Moose Jaw Pact Adds Momentum to Max Power Mining’s Natural Hydrogen Push as Sprott Takes Stake

Junior explorer Max Power Mining inks MoU with Moose Jaw for natural hydrogen, Eric Sprott invests C$2M, stock surges 277% YTD.

The race to tap naturally occurring hydrogen beneath the Canadian Prairies is intensifying, and Max Power Mining has just secured a strategic ally: the city of Moose Jaw. A memorandum of understanding signed on 14 May 2026 gives the junior explorer a formal framework to explore for so-called white hydrogen in the region, with the city council having approved the arrangement on 28 April. Mayor James Murdock and CEO Ran Narayanasamy cast the deal as a potential boost for the local economy, as Moose Jaw positions itself at the centre of an emerging energy niche.

The MoU does not hand Max Power a ready-made project. It eases access to data, facilitates coordination with city officials, and opens the door to land for technical work. For a company whose stock has already priced in a great deal of hydrogen hype, the agreement shifts the focus from headline to hard evidence: geological surveys, possible field measurements, and eventually drilling results that can prove commercially viable volumes of natural hydrogen.

Billionaire investor Eric Sprott has signalled his own conviction. On 13 May, a circuit breaker imposed by the Canadian regulator CIRO briefly halted trading in Max Power shares amid heavy volume. When trading resumed the same day, the catalyst emerged: Sprott’s holding company had purchased one million shares at an average price of roughly C$2.02, injecting nearly C$2 million into the explorer. Sprott now owns 12.8% of the company on an undiluted basis. The purchase came just days before the Moose Jaw MoU, underscoring the mounting institutional interest in Saskatchewan’s natural hydrogen story.

Land grabs by neighbours reinforce the strategic importance of the region. Max Power already controls around 1.3 million acres of permitted land around Central Butte, where its Lawson discovery became the first underground natural hydrogen system in Canada confirmed by deep drilling. Another 5.7 million acres are under application. Meanwhile, Makenita Resources has doubled its adjacent project to more than 51,000 acres, focusing on iron and magnetite—minerals whose serpentinisation process can also generate natural hydrogen. The competitive scramble validates Max Power’s first-mover position on the Lawson play.

Shareholders have responded with a rally that borders on extreme. The stock ended the day at €1.47, climbing nearly 6% on the session. Year-to-date gains stand at 277%, and over the past twelve months the price has multiplied roughly tenfold. The annualised volatility of almost 99% marks the shares as a high-stakes bet. The current quotation sits just shy of a 52-week high and a full 67% above the 50-day moving average—a gap that signals both momentum and vulnerability.

Natural hydrogen, formed within the Earth’s crust and requiring neither electrolysis nor steam reforming, is drawing increasing attention from explorers traditionally focused on base and precious metals. The Canadian Securities Exchange, a bellwether for early-stage resource plays, hosted 92 financings in April that raised around C$100 million, reflecting sustained appetite for energy-linked exploration stories. Max Power fits squarely into that trend, though its valuation now demands rapid progress on the newly permitted and applied-for acreage. The Moose Jaw partnership gives the company a fresh operational foothold; the next few months will determine whether the geology delivers on the promise the market has already embraced.