Although Koloma is private and highly secretive, I embarked on a deep research exercise with ChatGPT 4.5. My initial prompt was to look into Koloma’s exploration activities in Kansas with a focus on any publicly available or leaked insights. Including investigating specific roles they're recruiting for and how those roles might relate to third-party data or disclosures.
It's a long read, however, does provide some fantastic insight into what could be ahead for Hyterra.
Overview of Koloma’s Kansas Exploration Program Koloma – a Denver-based startup backed by investors like Breakthrough Energy, Amazon, and Mitsubishi – has embarked on a geologic (natural) hydrogen exploration program in Kansas equitiesclub.com High Plains Resources (HPR) , Koloma began drilling exploratory wells in late 2022 and 2023 to tap naturally occurring hydrogen (“white” hydrogen) trapped undergroundspglobal.com Midcontinent geologic region is believed to host hydrogen-rich structures; even the U.S. Geological Survey highlighted this area as a key region with hydrogen potentialspglobal.com nearly $400 million in funding raised by early 2024spglobal.com spglobal.com
Despite the high profile, Koloma has been secretive about specifics . The company initially operated in stealth and continues to “not comment on where we are exploring” , according to spokesperson Kristen Delanospglobal.com public records and local reports provide a clearer picture of Koloma’s Kansas activities. In 2024, Koloma signaled confidence in its Kansas findings, with HPR representatives telling local communities that earlier test wells showed encouraging results – including “significant [hydrogen] concentrations in one of their wells in Kansas” spglobal.com “production wells” to begin actual extractionspglobal.com
Exploration Activities, Permits, and Data in Kansas Drilling program: Koloma’s HPR conducted an initial five-well test drilling program (2022–2023) in north-central Kansasspglobal.com “to gather data and understand the subsurface more” spglobal.com Marshall and Washington counties (along the Nebraska state line) became a focus for further drilling in 2024spglobal.com Balsmeier, Carlson Farms, and Hedge Lawn Farms in Marshall County , among othersdrillingedge.com Koloma’s “Balsmeier,” “Carlson,” and “Hedge Lawn” wells were later cited by a neighboring explorer as key data sources on local hydrogen prospectshydrogen-central.com This suggests Koloma’s drilling encountered geologic features of interest, with data significant enough to inform other companies’ plans.
Findings and results: While Koloma has not publicly released well results, some information has emerged. In mid-2024, High Plains Resources announced that one test well had shown “significant concentrations” of hydrogen spglobal.com spglobal.com 4–7 new wells targeting production rather than exploration in the Kansas project areaspglobal.com Koloma’s first attempts at physically extracting hydrogen (as opposed to just sampling)kclyradio.com
Permits and regulatory filings: Koloma’s Kansas wells have been documented in state filings. For example, High Plains Resources LLC is listed as operator for a dozen wells in Kansas , including sites in Marshall, Washington, Riley, Geary, Morris, and Nemaha countiesdrillingedge.com drillingedge.com “Inactive” or “Plugged and Abandoned” (likely early test wells), while others had “Approved Intent to Drill” status in 2023–2024drillingedge.com Washington County commission meeting in late 2023 recorded that “Jason Rayburn with High Plains Resources” informed officials the company “will be drilling within our county looking for gas, hydrogen, [and] helium” washingtoncountyks.gov
Geological data: Koloma’s Kansas wells probed depths around the Precambrian basement (~5,500 feet) hydrogen-central.com Midcontinent Rift under Kansas provides the structural traps that can accumulate hydrogen over timeequitiesclub.com spglobal.com awarded a U.S. Department of Energy grant to improve techniques for “stimulating and extracting hydrogen from underground sources” byrd.osu.edu kclyradio.com
Local Community Engagement and Operations in Kansas Koloma, via High Plains Resources, has engaged extensively with local communities and landowners in Kansas – a necessary step for a novel resource play in a rural area. The company held multiple town hall meetings to educate the public and address concerns. For example, on January 30, 2024, HPR hosted an information town hall in Clay Center, KS kclyradio.com “shooting seismic” – sending shockwaves into the ground to map subsurface structureskclyradio.com HPR would approach the landowner to drill a well kclyradio.com fully restore the land after drilling (plugging the hole and returning the site to original condition)kclyradio.com kclyradio.com 2024 would be HPR’s first year of actual hydrogen production attempts, but the team brought deep experience from traditional oil & gas fields kclyradio.com
By March 2024, Koloma was preparing to spud its first dedicated production well in Kansaskclyradio.com kclyradio.com 2D seismic surveys in early June 2024 to refine drill targetskclyradio.com seismic testing along county roads in Clay County (just south of the initial drill area)kclyradio.com kclyradio.com kclyradio.com new 2D seismic data would help guide expansion of exploration efforts beyond the first cluster of wellsspglobal.com
Throughout 2024, Koloma/HPR held additional public Q&A forums . Two more town halls were scheduled in April 2024 in Abilene and Washington, KS kclyradio.com if hydrogen is found in commercial quantities, landowners would be compensated and asked for permission to install production wells on their property kclyradio.com kclyradio.com
Local media coverage provides a ground-level view of Koloma’s operations. KCLY Radio (Clay Center) reported regularly on HPR’s activities, from the January town hall to seismic testing updateskclyradio.com kclyradio.com Koloma had shifted from pure exploration to early development mode in Kansas – moving methodically with community input. They also illustrate Koloma’s integrated approach : combining high-tech exploration (seismic surveys, advanced well logging) with on-the-ground relationship-building in rural Kansas. This approach likely helped Koloma navigate regulatory hurdles and acquire the needed drilling permits and leases with relatively little public opposition, even as the concept of drilling for hydrogen (instead of oil/gas) was entirely new to the region.
