‘Mars-Like’ Rock Naturally Makes Hydrogen and Traps CO₂

First Atlantic Nickel (OTC: FANCF | TSXV: FAN) secures a district-scale position in one of the world’s most scientifically important geological systems.

This unique ultramafic rock formation was studied by NASA as a Mars analogue that naturally generates hydrogen, permanently sequesters CO₂, and hosts critical minerals.

For decades, scientists have debated how life first emerged on Earth.

The primary challenge has been understanding how early organisms accessed energy before oxygen and sunlight were widely available.

The question has taken on renewed importance as researchers search for the potential for life beyond Earth.

In that search, NASA researchers began focusing on a rare type of geological formation on Earth that may offer part of the answer.

Known as an ophiolite, this ultramafic rock system generates molecular hydrogen through serpentinization. This is a process in which water reacts with iron-rich minerals without oxygen, sunlight, or biological input.

One of the most studied examples is Newfoundland’s Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex.

The system has been examined by NASA and planetary scientists as a Mars analogue, because similar reactions are believed to have operated on early Earth — and may still be occurring on Mars and icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus.

Peer-reviewed research confirms that these rocks actively produce molecular hydrogen today, while also permanently trapping carbon dioxide as solid rock through mineralization.

As interest in geologic hydrogen and mineral-based carbon capture has moved beyond academic research, attention has increasingly shifted to where these systems can be accessed and evaluated at scale.

That is where First Atlantic Nickel enters the picture, through its 100%-owned ophiolite-x project covering 125 km².within one of the world’s most complete and best-preserved ophiolite complexes.

Stanford-backed techno-economic analysis estimates geologic hydrogen production costs as low as $0.54 per kilogram— below the U.S. Department of Energy’s $1/kg target — without electrolysis, fossil fuels, or carbon offsets.

The Problem:

Hydrogen is essential, but today’s methods are costly and infrastructure-heavy

Hydrogen is widely viewed as a key input for decarbonizing heavy industry, including steelmaking, ammonia production, refining, shipping, and long-duration energy storage. Yet nearly all commercial hydrogen today is produced through industrial processes that carry significant economic or logistical trade-offs.

Most supply still comes from natural gas–based production, such as gray hydrogen, which generates carbon emissions and relies on fossil fuel inputs. Green and blue hydrogen attempt to offset those emissions through carbon capture or renewable electricity, but both introduce complexity, cost, and large infrastructure requirements.

As a result, scaling hydrogen production has proven difficult. Even with billions of dollars in government incentives, many projects struggle to reach economic viability, particularly at the volumes required for industrial use.

What has been missing is a primary source of hydrogen — one that does not depend on fuel reforming, electrolysis, or continuous energy input — but instead draws on naturally occurring processes.

The Breakthrough:

Geologic white and orange hydrogen, produced by the earth itself

In certain ultramafic rock systems, water reacts with iron-rich minerals in a natural geological process known as serpentinization. This reaction generates molecular hydrogen continuously underground — without combustion or any external energy input.

This form of supply is known as geologic hydrogen. When hydrogen forms naturally through ongoing water–rock reactions underground, it is called white hydrogen. When those same reactions are accelerated by injecting water into the rock to increase hydrogen production, the result is known as orange hydrogen, or stimulated geologic hydrogen.

According to a 2024 techno-economic analysis supported by Stanford University, both pathways are considered viable. The study estimates production costs of approximately $0.54 per kilogram for natural geologic hydrogen and $0.92 per kilogram for stimulated production, both below the U.S. Department of Energy’s $1/kg target.

The geological settings most conducive to this process are ophiolites, where large volumes of iron-rich ultramafic rock remain exposed and actively reactive — making these regions prime targets for low-cost, scalable geologic hydrogen production.

First Atlantic’s Ophiolite-x Project:

District-scale hydrogen, carbon capture, and critical mineral system

The Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex in western Newfoundland is one of the most intensively studied ophiolite systems on Earth, in part because it exhibits active serpentinization, hydrogen-rich fluids, and highly reducing, alkaline conditions.

These characteristics led NASA-affiliated researchers to study portions of the complex as a Mars analogue, using surface features such as hyper-alkaline springs — with pH values reaching 12.3 — as surface evidence that hydrogen is actively being generated underground.

Those same geological characteristics extend beyond the well-studied Tablelands area and into a much larger subsurface system.

First Atlantic Nickel now controls a significant portion of this system through its newly acquired Ophiolite-X project, which spans 18 mineral licenses and 500 claims covering approximately 125 km² across the Blow Me Down and Lewis Hills massifs.

The project area overlays actively serpentinizing ultramafic rocks, hydrogen-bearing hyper-alkaline spring systems, and brucite-rich lithologies — a combination of rock types known to efficiently generate natural hydrogen and permanently lock away carbon dioxide. The same geological environment is also known to host awaruite, a naturally occurring nickel–iron alloy that forms under hydrogen-rich, reducing conditions.

Peer-reviewed research conducted by Memorial University has calculated a theoretical carbon dioxide storage capacity of 5.1 × 10¹¹ tonnes for the full Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex — equivalent to more than 13 years of current global emissions. Even partial utilization of this capacity would represent a nationally significant carbon capture solution.

