Our Story
Most hydrogen today is produced from fossil hydrocarbons. Electrolysis offers a different pathway, splitting water using electricity, and growing interest in naturally occurring hydrogen has led to proposals for subsurface exploration, recovery, and stimulated geochemical production. The Auri Project began with a question: could hydrogen be generated another way — through contained, above-ground water–rock chemistry, without drilling and without electrolysis as the generating mechanism?
Why It Matters to Us
For billions of years, the Earth has produced hydrogen underground through slow geological reactions. That process isn't just a resource to extract — it's part of a system we don't fully understand. The environmental consequences of subsurface hydrogen extraction and in situ stimulation are not yet fully understood. They raise questions about geological disturbance, subsurface microbial ecosystems, groundwater interaction, and changes to local geochemical conditions.
Our starting position is caution rather than a rush to extract: we'd rather replicate the chemistry above ground than intervene in a system we don't yet understand below it.
Guiding Principles
Safety first — conservative engineering, containment, and risk reduction prioritised over speed.
Transparency — we aim to be clear about what has and hasn't been demonstrated, and to say so plainly even when it's less exciting.
Non-interference — no subsurface drilling, no destabilising geology.
Long-term intent — if this research leads to a commercial venture, we intend to direct a share of future revenue toward ecosystem restoration and community initiatives in New Zealand. That's a commitment for the future, not a programme that exists yet.
Where We're Headed
We are currently preparing for initial bench-scale validation — the first practical test of the Auri-specific reactor configuration. Everything after that (partnerships, scale-up, commercial development) depends on what that testing shows.
We welcome contact from researchers, universities, and others interested in this space.