Third-Party Insights and Industry Connections Because Koloma tightly controls its own press statements, third-party sources have been key to piecing together its Kansas story . In late 2024, news of Kansas as a natural hydrogen hotspot began reaching wider audiences. A BNN Bloomberg report headlined “Hydrogen Wildcatters Are Betting Big on Kansas to Strike It Rich” (widely circulated in industry circles) highlighted Koloma’s role, noting it had raised over $300 million from prominent investorsequitiesclub.com Mining Weekly and Equities Club observed that Kansas was seeing a land rush for hydrogen rights, “with tech giants like Gates and Bezos… fighting for land and position” via Kolomaequitiesclub.com equitiesclub.com
Notably, Top End Energy (ASX: TEE) , an Australian junior explorer, acquired a Kansas hydrogen acreage position adjacent to Koloma in late 2024equitiesclub.com equitiesclub.com “High Plains Resources [Koloma’s unit] leading exploration activity in TEE’s project area” and Koloma having “strong results [that] have backed the geological model for natural hydrogen in the area” equitiesclub.com equitiesclub.com first Kansas drill site selection , citing “newly released data from Koloma’s exploration wells” as a basis for choosing the locationhydrogen-central.com “leveraging data from Koloma’s Balsmeier, Carlson, and Hedge Lawn wells to refine drilling strategies” hydrogen-central.com open data sharing : while Koloma itself remains mum publicly, the necessary filing of well data with Kansas regulators (and possibly the expiration of any confidentiality period) meant that by early 2025 some information – such as well coordinates, depths, perhaps even hydrogen show logs – became accessible to industry peers. Thus, Koloma’s Kansas exploration has indirectly informed competitors , effectively validating the play.
Additionally, academic and government partnerships surrounding Koloma provide insight. As mentioned, Koloma’s CTO Tom Darrah is a tenured Ohio State University professor, and Koloma operates an R&D laboratory in OSU’s Energy Advancement and Innovation Center in Columbus purpose.jobs This lab moved into the brand-new university facility in December 2023, underscoring a close academia-industry link. Ohio State and its research centers have publicized Darrah’s work with Koloma, noting that his geochemical analyses and techniques (developed in academia) are central to Koloma’s exploration success byrd.osu.edu $20 million program to support geologic hydrogen research (from which Koloma garnered a grant), further connects Koloma’s Kansas field operations with broader scientific and policy effortspurpose.jobs byrd.osu.edu Koloma’s hiring and collaborations extend beyond just its own staff – they likely include university researchers, national lab experts, and consultants brought in to tackle specific challenges (e.g. seismic interpretation, reservoir simulation, or hydrogen production engineering).
Talent Acquisition: Key Roles Koloma Is Recruiting Koloma’s hiring patterns offer clues to its strategy and operational needs in Kansas. The company has been recruiting both technical experts in geoscience and engineering and business specialists , reflecting a transition from exploration toward development and commercialization. Many of these roles directly align with the tasks at hand in Kansas – from subsurface imaging and well drilling to handling data from test wells and planning eventual hydrogen production.