Dual-Revenue Geology:

Hydrogen production and permanent carbon capture

What makes this system unique is that the same rock does both jobs.

Ongoing serpentinization within ultramafic rocks produces molecular hydrogen naturally. In comparable geological settings, such as Albania’s Bulqiza chromite district, researchers have documented hydrogen flows reaching up to 84% purity and more than 200 tonnes per year, demonstrating that these systems can produce clean hydrogen continuously and at scale.

At the same time, minerals formed during serpentinization — particularly brucite — react rapidly with carbon dioxide, converting it into stable carbonate minerals. Research indicates that approximately 2.5 tonnes of brucite are needed to lock away one tonne of CO₂, making this one of the most efficient known methods of permanent carbon capture.

Because both hydrogen generation and carbon mineralization occur through naturally favorable reactions, researchers conclude the process is kinetically favorable under ambient conditions and could be industrialized with relatively modest energy input, largely limited to drilling and fluid circulation.

The Connective Tissue:

Hydrogen, nickel, and awaruite

AWARUITE – A RARE MAGNETIC ALLOY: 77% pure nickel alloy with iron and cobalt. Natural magnetic properties enable domestic magnetic processing, bypassing reliance on overseas smelting

Hydrogen is not only an energy carrier; it is also a geological prerequisite for the formation of awaruite, a naturally occurring nickel–iron–cobalt alloy (Ni₃Fe).

Research shows that awaruite forms only under extremely hydrogen-rich, highly reducing conditions. As a result, its presence provides direct mineralogical evidence that hydrogen generation has occurred — and may still be occurring — at depth.

First Atlantic’s Ophiolite-X project sits within the same geological system known to host awaruite mineralization, along with chromite, cobalt, and platinum group elements.

Together, these commodities reflect a geological setting where energy generation, carbon mineralization, and critical mineral formation are linked by the same underlying processes.

Unlike conventional nickel deposits, awaruite is already in a metallic state.

It contains approximately 77% nickel, two to three times higher than typical nickel sulfide minerals, and it is naturally magnetic.

Because awaruite is naturally magnetic, it can be processed using magnetic separation and flotation rather than energy-intensive smelting or high-pressure acid leaching. This processing pathway enables nickel concentrate production without sulfur emissions, acid waste, or dependence on overseas smelting infrastructure.

The U.S. currently has no operating primary nickel smelters, and North America has only two aging facilities. Awaruite offers a fundamentally different pathway: mine-direct-to-refinery processing.

At the Pipestone XL Nickel Alloy Project, drilling has outlined a sizable awaruite-bearing system, with mineralization extending well beyond individual drill holes.

Every drill hole completed so far at the project’s main target area has intersected magnetically recoverable nickel alloy, and recent drilling expanded the mineralized area to more than 1.2 kilometers long and over 800 meters wide — indicating a system measured in kilometers, not meters.

Early processing tests have already produced nickel-bearing material using magnetic separation, with further work underway to upgrade this material into high-grade nickel concentrate suitable for downstream refining.

What makes this system distinctive is that the same ultramafic rocks responsible for hydrogen generation also create the conditions required for awaruite formation and permanent carbon mineralization.

In a single geological setting, hydrogen production, carbon capture, and smelter-free critical mineral supply emerge from the same natural processes — giving First Atlantic exposure to multiple strategically aligned outcomes from one underlying system.

7 Reasons Ophiolite-X Could Represent A Step-Change Energy Platform

Mars analogue geology studied by NASA:
Portions of the Bay of Islands ophiolite have been studied by NASA-affiliated researchers as a Mars analogue due to active serpentinization, hydrogen-rich fluids, and highly reducing, alkaline conditions linked to early planetary energy systems.
Peer-reviewed evidence of active hydrogen generation:
Multiple academic studies confirm that ultramafic rocks within the system are actively generating molecular hydrogen today through ongoing water–rock reactions.
Stanford-backed hydrogen economics below federal targets:
A Stanford-supported techno-economic analysis estimates production costs of approximately $0.54 per kilogram for natural geologic hydrogen and $0.92 per kilogram for stimulated production, both below the U.S. Department of Energy’s $1/kg target.
Exceptional carbon capture potential through mineralization:
Brucite-rich lithologies formed during serpentinization react rapidly with carbon dioxide, converting it into stable carbonate minerals with no requirement for long-term monitoring.
District-scale land position in a top-tier jurisdiction:
The ophiolite-x project spans approximately 125 km² across multiple massifs in western Newfoundland, a jurisdiction known for stable permitting, existing infrastructure, and access to low-cost hydroelectric power.
Direct geological link to nickel and critical minerals:
The same geological conditions that generate hydrogen are also associated with awaruite nickel–iron alloy, chromite, cobalt, and platinum group elements, creating a rare multi-commodity system.
Early positioning in an emerging energy category:
Geologic hydrogen remains an early-stage energy concept, and First Atlantic’s control of a large, peer-reviewed source rock position provides early exposure to a potentially scalable energy pathway.

First Atlantic Nickel controls a district-scale geological system with implications for hydrogen production, carbon capture, and critical mineral supply. As work continues across the Ophiolite-X project, new data and technical milestones are expected to follow.

To learn more about First Atlantic Nickel and to receive future company updates, visit the company’s website and sign up for news alerts below.

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