QIMC Announces Transformative Expansion with Launch of New Hydrogen Exploration Camp in Nova Scotia
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (QIMCF) has announced a major expansion of its natural clean renewable hydrogen exploration activities in Nova Scotia's Cumberland Basin. The company has secured 2,645 exploration claims covering 428.49 km², targeting geological structures with hydrogen and helium potential.
The Cumberland project features optimal conditions for hydrogen generation, including a thick sedimentary sequence exceeding 7 kilometers, deep-seated faults, and prominent geothermal gradients. The area's geological environment shares significant structural similarities with the Lorraine Basin in France, particularly through the Cobequid-Chedabucto fault system.
The exploration site contains biotite-rich granitoids that can produce substantial hydrogen through water-mineral interactions, with potential yields of 102 KT of H2 per km³ of granite at temperatures of 130-200°C. The presence of salt formations in the Windsor Formation also offers potential for gas storage and helium co-production.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (QIMCF) ha annunciato una significativa espansione delle sue attività di esplorazione di idrogeno rinnovabile naturale nella Baia di Cumberland, in Nuova Scozia. L'azienda ha ottenuto 2.645 diritti di esplorazione che coprono 428,49 km², mirati a strutture geologiche con potenziale per idrogeno e elio.
Il progetto Cumberland presenta condizioni ottimali per la generazione di idrogeno, inclusa una sequenza sedimentaria spessa oltre 7 chilometri, faglie profonde e significativi gradienti geotermici. L'ambiente geologico della zona condivide notevoli somiglianze strutturali con il Bacino di Lorraine in Francia, in particolare attraverso il sistema di faglie Cobequid-Chedabucto.
Il sito di esplorazione contiene granitoidi ricchi di biotite che possono produrre una sostanziale quantità di idrogeno attraverso interazioni acqua-minerale, con potenziali rese di 102 KT di H2 per km³ di granito a temperature di 130-200°C. La presenza di formazioni saline nella Formazione di Windsor offre anche potenziale per lo stoccaggio di gas e co-produzione di elio.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (QIMCF) ha anunciado una importante expansión de sus actividades de exploración de hidrógeno renovable natural en la Cuenca de Cumberland, Nueva Escocia. La empresa ha asegurado 2,645 reclamaciones de exploración que cubren 428.49 km², enfocándose en estructuras geológicas con potencial de hidrógeno y helio.
El proyecto Cumberland cuenta con condiciones óptimas para la generación de hidrógeno, incluyendo una secuencia sedimentaria de más de 7 kilómetros de grosor, fallas profundas y gradientes geotérmicos prominentes. El entorno geológico de la zona comparte similitudes estructurales significativas con la Cuenca de Lorraine en Francia, particularmente a través del sistema de fallas Cobequid-Chedabucto.
El sitio de exploración contiene granitoides ricos en biotita que pueden producir una cantidad sustancial de hidrógeno mediante interacciones agua-mineral, con rendimientos potenciales de 102 KT de H2 por km³ de granito a temperaturas de 130-200°C. La presencia de formaciones salinas en la Formación de Windsor también ofrece potencial para el almacenamiento de gas y la coproducción de helio.
퀘벡 혁신 소재 회사 (QIMCF)는 노바스코샤의 컴벌랜드 분지에서 자연 청정 재생 수소 탐사 활동의 주요 확장을 발표했습니다. 이 회사는 428.49 km²를 포함하는 2,645개의 탐사 청구권을 확보하여 수소와 헬륨의 잠재력을 가진 지질 구조를 목표로 하고 있습니다.
컴벌랜드 프로젝트는 7킬로미터를 초과하는 두꺼운 퇴적층, 깊은 단층 및 두드러진 지열 기울기를 포함하여 수소 생성에 최적의 조건을 갖추고 있습니다. 이 지역의 지질 환경은 프랑스의 로레인 분지와 상당한 구조적 유사성을 공유하며, 특히 코베퀴드-체다벡토 단층 시스템을 통해 연결됩니다.
탐사 사이트에는 바이오타이트가 풍부한 화강암이 포함되어 있어 물-광물 상호작용을 통해 상당한 양의 수소를 생성할 수 있으며, 130-200°C의 온도에서 화강암 1㎥당 102 KT의 H2를 생산할 수 있는 잠재력이 있습니다. 윈저 형성의 소금층 존재 또한 가스 저장 및 헬륨 공동 생산의 잠재력을 제공합니다.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (QIMCF) a annoncé une expansion majeure de ses activités d'exploration d'hydrogène renouvelable naturel dans le bassin de Cumberland, en Nouvelle-Écosse. L'entreprise a sécurisé 2 645 demandes d'exploration couvrant 428,49 km², ciblant des structures géologiques avec un potentiel d'hydrogène et d'hélium.
