Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - September 14, 2026) - Québec Innovative Materials Corp. (CSE: QIMC) (OTCQB: QIMCF) (FSE: 7FJ) ("QIMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged Calgary-based Echo Seismic Ltd. ("Echo Seismic") as seismic contractor and Halifax-based Strum Consulting ("Strum") to provide HSE and environmental oversight and field coordination for the approximately 42 line-kilometre 2D seismic program across its Bennett Hill-Apple River corridor in Nova Scotia, and is providing details of the planned nine-line survey design.
The Nova Scotia program forms the larger component of the combined approximately 78 line-kilometre 2D seismic campaign announced by the Company on September 8, 2026. Together, the Québec and Nova Scotia programs represent the largest geophysical campaign undertaken by QIMC to date.
Echo Seismic will acquire the data using an INOVA Quantum nodal recording system with approximately 1,400 recording channels, 5-Hz geophones and 25-metre receiver spacing, with Vibroseis energy sources operating from existing roads. Strum will provide health, safety and environmental ("HSE") oversight and field coordination from its Nova Scotia base. Acquisition is anticipated in Fall 2026.
The nine survey lines are positioned along the Bennett Hill-Apple River corridor and have been laid out to test the structural relationships between QIMC's drill holes with previously reported hydrogen measurements, its surface hydrogen and helium anomalies, interpreted faults and shear zones, basement contacts and regional Cobequid structures.
HIGHLIGHTS
Seismic contractor engaged: Echo Seismic Ltd., a Calgary-based full-service geophysical contractor with more than 20 years of land seismic experience, including hydrogen and helium applications.
Nova Scotia project oversight engaged: Strum Consulting, a Halifax-headquartered engineering, surveying and environmental firm, to provide HSE and environmental oversight and field coordination.
Nine-line survey design: Approximately 42 line-kilometres across five target areas along the Bennett Hill-Apple River corridor, positioned to link the two drilling centres approximately 15 kilometres apart to the broader structural framework.
High-density acquisition parameters: INOVA Quantum nodal system, approximately 1,400 channels, 5-Hz geophones and 25-metre receiver spacing.
Hydrogen and helium: Lines are designed to test the structural controls on both surface hydrogen and helium anomalies identified in the Company's soil-gas and drilling dataset.
Building on previously reported Company-record drilling results: The seismic program will integrate QIMC's five-hole drilling dataset, approximately 6,000 soil-gas samples and ground magnetics.
WHY 2D SEISMIC NOW: EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT SEQUENCING
QIMC has advanced exploration at Bennett Hill—Apple River in a deliberate sequence designed to progressively reduce geological uncertainty and provide increasingly refined subsurface control.
Unlike mature hydrocarbon basins, where explorers may benefit from extensive legacy well and seismic data, to the Company's knowledge, the Bennett Hill—Apple River district had no pre-existing seismic coverage oriented to natural hydrogen targets and no legacy hydrocarbon well control. QIMC has therefore built its subsurface framework progressively from surface datasets through drilling:
Regional geological interpretation using the Company's proprietary R2G2™ framework
District-scale soil-gas geochemistry — approximately 6,000 samples
Ground magnetics and structural mapping
Validation drilling — five drill holes, DDH-26-01 through DDH-26-05
District-scale 2D seismic — the program detailed in this news release
Targeted characterization drilling, pressure testing and flow testing
Pilot production evaluation
The 2026 drilling campaign established physical subsurface control and documented hydrogen measurements at depth at two drilling centres approximately 15 kilometres apart. With data from five drill holes now available as geological tie points, QIMC is positioned to use seismic data to place those occurrences within a broader structural framework.
The approximately 42 line-kilometre 2D program is designed to image the faults, shear zones, basement contacts and structural intersections that may influence hydrogen migration and accumulation across the Bennett Hill-Apple River corridor. The seismic interpretation will be calibrated against drill information and integrated with QIMC's soil-gas geochemistry, ground magnetics, geological mapping and regional structural interpretation.
This work is intended to refine the district-scale geological model and identify priority locations for the next phase of characterization drilling, pressure testing, flow testing and accumulation assessment.
"We drilled first to establish whether hydrogen was present at depth and to obtain direct geological control within a district where no legacy well or hydrogen-focused seismic dataset existed," said John Karagiannidis, President and Chief Executive Officer of QIMC. "With hydrogen now identified at two drilling centres approximately 15 kilometres apart and data from five drill holes available for calibration, seismic becomes the next step in our pilot production pathway. Our objective is to understand the structures connecting these occurrences and use that framework to guide the next phase of pressure and flow testing."
NINE-LINE SURVEY DESIGN
The approximately 42 line-kilometre program consists of nine planned 2D survey segments positioned within QIMC's broader approximately 43-kilometre Nova Scotia hydrogen exploration corridor. Line positions were selected by integrating the Company's drill results, soil-gas geochemistry, ground magnetics and geological mapping with regional structural interpretation, and are distributed across five target areas within the corridor.
