company record of 24.3% hydrogen, recorded at 707 metres in DDH-26-04, with the new result occurring approximately 333 metres shallower.

The latest preliminary mud-gas results also indicate multiple high-concentration hydrogen zones below 300 metres. At 348 metres, readings reached 12.6%, 15.8% and 23.7% hydrogen, while a second zone increased from 19.1% at 368 metres to 25.1% and then 27.8% at 374 metres. Double-digit hydrogen concentrations continued at 377 metres, where readings of 10.4% and 12.1% were recorded.

QIMC said the reported gas composition remained particularly hydrogen-rich, with methane at 0.0% and carbon dioxide at or below 0.1% across the reported samples.

The company reported that the 308-to-377-metre section of DDH-26-05 contains multiple hydrogen-bearing intervals rather than a single isolated peak. Of 38 individual readings collected over the interval, 34 were at least 1% hydrogen, 14 were at least 5%, nine were at least 10% and three were above 20%.

The results are also associated with a significant structural zone encountered during drilling. Beginning at approximately 326.55 metres, the drill hole entered a fault-breccia and shear package containing fault gouge, sheared wall rock, granite fragments and deformed siltstone. Drilling operations experienced losses of return water in portions of this interval, which QIMC said provides operational evidence consistent with enhanced permeability within the intersected structures.

The first high-concentration zone occurs at approximately 345 to 356 metres and includes sheared siltstone, fault gouge, graphite, granitization and structural deformation. Hydrogen concentrations increased to 12.6%, 15.8% and 23.7% at 348 metres, followed by 9.3% at 351 metres and 15.8% at 354 metres.

A second zone develops from approximately 368 metres, near a transition into deformed, fragmental and graphitic siltstone. Hydrogen reached 19.1% at 368 metres before rising to 25.1% and the record 27.8% at 374 metres. Concentrations remained above 10% at 377 metres.

John Karagiannidis, President and Chief Executive Officer of QIMC, said the results are strengthening the company’s understanding of the Bennett Hill hydrogen system and its relationship with the area’s structural geology.

The latest results build on earlier findings from DDH-26-05, which produced hydrogen concentrations of up to 23.5% within the first 300 metres. QIMC previously reported an approximately 54-metre corridor of sustained percent-level hydrogen between 143 and 197 metres, observations consistent with free gas at approximately 164 metres and a further 13.9% hydrogen reading at 263 metres.

QIMC said the combination of elevated hydrogen concentrations, fault breccias, sheared and graphitic rocks and drilling-water losses is providing additional evidence for its interpretation that structural architecture controls the distribution of hydrogen at Bennett Hill.

The company is continuing to integrate the DDH-26-05 results with geological logging, structural interpretation and its proprietary R2G2™ targeting framework to refine its understanding of the geometry of the natural hydrogen system.

QIMC cautioned that the results are preliminary mud-gas measurements and that its geological interpretations remain subject to further exploration and evaluation.