Le projet Cumberland présente des conditions optimales pour la génération d'hydrogène, notamment une séquence sédimentaire épaisse de plus de 7 kilomètres, des failles profondes et des gradients géothermiques marqués. L'environnement géologique de la région partage des similitudes structurelles significatives avec le bassin de Lorraine en France, notamment à travers le système de failles Cobequid-Chedabucto.
Le site d'exploration contient des granitoïdes riches en biotite qui peuvent produire une quantité substantielle d'hydrogène grâce aux interactions eau-minéral, avec des rendements potentiels de 102 KT de H2 par km³ de granite à des températures de 130-200°C. La présence de formations salines dans la formation de Windsor offre également un potentiel pour le stockage de gaz et la coproduction d'hélium.
Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (QIMCF) hat eine bedeutende Erweiterung ihrer Aktivitäten zur Erkundung von natürlichem, sauberem, erneuerbarem Wasserstoff im Cumberland-Becken in Nova Scotia angekündigt. Das Unternehmen hat 2.645 Explorationsansprüche über 428,49 km² gesichert, die auf geologische Strukturen mit Wasserstoff- und Heliumpotenzial abzielen.
Das Cumberland-Projekt bietet optimale Bedingungen für die Wasserstofferzeugung, einschließlich einer dicken sedimentären Sequenz von über 7 Kilometern, tief liegenden Verwerfungen und ausgeprägten geothermischen Gradienten. Die geologische Umgebung der Region weist erhebliche strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Lorraine-Becken in Frankreich auf, insbesondere durch das Cobequid-Chedabucto-Verwerfungsystem.
Der Erkundungsstandort enthält biotithaltige Granitoide, die durch Wasser-Mineral-Interaktionen erheblichen Wasserstoff erzeugen können, mit potenziellen Erträgen von 102 KT H2 pro km³ Granit bei Temperaturen von 130-200°C. Die Anwesenheit von Salzformationen in der Windsor-Formation bietet auch Potenzial für die Gasspeicherung und die Co-Produktion von Helium.
- Significant expansion with 2,645 new exploration claims covering 428.49 km²
- Strategic location with access to international export markets via Atlantic ports
- Proven geological conditions similar to successful hydrogen-producing regions
- Potential for substantial hydrogen production (102 KT per km³ of granite)
- Additional value through helium co-production potential
- Built-in storage capability through salt formations
- Early exploration stage with no proven reserves yet
- Success dependent on achieving specific temperature conditions (130-200°C)
- Requires significant infrastructure development for production and export
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 20, 2025) - Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. (CSE: QIMC) (OTCQB: QIMCF) (FSE: 7FJ) ("QIMC") is pleased to announce a major expansion of its natural clean renewable hydrogen exploration activities with the establishment of a new exploration camp in the Cumberland Basin, Nova Scotia, QIMC has staked 2,645 exploration claims. This strategic initiative significantly expands QIMC's natural clean renewable hydrogen and helium exploration portfolio into Canada's Atlantic region, positioning the company to access international hydrogen export markets via existing Atlantic port infrastructure.
John Karagiannidis CEO of QIMC stated: "Our expansion into Nova Scotia marks a transformative step forward, building upon our unparalleled exploration success in Quebec. By harnessing the favorable geological features of the Cumberland Basin and utilizing our proven exploration methodologies, we are poised to unlock substantial new natural clean hydrogen and helium resources, fueling a cleaner energy future and creating significant value for shareholders."
Covering approximately 428.49 km² with 2,645 exploration claims, the Cumberland project strategically targets geological structures conducive for their natural hydrogen and helium potential. Characterized by a thick sedimentary sequence exceeding 7 kilometers, deep-seated faults, and prominent geothermal gradients, the Cumberland Basin offers optimal conditions for hydrogen generation, accumulation, and potential storage.
Leveraging the exceptional exploration model developed at QIMC's St-Bruno-de-Guigues property in Quebec, where groundbreaking exploration has yielded outstanding natural renewable hydrogen results, QIMC intends to replicate its proven approach in the geologically favorable Cumberland Basin area. Nova Scotia's geological environment, marked by significant structural similarities to renowned global hydrogen-rich regions such as the Lorraine Basin in France, offers an ideal opportunity for transformative discoveries.
