Hydrogen Hub in the Making: Max Power Mining Secures City Backing as Data Confirms Resource Potential

Max Power Mining signs LOI with Moose Jaw to link its Lawson hydrogen discovery to regional infrastructure, while helium finds and new CFO boost commercial potential.

A junior explorer's push to turn a geological anomaly in Saskatchewan into a commercial energy project just got a strategic lift from municipal government. Max Power Mining signed a letter of intent with the city of Moose Jaw on Friday, formally linking its Lawson hydrogen discovery to the industrial corridor that stretches between Regina and Moose Jaw. The deal is more than a press release — it signals that the company is shifting from pure wildcatting toward infrastructure-anchored development.

Moose Jaw sits roughly 80 kilometres south of the Lawson project, which is recognised as Canada's first confirmed natural hydrogen system in the subsurface. The region already hosts energy grids, heavy industrial users and plans for large-scale data centres — the kind of load that could turn a discovery into a market-ready asset. Without a tie-in to existing infrastructure, hydrogen remains an academic exercise; the LOI creates a pathway to commercial off-take and local economic integration, including potential training collaborations.

Helium spikes add a second revenue vector

What makes the Lawson story more than a single-commodity bet is the helium content emerging from the Bracken drill hole. At a depth of 2,600 metres, geologists intersected three distinct zones — two prospective for natural hydrogen and a third bearing helium concentrations that hit 8.7% in initial samples. Saskatchewan is the only Canadian province currently producing helium, so the by-product opportunity is not theoretical. Max Power is treating it as a potentially lucrative secondary stream.

The technical picture is sharpening. Seismic surveys have doubled the structural extent of the Lawson target area to more than 14 square kilometres, and the company is feeding historical models and new drill data through its own AI platform. Energy consultancy GLJ is now evaluating the data from the central Lawson zone to move the project from reconnaissance to commercial assessment. Management has already flagged additional prospective zones beyond the core area.

New finance chief and a big-name backer

To manage what is shaping up to be a capital-intensive next phase, Max Power brought in Tony Van Burgsteden as CFO at the start of May. Van Burgsteden previously ran the finances at uranium producer Orano Canada, overseeing billions in revenue. His immediate task is structuring the next major drill programme.

He is not the only heavyweight taking an interest. Investor Eric Sprott bought 1 million common shares on May 13 at an average price of C$2.0219, boosting his holdings to 18.48 million shares — 12.8% on an undiluted basis. For a company in the early stages of commercial validation, that kind of insider vote of confidence tends to amplify market attention.

The stock is pricing in a lot of hope — and risk

The market has already run far ahead of the operational timeline. At Friday's close of €1.63, the shares had gained 10.9% on the day and hit a new 52-week high. Over the past seven sessions the advance reached 40.3%, and the year-to-date return stands at 318.5%. The one-month annualised volatility is a staggering 101.1%.

Despite the rally, the relative strength index sits at 20.5, a level typically interpreted as oversold — an unusual signal in the middle of a strong uptrend that suggests the move may have further room to run, or that the calculation is skewed by the speed of the climb. Either way, the price reflects expectations that have yet to be backed by resource estimates or binding offtake agreements.

Next checkpoints: confirmation drilling and resource modelling

What comes next will determine whether the infrastructure story and the technical story converge. Max Power controls roughly 1.3 million acres of permitted land in Saskatchewan, with another 5.7 million acres under application. The immediate milestones are a resource model and a confirmation drill programme targeting the highest point of the Lawson structure, planned for the first half of 2026. Successfully proving commercial flow rates would turn that geological anomaly into Canada's first documented underground hydrogen system with measurable production potential. A parallel set of wells along the Genesis Trend will test additional targets.

If the high-purity zones are confirmed, the Moose Jaw LOI will carry significantly more weight — and the 318% year-to-date rally will start to look like the early chapter of a much longer story.