Collectively the lines are intended to image the orientation and depth extent of the faults and shear zones, basement contacts and structural intersections that link the two drilling centres and the Company's surface anomalies into a single district-scale geological model. Line design also incorporates the Company's surface helium anomalies, which may provide an additional tracer of gas migration along structural pathways.
PLANNED ACQUISITION PARAMETERS
Echo's Vibroseis trucks generate controlled seismic-frequency sweeps at the ground surface from existing roads. Nodal receivers positioned along the survey lines record returning seismic energy, which is processed into 2D profiles of geological structures and boundaries at depth. The nodal system operates without cables, reducing the footprint of the survey and allowing receiver lines to follow the existing road network. The program requires no line construction, no shot-hole drilling and no explosives, and involves no hydraulic fracturing or reservoir stimulation.
ECHO SEISMIC AND STRUM CONSULTING
Echo Seismic Ltd. is a Calgary, Alberta-based full-service geophysical exploration contractor with global capabilities and more than 20 years of operating expertise in challenging environments and terrain. Echo specializes in seismic exploration and acquisition, including land seismic programs, and has experience supporting energy, mining, geothermal, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and helium applications.
Strum Consulting, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is an Atlantic Canadian engineering, surveying and environmental consulting firm. Strum's engagement provides QIMC with Nova Scotia-based HSE and environmental oversight and field coordination, supporting engagement with landowners and communities along the survey lines and the safe and responsible execution of the campaign.
"Together, the Québec and Nova Scotia programs represent the largest geophysical campaign undertaken by QIMC to date," Karagiannidis added. "For the Nova Scotia program, Echo brings more than two decades of land seismic experience and acquisition capability, while Strum provides Nova Scotia-based environmental and HSE oversight. This combination gives us both the technical capability and local project oversight required to execute the program to a high standard for our shareholders and for the communities that host us."
NEXT STEPS
Following field acquisition, the seismic data will be processed and interpreted, and the resulting structural framework integrated with the Company's existing drilling, geochemical, geophysical and geological datasets and its R2G2™ framework, as described in the Company's September 8, 2026, news release. The integrated interpretation is intended to define priority locations for the next phase of targeted characterization drilling, pressure testing, flow testing and accumulation characterization to support the Company's pilot production pathway.
The Company will provide updates on acquisition progress and subsequent interpretation as the program advances.
ABOUT QUÉBEC INNOVATIVE MATERIALS CORP.
Québec Innovative Materials Corp. is a North American exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of natural hydrogen and critical-mineral projects, with properties in Québec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Minnesota, USA.
The Company applies its proprietary R2G2™ (Reactivated Rift and Graben Geostructure) exploration framework, developed in collaboration with INRS, and is focused on responsible exploration, technical innovation and the advancement of natural hydrogen opportunities that may contribute to future clean-energy development.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the planned approximately 42 line-kilometre 2D seismic program; the anticipated timing of field mobilization and seismic acquisition in Fall 2026; the engagement and anticipated activities of Echo Seismic Ltd. and Strum Consulting; permitting, land access and completion of the planned survey; the planned survey design, line positions, target areas and acquisition parameters; the proposed use of Vibroseis and nodal recording technology; processing and interpretation of 2D seismic data; integration of seismic results with drilling, geological, geochemical and geophysical information; the Company's described exploration sequencing and the expected benefits of that sequencing; identification of geological structures and future targets; the timing and content of future updates; and potential future drilling, pressure testing, flow testing, accumulation characterization and pilot production evaluation.
Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management considers reasonable but is subject to risks and uncertainties, including permitting and land-access delays, weather, contractor and equipment availability, field conditions, data quality, geological interpretation, financing and the possibility that seismic results may not identify the anticipated geological structures or improve future targeting. Final line positions and acquisition parameters may vary from those described as a result of field conditions, land access or technical optimization.
Preliminary mud-gas readings are qualitative screening measurements collected during drilling and do not represent flow tests, formation-pressure tests or reservoir tests. Soil-gas measurements are surface geochemical indicators and do not establish the presence, size or grade of any subsurface accumulation. 2D seismic data cannot directly establish hydrogen concentration, sustained gas flow, formation pressure, reservoir deliverability, recoverable volumes or commerciality. There can be no assurance that an economically recoverable hydrogen accumulation exists or that a pilot production program will be undertaken or successful.
References to exploration sequencing and to the availability of pre-existing subsurface data in other basins or districts are provided for general context only. Such comparisons are qualitative, are not intended to suggest equivalence of geology, prospectivity, stage of advancement or outcome between districts or projects, and should not be relied upon as a basis for evaluating the Company's projects relative to those of any other issuer.
No resource estimate has been prepared for the Bennett Hill-Apple River projects. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information except as required by applicable law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/314145
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