Western Australia’s Iron-Rich Rocks Could Become an Underground Hydrogen Factory
Beneath the red earth of Western Australia, a mineral best known for its role in the iron ore industry may be capable of producing a valuable low-emission fuel. Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have identified a mechanism by which magnetite, an iron oxide abundant in the Pilbara region, can generate hydrogen when it reacts with hot water under conditions similar to those found deep inside the Earth. The findings offer new insight into the geological processes that create naturally occurring hydrogen and suggest that the vast banded iron formations of Western Australia could become targets for a new kind of energy exploration.
Hydrogen is already used in chemical manufacturing, refining and other industrial processes, but most of today’s supply is produced from fossil fuels. The resulting emissions have driven intense interest in alternatives, including hydrogen generated with renewable electricity and hydrogen formed naturally underground. Natural hydrogen, sometimes called geological or white hydrogen, is produced through chemical reactions between water and minerals in the Earth’s crust. Unlike manufactured hydrogen, it may accumulate in underground reservoirs over geological timescales, although scientists are still working to determine how much can be recovered, how quickly it is replenished and whether extraction can be economically and environmentally sustainable.
The ECU study focuses on magnetite, a mineral with the chemical formula Fe₃O₄. It is widespread in banded iron formations, ancient geological structures made of alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and silica. Western Australia contains some of the largest and most economically important examples of these formations, particularly across the Pilbara. Magnetite can participate in oxidation-reduction reactions, in which electrons are transferred between chemical species. When water encounters reactive iron-bearing minerals at elevated temperatures, part of the mineral’s iron can become more oxidised while water molecules are reduced, producing molecular hydrogen, H₂. The precise reaction pathway depends on mineral composition, temperature, pressure, fluid chemistry and the availability of reactive surfaces.
To investigate the process, the researchers placed magnetite samples in water at approximately 200 degrees Celsius and subjected them to high-pressure conditions for 60 days. The experiment was designed to reproduce aspects of the hydrothermal environment that exists kilometres below the surface, where hot fluids circulate through fractured and porous rocks. Rather than simply asking whether magnetite can generate hydrogen, the researchers examined how the physical structure of the mineral and the surrounding pathways influence production. Their results indicate that the amount of magnetite alone is not enough to predict hydrogen generation. The geometry of the rock and the ability of water to reach newly exposed mineral surfaces may be just as important.
That finding could change how natural hydrogen exploration is conducted. In a solid, relatively impermeable rock body, much of the magnetite may remain chemically inaccessible because water cannot reach it. Fractures, pores and connected channels can dramatically increase the surface area available for reaction, allowing hot water to circulate through the formation and repeatedly contact fresh mineral surfaces. As reactions proceed, existing surfaces may become less reactive or coated with secondary minerals, while new fractures can expose unaltered magnetite. The study therefore points toward an exploration strategy based not only on mapping mineral abundance, but also on identifying the subsurface plumbing system that could deliver and remove fluids.
The researchers also investigated whether hydrogen production could be stimulated by injecting a solution into banded iron formations. In principle, carefully managed fluid injection could improve contact between water and magnetite, activate otherwise isolated reaction zones and increase the flow of hydrogen-bearing fluids toward a production well. This approach would resemble techniques used in geothermal energy and some forms of underground resource recovery, but it would require close control. Injected fluids could alter mineral surfaces, mobilise unwanted elements, trigger pressure changes or interact with naturally occurring microorganisms that consume hydrogen. Any future field operation would need to demonstrate that hydrogen generation remains greater than the energy and environmental costs of drilling, pumping, monitoring and gas separation.
Associate Professor Alireza Keshavarz said the geological setting could represent a substantial, previously underappreciated energy opportunity for Australia. His comments reflect the scale of Western Australia’s iron-rich formations, which extend across vast areas and have already supported one of the world’s largest mining industries. However, the laboratory results do not yet establish the size of a recoverable hydrogen resource. The presence of magnetite does not automatically mean that a commercially productive reservoir exists. Exploration teams would still need to locate hydrogen accumulations, confirm their purity and pressure, measure flow rates, assess replenishment and determine whether the gas can be extracted without unacceptable impacts on groundwater, land use or geological stability.
The work is significant because it connects a controlled laboratory reaction with the complex conditions of real geological systems. Natural hydrogen is influenced by a network of interacting processes, including mineral alteration, fluid circulation, heat flow, permeability and gas trapping. Hydrogen molecules are small and mobile, and they can migrate through fractures, dissolve in groundwater or be consumed by subsurface microbes. A productive natural system may require not only a source rock capable of generating hydrogen, but also pathways for migration and a geological seal capable of preventing the gas from escaping. The ECU researchers’ emphasis on geometry highlights why two formations with similar mineral composition could behave very differently underground.
Lead author Kaveh Moghanirahimi said the findings could eventually help Western Australia strengthen its energy independence and potentially develop an export industry. Hydrogen produced from geological reactions could, if proven at scale, complement renewable electricity and other low-emission energy sources. Yet the technology remains at an early stage. The next steps will likely include testing a wider range of magnetite-bearing rocks, examining longer reaction times, measuring how fluid chemistry changes production and constructing models of hydrogen flow through fractured formations. Field studies will also be essential, because natural rocks contain impurities, mixed minerals, variable fracture networks and geological histories that cannot be fully reproduced in a laboratory vessel.
The study, titled “Geometry-driven controls on hydrothermal natural hydrogen generation from magnetite mineral,” has been published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Its central message is both promising and cautionary: Western Australia may possess the ingredients for a naturally replenishing hydrogen system, but unlocking them will depend on understanding the underground architecture that controls water access and gas movement. Magnetite could become more than an iron ore mineral; it may serve as the reactive engine of a deep geological hydrogen cycle. Whether that cycle can be transformed into a reliable source of clean energy will now depend on exploration, engineering, environmental safeguards and evidence from the field.
Subject of Research: Not applicable
Article Title: Geometry-driven controls on hydrothermal natural hydrogen generation from magnetite mineral
Web References: Edith Cowan University research announcement: https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/engineering/research-students/profiles/phd-students/kaveh-moghanirahimi ; Journal article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319926008244
References: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.154187
Keywords
Natural hydrogen, geological hydrogen, magnetite, banded iron formations, Western Australia, Pilbara, hydrothermal reactions, hydrogen generation, subsurface energy, clean energy
