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From mining giants to Big Oil, major players are jumping on the 'white hydrogen' bandwagon

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Natural hydrogen refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth 's surface.

The long-overlooked resource, first discovered by accident in Mali nearly 40 years ago , contains no carbon and produces only water when burned.

Investor interest in the nascent natural hydrogen sector has been intensifying in recent months .

Some of the sector's established backers include mining giants Rio Tinto and Fortescue .

Early exploration has identified natural hydrogen across six continents.

France 's Mantle8 is targeting the discovery of 10 million tons of natural hydrogen by 2030 .

The likelihood of locating large finds of nearly pure hydrogen that can be extracted at scale look "relatively slim" The Hydrogen Science Coalition says exploration for natural hydrogen is still at an "embryonic stage".