Specifically, the Cobequid-Chedabucto fault system, an extensive and deep-reaching geological structure, provides pathways for natural hydrogen production through water-mineral interactions involving biotite-rich granitoids and olivine-bearing mafic rocks. Recent scientific modeling in analogous geological environments, such as France's Rhine graben, demonstrates substantial hydrogen generation from biotite-rich granites, confirming the significant hydrogen potential awaiting discovery in Nova Scotia.
In addition, Nova Scotia's geological setting provides robust potential for helium co-production and hydrogen storage, particularly due to abundant salt diapirs within the Windsor Formation. This integrated exploration strategy strengthens QIMC's leading role in natural hydrogen exploration and positions it prominently as the North American leader in natural renewable hydrogen.
Prof. Marc Richer-Laflèche explains: "Nova Scotia frequently hosts biotite-rich potassic granitoids, notably within Neoproterozoic geological complexes such as the Frog Lake pluton (Murphy et al., 2001), as well as within several significant Carboniferous plutons including the North River and Hanna Farm plutons in the Cobequid Highlands (Pe-Piper, 1991). Additionally, lamprophyric intrusions, which are notably abundant throughout the region, also exhibit high biotite concentrations. Within our exploration model for natural hydrogen in Nova Scotia, biotite plays a pivotal role. Analogous to the process involving olivine in mafic and ultramafic rocks, biotite in these granitoids is known to readily react with groundwater, facilitating substantial hydrogen generation under appropriate geothermal conditions. This reaction underscores the strategic geological significance of Nova Scotia's biotite-rich granitoids for natural hydrogen exploration and potential production. This process has been demonstrated and modelled in the Rhine graben (Alsace, France) where, for moderate temperatures of around 130-200oC, biotite produces good quantities of hydrogen (e.g. 102 KT of H2 per km3 of granite: Murray et al., 2020). Given the favorable geothermal gradient in Cumberland, these temperatures could easily be reached, enabling hydrogen production by oxidation of the Fe2+ contained in biotite."
Cumberland sector:
The geological context of Nova Scotia includes lithological, structural and geophysical features conducive to the formation of hydrogen or helium. The Cumberland Basin area (Fig. 1), in particular, is a convergence zone bringing together several critical elements conducive to the formation and accumulation of natural hydrogen in a context showing certain similarities with the geological context of the hydrogen discovery in the Lorraine region of France. This area is characterized by the presence of the Cobequid Highlands.
Figure 1: Location map of the Cumberland project in Nova Scotia and other hydrogen exploration properties of QIMC and its partners. Figure modified from Google Map.
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The sedimentary geology of the Cumberland area, adjacent to the Cobequid Highlands, is characterized at surface by the presence of Late Carboniferous geological units of the Cumberland Group (Ragged Reef Fm, Polly Brook Fm) and stratigraphically underlying rocks of the Windsor and Mabou Groups. Rock units in the basin include continental detrital sedimentary rocks, coal formations (e.g. Springhill) and evaporites (Windsor Group). These rocks are underlain by older bedrock rich in Neoproterozoic potassic granitoids, mafic volcanics and intrusives, diorites and Carboniferous potassic granites (Pe-Piper et al., 1989; Pe-Piper and Piper, 2002). These rocks are cut by local or regional faults. The Cobequid-Chedaducto fault zone, south of the Cobequid Highlands, cuts across much of Nova Scotia and separates the Avalon terrain to the north and the Meguma terrain to the south (Fig. 2). The latter are components of the Northern Appalachians. This structural zone is thought to be the upper part of a larger structure known as the Minas Geofracture. This geological structure, reactivated several times in the Paleozoic, is thought to have been involved, among other things, in the emplacement of basaltic magmas that support the hypothesis of the presence of a transcrustal fault that could reach the peridotitic lithospheric mantle. This mafic magmatism, associated with the effusion of 1,500 m of volcanic rocks (continental tholeiites) (Dessureau et al., 2000), is of great importance for the production of natural renewable hydrogen through the interaction of groundwater and minerals such as olivine, pyroxenes and magnetite.
Figure 2: Simplified geological map of Nova Scotia's Carboniferous and Triassic sedimentary basins. Source: NSDNR, 2006.
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The presence of an imposing succession of sedimentary rocks (over 7 km) in the Cumberland Basin is a favorable feature for natural hydrogen exploration, given the presence of porous, permeable rocks interbedded with impermeable rocks such as shales and evaporites (salt formations of the Windsor Fm). The formation of anticlinal structures by the rise of salt diapirs is, among other things, conducive to the formation of hydrogen and helium gas deposits. The presence of salt formations offers the potential for gas storage in the Cumberland Basin.
