The playbook — hydrogen · September 15, 2026
MAX Power reports its strongest natural hydrogen readings at Lawson
Rig gas detectors flagged elevated hydrogen across three intervals more than 2 km down. No concentrations or flow rates were reported.
MAX Power Mining says it drilled the most significant natural hydrogen interval to date at its Lawson project in south-central Saskatchewan. On September 15, the company reported elevated hydrogen “readings” across three deep intervals in Lawson 4: 20.5 metres of basal Cambrian sandstone (from 2,290 to 2,310.5 metres down), 30.9 metres of mafic-ultramafic rock (2,310.5 to 2,341.4 metres), and a 30.6-metre helium-dominant zone in the Interlake Formation (2,001 to 2,031.6 metres depth, also in Lawson 4). Those readings come from gas detectors mounted on the drill rig — a running signal from the drilling mud, not a measured reservoir concentration. No hydrogen percentage and no flow rate is attached to any of the three intervals.
Here is the mechanism, and why the numbers matter. A natural hydrogen result normally lives or dies on two figures: how concentrated the gas is (measured in mol%) and how fast it flows on a proper test. This release carries neither, so there is nothing to grade and no way to size what is down there. The stock has moved anyway — up 40.9% over three months to $3.34 while the base-metals index it trades against fell about 11%, a 52-point gap that says the market is pricing something specific to this company rather than the sector. That re-rating rode a run from roughly $1.80 to $3.34 over the period. Behind it sits an anchor shareholder, Eric Sprott, at 24.35%, a C$20.5-million raise in March, and IR and marketing commitments of at least $625,000 USD over the trailing year across three firms. The team’s strongest credentials are in regulated utilities and junior-mining IR; no prior discovery-to-production or monetized exit is on the public record.
What to watch, and the caveats the geologist flagged. The headline “30 km step-out” is a plan, not a result — it refers to Lawson 5, an undrilled well meant to test an up-dip extension toward the “Salt Wall.” All four wells drilled so far sit within about 2 km of each other, so the interconnected-system claim is interpretive, and the fault conduit’s dip, strike and extent “remains unknown.” The release does not state true widths for any interval — the geometry of the hydrogen zones is not quantifiable from the reported data. Completions and flow testing have not happened yet, so commerciality is undemonstrated — the company itself says the questions of composition, sustained flow and connectivity are still unanswered. The stated next steps are the Lawson 5 spud, then completions testing for gas composition and flow, plus core analysis from Lawson 4. Worth noting: a $100,000 USD investor-marketing agreement was disclosed in the same release.