MAX Power Mining Corp. has announced that following confirmation of Canada’s first subsurface natural hydrogen system at Lawson near Central Butte, Saskatchewan, the company has commenced drilling of a second well (Bracken) approximately 325 km southwest of the Lawson Discovery. Bracken is designed to test basin-scale continuity under a distinct geological trapping mechanism at the Grasslands Project within MAX Power’s broader land package comprising 1.3 million permitted acres.

Bracken represents a “stratigraphic” play concept where drilling is targeting the “pinch-out” of what’s interpreted to be a large reservoir based on 34.3 line kilometers of newly acquired proprietary 2-D seismic data combined with legacy 2-D seismic. Stratigraphic trapping can support laterally extensive Natural Hydrogen accumulations which, if confirmed, may have meaningful implications for volume potential and system continuity.

Notably, Bracken is located in an area of the province where MAX Power’s geological team first identified a rare rock assemblage in the basement complex believed to be associated with Western Canada’s first known deep subsurface occurrence of Natural Hydrogen, ahead of the Lawson Discovery.

Mr. Steve Halabura, MAX Power Chief Geoscientist, commented, “We’re excited about the potential of this second play concept to deliver meaningful results and demonstrate basin-scale continuity for Natural Hydrogen in Saskatchewan. Bracken is also in the heart of a known helium fairway, so this adds to the discovery potential. Total permitted acres covering multiple prospect areas at Grasslands extends 75 km west to east, and 10 km north-south. This is a large area of interest that we are now advancing concurrent with Lawson Discovery follow-up a few hundred kilometers to the northeast.”

Bracken also continues the refinement of MAX Power’s in-house and AI-assisted MAXX LEMI model (Large Earth Model Integration) to optimize predictive targeting. Benefiting from very large amounts of available legacy data in Saskatchewan, and an increasing inventory of valuable proprietary data from first-ever Natural Hydrogen drilling in Canada, MAXX LEMI is evolving into a proprietary predictive framework designed to systematically identify and rank Natural Hydrogen targets across large-scale geological corridors, with the potential to expand globally.

Mr. Ran Narayanasamy, MAX Power CEO, commented, “We’ve received inquiries from around the world with respect to MAXX LEMI, and we’re confident its benefits will extend well beyond Saskatchewan in ways that will allow us to monetize this proprietary asset for MAX Power shareholders. Today, data is extremely valuable. We’ve secured a vast amount of data from the subsurface with respect to Natural Hydrogen – data from Lawson and elsewhere that has never been previously collected in Canada.

“We are also developing significant in-house AI expertise in subsurface as we continue to build out MAXX LEMI. Bracken, where we’re testing a second play concept, will help take MAXX LEMI to a new level. As Natural Hydrogen exploration expands globally, data-driven targeting may become one of the most valuable competitive advantages in the sector. We look forward to providing further updates on the development of this unique model,” Mr. Narayanasamy concluded.