Fariba Kohanpour

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Fariba Kohanpour1, Margaux Le Vaillant1, Ema Frery2
1: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Mineral Resources, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington,
WA 6151, Australia
2: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Energy, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA 6151,
Australia
The purpose of this study is to identify the key processes involved in the formation and
preservation of a hydrogen system using a mineral systems approach. This involves mapping the
geological proxies of key parameters and integrating them using a GIS-based prospectivity
modelling technique to identify regions with the highest hydrogen-resource potential. The work
addresses the following questions: (1) What are the main geological processes or critical factors
for natural hydrogen generation and endowment? and (2) Where are the prospective zones for
natural hydrogen exploration?
To fulfil these objectives, a multi-stage approach was developed, leveraging advancements in
geodynamics, geophysical and geological interpretation for mineral systems analysis and
prospectivity modelling. Firstly, the project focused on a comprehensive literature review. We
aimed to identify the critical elements of the natural hydrogen system, leading to the formation
and preservation of hydrogen resources comparable to mineral systems components. The
primary outcome of this stage was recognising the key parameters of a natural hydrogen system,
including sources, generation kinetics, migration pathways, hydrogen reservoirs, and trap
locations. We then mapped and integrated the geological proxies of the hydrogen system’s key
parameters to create prospectivity models. This modelling requires input data from the first stage
of the project, i.e., an understanding of the different components of natural hydrogen systems
and their relative roles in the formation and preservation of hydrogen resources.
The modelling followed the following steps: (1) identification of mappable proxies for each key
component of the hydrogen system(s), (2) creation of predictor maps based on the identified
proxies, (3) classification and weighting of these maps along with a confidence factor, and (4)
generation of prospectivity models (potential maps) by overlaying the weighted predictor maps.
The results include a series of predictor maps for each component of the hydrogen system (i.e.
source, pathway, reservoir, trap), which are combined to estimate hydrogen potential across
Australia. This allows for the prioritization of critical elements and the application of different
scenarios in natural hydrogen targeting.