As of early 2025, Koloma has advertised positions in its Denver HQ as well as in Columbus, OH (where its research lab is located)linkedin.com linkedin.com relevant roles and how each connects to Koloma’s Kansas operations:
Table 1: Key roles Koloma has recruited and how each ties into its Kansas natural hydrogen project (sources: job postingslinkedin.com linkedin.com portfoliojobs.theclimatepledge.com kclyradio.com kclyradio.com
Strategic Alignment of Talent and Timeline Koloma’s recruitment and partnerships reveal a great deal about its strategy, timeline, and challenges in Kansas. Early in the project, the emphasis was on exploration – evidenced by roles like geophysicists and geochemists, and by Koloma’s collaboration with OSU to leverage cutting-edge science. This indicates Koloma’s strategy of being data-driven and research-focused from the outset. By planting its research lab at Ohio State and involving an academic CTO, Koloma ensured it had proprietary tech (e.g. specialized gas analysis methods) and scientific credibility to tackle the uncharted problem of finding hydrogen in the subsurfacebyrd.osu.edu byrd.osu.edu purpose.jobs
As Koloma achieved proof-of-concept discoveries (significant hydrogen shows) by mid-2023, its timeline shifted to pilot development. The hiring of a Reservoir Engineer and expansion of field teams in 2024 aligns with the goal of having production wells on stream in late 2024 or 2025 spglobal.com Can the hydrogen be produced at sustainable flow rates and volumes? The DOE grant-backed research into stimulation and extraction techniques suggests that this is a non-trivial challenge – hydrogen may be present, but getting it out efficiently is the next hurdlebyrd.osu.edu “unsure if fracking will be necessary” kclyradio.com
The nature of Koloma’s recent hires also hints at its broader strategy and timeline . Bringing on a Senior Commercial Manager before any public declaration of production success suggests Koloma is planning ahead for scale-up and market integration . They are likely exploring potential buyers or use-cases for Kansas hydrogen – be it supplying a local ammonia/fertilizer plant, a fuel cell project, or integrating into a regional hydrogen hub incentivized by government programs. In parallel, the presence of a Corporate Finance role and the magnitude of capital raised signal that Koloma is preparing for long-term development in Kansas (and possibly beyond). With tens of millions budgeted for Kansas drilling and more wells likely in the pipeline, prudent financial management and further fundraising (perhaps a Series C or strategic investment) will be needed. The hires in finance and commercial domains reflect those forthcoming needs.
Finally, the recruitment of top-tier talent and the way Koloma has operated thus far illuminate some of its operational philosophies . Koloma “proudly employs global thought leaders…industry veterans, academics, and researchers from a wide array of disciplines”koloma.com investors will expect results (i.e. demonstrated hydrogen production) in a reasonable timeframe. Koloma’s guarded public stance may be a way to manage expectations until it can conclusively prove its concept. In the meantime, local observers and industry competitors are reading the tea leaves of Koloma’s moves. The data points compiled in this report – well permits, town hall disclosures, hiring patterns, and third-party analyses – collectively suggest that Koloma’s Kansas program is moving assertively into a pilot production phase in 2024–2025 , backed by an expanding team and a robust war chest.
Koloma’s co-founder and CTO Tom Darrah (an Ohio State professor) at OSU’s new Energy Advancement and Innovation Center, where Koloma’s research lab is housedpurpose.jobs Conclusion Koloma’s exploration of natural hydrogen in Kansas has evolved from quiet test drilling into a well-funded, multidisciplinary program at the frontier of energy innovation. Public filings and local reports confirm that Koloma (via High Plains Resources) has drilled numerous wells in Kansas’s hydrogen-prone formations, conducted seismic surveys, and engaged with the community to pave the way for production. In parallel, the company’s targeted hiring – from geophysicists and data engineers to reservoir and commercial managers – mirrors this evolution, ensuring that it has the expertise to interpret subsurface data, optimize extraction techniques, and eventually bring hydrogen to market.
Moreover, connections to academia and government (such as its OSU lab and DOE-supported R&D) indicate Koloma’s commitment to overcoming scientific and engineering challenges inherent in this new field. The roles being recruited suggest a company gearing up to transition from exploration to exploitation, while also laying the groundwork for commercialization and scaling (should the pilot wells prove fruitful). The nature of these roles – and the significant capital behind them – reveals that Koloma’s timeline is ambitious: it is likely aiming to validate a commercial natural hydrogen play in Kansas within the next year or two.
In summary, Koloma’s Kansas venture blends high-tech exploration with on-the-ground development , and the evidence at hand paints a picture of cautious optimism. The company has drawn interest from competitors and stakeholders as one of the first “hydrogen wildcatters.” By scrutinizing Koloma’s exploration activities, permits, and hiring strategy, we gain deeper insight into an enterprise attempting to unlock a new energy resource. All signs suggest that the coming phases in Kansas (and any results they yield) will not only define Koloma’s success, but could also chart the course for natural hydrogen exploration industry-wide equitiesclub.com equitiesclub.com
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