The Province Resources Ltd (ASX: PRL) share price is surging on Friday after a company announcement.
The announcement contained a number of updates for its HyEnergy Zero Carbon Hydrogen Project.
Province Resources is aiming to become Australia's first truly zero-carbon green hydrogen project.
At the time of writing, the Province Resources share price is up 9.37% to 18 cents.
What did Province Resources announce?
Province Resources advised that its scoping study data collection is proceeding as anticipated. It expects heritage, ecological, environmental and geotechnical studies to commence shortly.
In addition, the company has been undertaking advanced modelling of expected green hydrogen prices and the cost of production to optimise an initial Phase 1 development.
The green hydrogen industry is in its infancy. Province Resources is actively working with and assisting multiple state government departments to develop a comprehensive legislative regime.
The company hopes to secure a lead agency status to help advance the project's environmental and other permitting requirements.
Province Resources highlighted that at the local government level, it secured the support of the Shire of Carnarvon. It has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to investigate the use of 12.3 hectares north of the Carnarvon township.
The company will explore whether the area is suitable to develop infrastructure for the HyEnergy Zero Carbon Hydrogen Project.
Province Resources has also commenced discussions with a number of potential domestic offtake partners in the transport and utility sectors. It will expand these discussions to include potential international offtakers, too.
Management commentary
Province Resources' CEO David Frances commented on the recent theme of hydrogen.
Globally we have seen more and more hydrogen projects being announced. Key market pricing predictions and technology developments at all stages of the value chain indicate this transition to green energy is happening even more rapidly than we anticipated.
Frances also shed light on the risks of operating in a relatively new sector.
As with any pioneering industry, there are of course risks facing the HyEnergy Partners, in particular the current absence of certainty of land tenure for green hydrogen projects or a comprehensive legislative regime to govern the industry.
But what is clear to us is that all stakeholders want the green hydrogen industry to succeed, that solutions will be found in a collaborative manner to the current obstacles to the development of the industry and that there is a recognition that the HyEnergy Partners are a key participant in the industry.
About the Province Resources share price
The Province Resources share price has surged an eye-watering 1,620% year to date.
The sharp surge was driven by the company's acquisition of Ozexco Pty Ltd. This gave it access to a number of exploration licence applications in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.
The company's shares surged 458% from 2.5 cents to 14.5 cents on the day of the announcement.
