Whitebark Energy fires up hydrogen hunt with sensor blitz at giant SA play
- James Pearson
- Sep 25
- 3 min read
Whitebark Energy (ASX: WBE) has upped the ante on the hunt for a massive hydrogen, helium and hydrocarbon payday by deploying a suite of cutting-edge gas detectors across its giant Rickerscote sub-salt prospect. The prospect makes up part of the company’s massive 20,000-square-kilometre Alinya project in South Australia’s Officer Basin.
Ten hydrogen sensors have been planted directly above a deeply plunging southern thrusting fault on site. Initially picked up in historical seismic data, the salt-capped Rickerscote target lies parallel with the fault and appears to stretch between 180 square kilometres and a staggering 400 square kilometres long.
The sensors were deployed by helicopter to reduce the environmental impact and are designed to detect even the smallest sign of hydrogen actively leaking to surface - a strong signal that the structure is live and charged.
Whitebark’s strategy of initially using low-cost, high-tech sniffers mirrors the recent work done by Gold Hydrogen and the CSIRO to identify similar drill targets.
The company expects to receive the results in October, which will help Whitebark pinpoint the best spot for its planned Rickerscote-1 well. It hopes to spud the well in the final quarter of 2026.
The structure is no ordinary punt. According to a recent Sproule ERCE report commissioned by Whitebark, Rickerscote could be packing a prospective resource as high as 1.2 billion kilograms of hydrogen, a chunky 209 billion cubic feet of helium and 153 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in hydrocarbons.
The study also threw up a string of geological “green flags” that scream hydrogen and helium potential.
Seismic work shone a light on several standout sandstone reservoirs, including Munaroo at 900m and Mulyawarra at 1250m. A third reservoir called Pindyin sits at 1450m - right above the basement.
All three targets are tucked neatly beneath 300m of marine mudrocks and locked down by a first-class salt seal. This setup is common for the broader Alinya formation and has already proven an excellent indicator of natural gas traps elsewhere in the basin.
Adding more fuel to the fire, Rickerscote sits on a bed of radioactive granites that have been cooking away for more than 700 million years, steadily generating hydrogen and helium.
This is the same recipe that drove discoveries at Gold Hydrogen’s Ramsay project on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula and in the nearby Amadeus Basin. It now underpins Whitebark’s big bet on Rickerscote.
The data from this survey will help select the final well location for Rickerscote 1, which we are planning to spud by the end of 2026. An important part of the well spud will be to secure a suitable farm-in partner who brings technical expertise and financing capability. We remain confident of attracting the right organisation.
Whitebark Energy CEO Nik Sykiotis
Whitebark says it is also taking the opportunity to talk with the Maralinga Tjarutja traditional owners to get permission to use existing water bores within its project grounds.
If approved, the company will test the water for extra signs of hydrogen, helium, oil and gas that could back up their hopes of a massive underground discovery. The work is expected to conclude by October, around the same time as the sensor data is analysed.
While the sensors do their thing onsite, Whitebark is hustling in the background to reel in a farm-in partner. And with Rickerscote shaping up as a potential basin-opener, the company says serious players are already knocking at the door.
With sensor data due soon, bore sampling underway and a 2026 drill target locked in sight, Whitebark’s Rickerscote campaign is gathering steam.
If the volumes stack up, Rickerscote could be the play-opener the Officer Basin has been waiting for and the massive shot in the arm Whitebark needs to rocket out of small-cap territory.
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