Categories: Energy
Topics: General Energy

The Most Exciting Green Hydrogen Opportunity of 2023

Atco Mining Inc. (CSE: ATCM)(OTC: ATMGF) — currently trading undiscovered around C$0.15 per share — has engaged industry leader RESPEC Consulting Inc. to advance its flagship Eagle and Flat Bay salt dome projects in St. Georges Bay Basin, southwestern Newfoundland, Canada. 

The two firms are combining synergies at both Eagle and Flat Bay in the development and deployment of a comprehensive exploration program to determine the extent at which the properties hold similar geological characteristics to other major salt dome projects in the St. Georges Bay Basin region. 

Atco Mining CEO Etienne Moshevich — whom you’re about to hear from directly in our exclusive interview — commented via press release: 

“We are extremely excited to be working with RESPEC. Given RESPEC is one of the most highly respected consulting companies in the world and one of the only in North America with the necessary experience in analyzing and understanding hydrogen storage caverns, we believe this is an incredible partnership that will become very accretive to our shareholders … As the world begins to recognize the value in clean energy to power our future, salt caverns and energy storage will become one of the most lucrative and sought-after industries and Atco is looking to be at the forefront of that movement.”

As alluded to, Atco Mining’s outside-the-box strategy presents a potential first-mover advantage in the growing hydrogen storage arena as demand for the clean-burning fuel intensifies. 

Recent studies confirm that green hydrogen — hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewables such as wind energy — could supply up to 25% of the world’s energy needs by 2050.

Increased green hydrogen demand also means there’s going to be a need for increased hydrogen storage capacity in the coming years and decades. To that end, underground hydrogen storage in giant salt dome structures is emerging as a viable solution that Atco Mining intends to capitalize on to the benefit of ATCM shareholders. 

Recently completed 3D modeling at the company’s properties has identified multiple potential salt dome structures at the 10,575-hectare Eagle project (the Golden target and the Baldy target). Similarly, the company’s 1,000-hectare Flat Bay project boasts a historically mapped gravity low, which suggests the presence of a salt dome structure at depth. 

RESPEC Consulting Inc. has now initiated the process of amalgamating all of the current and historical data with the aim of producing 2D and 3D models delineating the size, shape, and potential hydrogen storage capability of any large underground salt caverns mapped out at the two projects. 

From a broader perspective, the government of Newfoundland is rapidly advancing plans to utilize the province’s vast wind energy resources to power the production of green hydrogen (which only emits water when utilized) and other gases.

In Q2 2022, Newfoundland’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology announced that, for the first time in 15 years, the province will allow companies to generate and export onshore wind energy, stating that the province’s relentless winds are now “available to be harnessed.”

Following that key announcement, a total of 19 companies submitted bids to build wind energy projects in Newfoundland; a phase-one review process is currently underway. 

Additionally, World Energy GH2 — one of Canada’s premier renewable energy companies — has launched a C$16B project to produce 250,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually from a new facility powered by wind turbines on Newfoundland’s west coast and in Labrador. 

With activity ramping up in the region, and with billions of investment dollars starting to flow in, Atco Mining, as one of the region’s largest salt dome project landholders at 21,450 hectares, has the potential to become a key player in the region’s rapidly emerging green hydrogen storage arena.  

With the next phase of exploration and geological modeling underway via the RESPEC Consulting agreement, our own Gerardo Del Real of Junior Resource Monthly caught up with Atco Mining CEO Etienne Moshevich for an overview of the projects, the industry, the first-mover advantage, and the early-stage opportunity at hand for ATCM/ATMGF shareholders. Please enjoy! 

For additional information on Vancouver-based Atco Mining, be sure to contact the company’s IR department at 604-512-5624 or via email at info@atcomining.com.

Sign up to receive updates directly from the company at the Atco Mining corporate website. 

Mike Fagan
Editor, Resource Stock Digest