First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt Corp. has announced the receipt of a supplemental exploration permit from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, Mineral Lands Division. The permit supplements existing drilling programs and authorizes wellbore water injection with additional drilling for rock formation integrity testing, along with ground geophysics, at its wholly owned Pipestone XL Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project.
Project Focus and Permit Details
The company's primary focus remains the exploration and development of awaruite (Ni₃Fe), a naturally occurring nickel-iron-cobalt alloy and the project's primary mineral of economic interest. The supplemental drill permits authorize drilling, wellbore water injection for repeated rock formation integrity testing, and ground geophysics using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT).
Advancing Stimulated Geologic Hydrogen
This in-ground wellbore injection allows the company to advance its stimulated geologic hydrogen initiative, in which water introduced into serpentinizing ultramafic rock drives the reaction that liberates molecular hydrogen (H₂) – the same reaction responsible for forming awaruite throughout the 30 km Pipestone Ophiolite Complex.
As noted by the Geological Survey of Finland in "Geology in the Hydrogen Era," ophiolites are often referred to as a source of geological hydrogen in Europe and regions outside the crystal shield.
Collaborations and Expertise
The company's stimulated geologic hydrogen initiative is being advanced through collaborations with academic and private-sector partners. Its academic collaboration includes Colorado School of Mines, whose Center for Gravity, Electrical, and Magnetic Studies (CGEM) brings ARPA-E-funded expertise in geologic hydrogen systems and geophysical methods, including ERT, used to characterize and monitor hydrogen generation at depth.
On April 29, 2026, the company appointed Dr. Douglas Wicks as a Strategic Advisor. Dr. Wicks is a globally recognized expert in critical minerals processing and geologic hydrogen, with more than 25 years of senior leadership experience across the U.S. government, industrial minerals, advanced materials, and academic research. From 2019 to 2025, he served as a Program Director at the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), where he designed and led the MINER program (Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery), which funded research to increase domestic supplies of critical minerals including nickel and cobalt while reducing the energy intensity and emissions of mineral processing, as well as ARPA-E's Geologic Hydrogen portfolio – the first U.S. federal program to competitively fund stimulated geologic hydrogen research. He currently serves as Strategic Director, ASCENT Japan at Renaissance Philanthropy and sits on the Advisory Board of its Chimaera Fund, a leading U.S.-based geologic hydrogen initiative.