With its thick succession of sedimentary rocks and relatively high geothermal gradient, the Cumberland Basin is also recognized for its geothermal potential (Comeau et al., 2020). In a context of hydrogen production, through reactions between groundwater and minerals such as olivine, magnetite and biotite, the presence of relatively warm water, at realistic depths, is one of the characteristics sought for natural hydrogen production. The presence of a granitic basement rich in K, Th and U is also conducive to the production of radiolytic hydrogen and crustal radiogenic helium.
References :
Comeau et al., 2020. Assessment of geothermal resources in onshore Nova Scotia. Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA). Open File Report ME 2021-003, 216 pages.
Dessureau, G., Piper, D.J.W., and Pe-Piper, G., 2000. Geochemical evolution of earliest Carboniferous continental tholeiitic basalts along a crustal-scale shear zone, southwestern Maritimes basin, eastern Canada. Lithos, Volume 50, Issues 1-3, Pages 27-50.
Murray, J., Clément, A., Fritz, B., Schmittbuhl, J., Bordmann, V., Fleury, J.M., 2020. Abiotic hydrogen generation from biotite-rich granite: A case study of the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site, France. Applied Geochemistry.
Murphy, G.B., Pe-Piper, G., Piper, D.J.W, Nance, R.D. and Doig, R., 2001. Geology of the Eastern Cobequid Highlands, Nova-Scotia. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 556, 62 pages. NSDNR, 2006. Geological map of the province of Nova Scotia, Scale 1:500 000, Compiled by J. D. Keppie, 2000. Digital Version of Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources Map ME 2000-1. DP ME 43, Version 2.
Pe-Piper, G., 1991. Granite and associated mafic phases, North River pluton, Cobequid Highlands, Nova Scotia. Atlantic Geology, 27, 15-28.
Pe-Piper, G., Murphy, J.B. and Turner, D.S., 1989. Petrology, geochemistry, and tectonic setting of some Carboniferous plutons of the eastern Cobequid Hills. Atlantic Geology, 25, 37-49.
Pe-Piper, G. and Piper, D. J.W., 2002. A synopsis of the geology of the Cobequid Highlands, Nova Scotia. Atlantic Geology, 38, 145-160.
White, C. E., Archibald, D. B. MacHattie, T. G and Escarraga, E. A. 2011. Preliminary Geology of the Southern Antigonish Highlands, Northern Mainland Nova Scotiain Mineral Resources Branch, Report of Activities 2010; Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Report ME 2011-1, p. 145-164.
M. Richer-LaFlèche is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical information contained in this news release and has read the information contained herein. He is a professional geologist registered with the Ordre des géologues du Québec and is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical information contained in this news release and has read the information contained herein and approves the press release.
For more information about Quebec Innovative Materials Corp. and its products, please visit www.qimaterials.com.
About Québec Innovative Materials Corp.
Québec Innovative Materials Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company dedicated to exploring and harnessing the potential of Canada's abundant resources. With properties in Ontario and Québec, QIMC is focused on specializing in the exploration of white (natural) hydrogen and high-grade silica deposits. QIMC is committed to sustainable practices and innovation. With a focus on environmental stewardship and cutting-edge extraction technology, we aim to unlock the full potential of these materials to drive forward clean energy solutions to power the AI and carbon-neutral economy and contribute to a more sustainable future.
QUÉBEC INNOVATIVE MATERIALS CORP.
John Karagiannidis
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Email: info@qimaterials.com
Tel: +1 514-726-7058
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Québec Innovative Materials' actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur.
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Examples of such assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, assumptions, risks and uncertainties associated with general economic conditions in Canada and abroad; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments in the natural resources sector, in particular as regards the regulation of white (natural) hydrogen exploration, development and exploitation; the Company's ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; natural resources industry and markets in Canada and generally; the ability of Québec Innovative Materials to implement its business strategies; competition; and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties.
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FAQ
What is the size of QIMCF's new hydrogen exploration claims in Nova Scotia?
How much hydrogen can QIMCF's Nova Scotia project potentially produce?
What geological features make QIMCF's Cumberland Basin project suitable for hydrogen production?
How does QIMCF plan to store hydrogen in the Cumberland Basin project?
What additional resource potential exists in QIMCF's Nova Scotia project besides hydrogen?
