Primary Hydrogen Corp. has announced the staking of the Northumberland Natural Hydrogen project, comprising two exploration licences totalling 72 claims across approximately 1,166 hectares, along the northern margin of the Cumberland Basin in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. The site adjoins the licence block associated with the partnership between Kavenex Energy and Denver-based Koloma Inc.
A position adjoining a well-funded player
Koloma Inc. has raised more than $400 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and United Airlines, according to Primary Hydrogen. Kavenex Energy, a private Calgary-based company, partnered with Koloma to apply its natural hydrogen exploration methods in Canada. The licence block tied to that partnership was staked in November 2025, immediately south of the Northumberland project.
Licences 58173 and 58174, located on Nova Scotia claim reference maps 11E13A and 11E13B, cover a coastal position between the communities of Northport and Pugwash, fronting the Northumberland Strait, with road access via the Route 6 corridor. The ground was acquired through map staking via the province’s NovaROC system.
Drilling results reported in the basin
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (CSE: QIMC) has drilled four holes in the district in 2026. According to the company, hole DDH-26-03 at West-Advocate returned a peak mud-gas reading of 10.77% hydrogen at 848 metres depth, with five readings at or above 5% over a 69-metre interval and methane at or below detection limits, on May 20, 2026. Hole DDH-26-04 at Bennett Hill, approximately 12.5 kilometres along the Cobequid Fault Zone, showed a peak field reading of 16.0% hydrogen at 236 metres depth, on June 29, 2026. These third-party results are company-reported field or mud-gas measurements disclosed by the respective issuers and have not been independently verified by Primary Hydrogen.
First Atlas Resources Corp. (CSE: HHE), which describes itself as the basin’s second-largest claim holder, has reported soil-gas hydrogen values of up to 1,652 ppm on the basin’s northern margin near Springhill, at the intersection of the Athol syncline and the Oxford Fault, on September 17, 2025, and is preparing a 2,500-metre drill program. 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 in March 2026.
Regulatory framework and next steps
Nova Scotia passed legislation in April 2026 creating a dedicated regulatory framework for natural hydrogen. The province issued 814 mineral exploration licences in 2025, nearly double the 2024 total, with new claims concentrated in Cumberland County.
Primary Hydrogen plans an initial work program including data compilation, structural interpretation and a soil-gas orientation survey during 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. He added that the Northumberland project places the company on the basin’s northern margin, at staking cost.
