TSX-V: "VRB"
VANCOUVER, June 26, 2019 /CNW/ - VanadiumCorp Resource Inc.
(TSX-V: "VRB") (the "Company") and Electrochem Technologies &
Materials Inc. ("Electrochem")
have both received the final payment from Ultra
Power Systems Pty Ltd ("Ultra, UPS") as specified in
the Patent Option Agreement ("POA" "Option") to
purchase the exclusive license for the jurisdiction of Australia executed November 23, 2018. With the final payment made,
the parties will now proceed to finalize the terms of
license. Ultra intends to commence final license
discussions immediately.
Brad Appleyard, Managing Director
of Ultra Power Systems Pty Ltd states that "Ultra Power now
has
the exclusive right to secure the most efficient and sustainable technology to produce vanadium in
Australia. This cost reduction
applies to the largest single cost component of our future vanadium
redox battery. ("VRB") VEPT will be a powerful driver in Ultra
realizing its vision of becoming a leader in the emerging global
renewable energy industry through providing advanced energy storage
solutions. Utilizing its strong Intellectual Property portfolio, of
which the VEPT is an important part, UPS intends to establish a
number of joint ventures in various related markets. UPS is also in
the process of becoming a key member of the Future Battery
Industries Cooperative Research Centre ("CRC") which is
establishing a $135 million battery
research hub (the "FBICRC") supported by government, industry and
research partners. These stakeholders have joined together to
imagine a future Australia: a
nation that has harnessed the power of its natural resources to
become a leader in the manufacture of next generation battery
energy storage systems. The FBICRC will position Australia as a world leader in innovative
energy minerals extraction, processing and upstream battery storage
technologies as well as how batteries are used in cities and
regions. Thus, the CRC will help create Future Battery Industries
through facilitating their market via both supply and
demand. "
Mr Appleyard added that "we are extremely pleased to be working
in conjunction with world leaders in this space, such as
Electrochem, VanadiumCorp, Australian Vanadium and the CRC, to
build a global battery industry."
Adriaan Bakker, CEO of
VanadiumCorp states, "Ultra Power understands the profound global
impact of enabling sustainable and low-cost production of vanadium.
The world requires low cost and sustainable energy storage for its
electric future. Changing how vanadium is produced and mass
commercializing vanadium batteries with clean vanadium electrolyte
could play a key role in decarbonizing our planet."
Ultra plans to utilize the Australian license of
VanadiumCorp-Electrochem Processing Technology ("VEPT") to expedite
construction of the world's first dedicated vanadium processing
facility. Ultra's core objective is to directly
integrate low cost battery grade vanadium electrolyte into vanadium
redox batteries from virtually any source in a fraction of the time
and capital requirements of current vanadium extraction processes.
The VEPT will dramatically reduce emissions associated with
vanadium extraction as well as substantially offsetting the
operating cost of the vanadium precursors used to manufacture
electrolyte through the production of valuable by-products. The
resultant vanadium electrolyte is 100% reusable and
does not degrade which enables the
unique cost reduction option of leasing
or renting.
Key aspects of the signed POA signed November 23, 2018 include the following terms
with all financial considerations split evenly between VRB and
Electrochem:
- USD $500,000 USD total payment is
now complete allowing full exercise of the Option anytime before
November 23, 2019
- The Option allows the acquisition of the exclusive license of
VEPT for the jurisdiction of Australia
- Definitive terms outlined in the Option include a minimum
annual payment, financing fees and a gross royalty due upon
production, applicable to all vanadium products, ferrous sulfate
heptahydrate (copperas), titanium products and other by -products
for a project duration of 25 years.
About:
Ultra Power Systems Pty Ltd. is an Australian privately
owned and financed company that is fundamentally an intellectual
property licensing company. It is committed to creating cutting
edge technology that will continually add value to its licensees.
Ultra has recently signed a term sheet for a joint venture to
establish its first VRB manufacturing facility in conjunction with
SMEC Power and Technology ("SMEC"), a Western Australian company
that manufactures and supplies 11kV sub-stations, variable speed
drives including a full range of switchboards and electrical
equipment to the mining industry throughout Australia and Africa. The joint venture's first batteries
are being engineered for mining (for application in some of
Australia's largest mining
companies). As recently announced, the company has reached an
agreement (via farming into a joint venture with Australian
Vanadium) in the Coates Vanadium Mine situated approximately 35km
east of the Perth metropolitan
area in the Shire of Wundowie as a potential source of vanadium
feedstock. UPS also has secured a license to Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory's ("PNNL") mixed acid vanadium electrolyte. UPS
is the only company outside the United
States to obtain this license, which is the third and final
license in the world. The PNNL mixed acid electrolyte is a world
leading formulation that enables twice the temperature window and
almost double the energy density resulting in markedly improved
economics. The combination of the PNNL license with the VEPT rights
provides a solid basis from which to engineer a significant claim
to the vast and rapidly growing renewable
electricity industry.
VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. is an integrated technology
and mining company focused on developing the exclusive supply chain
for vanadium based energy storage and emerging technologies that
utilize vanadium. VanadiumCorp is focused on commercializing the
most efficient and sustainable recovery method to produce vanadium
with jointly developed process technology. VanadiumCorp also holds
a significant vanadium-titanium-iron bearing resource base in
mining friendly Quebec, Canada
including the 100% owned Lac Dore Project adjacent to Blackrock
Metals Inc. and the 100% owned Iron-T Project near the Glencore
Matagami Zinc-Copper Mine.
Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc.
(www.electrochem-technologies.com) is a private Canadian
Corporation that currently owns twenty-four patents worldwide on
proprietary chemical, metallurgical and electrochemical
technologies that are innovative, and sustainable. Commercially,
the company manufactures industrial electrodes, recycles rare
earths, produces tantalum, tungsten chemicals and vanadium
electrolyte at its production facilities in Boucherville, QC.
VEPT: The jointly owned "VanadiumCorp-Electrochem"
Process Technology ("VEPT") describes a novel chemical process
invented by Dr. Francois Cardarelli
that addresses the recovery of vanadium, iron, titanium, and silica
feedstocks such as vanadiferous titano-magnetite, iron ores and
concentrates such as magnetite and hematite, vanadium containing
wastes such as BOF-slags, calcine and other industrial by-products
also containing vanadium. Building a conventional primary vanadium
mine can take typically take 5-10 years with a large capital
requirement and involve significant technical risks, a large carbon
footprint. For the small number of surviving producers, vanadium is
generally recovered at 1% from VTM concentrate as a single
commodity that requires costly purification and is cost and trade
prohibitive to import from China,
South Africa and Brazil. For convenient access to the
International PCT Patent Publication the PCT is available for
direct download using the following
link. https://goo.gl/N8pPfU
Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
(VRFB, VRB) are containerized,
long duration, non-flammable, compact, reusable
over infinite cycles and last more than 20 years. Most batteries
use two chemicals that change valence (or charge or redox state)
and cross contaminate and thus degrade over time. VRBs utilize
multiple valence states of vanadium as a single element to store
and release charge. VRBs consists of two tanks of vanadium
electrolyte that flow adjacent to each other past a membrane and
generate a charge by moving electrons back and forth during
charging and discharging. This battery offers unlimited energy
capacity simply by using larger electrolyte storage tanks. It
can be left completely charged for long periods without losing
power and maintenance is much simpler than other batteries. The
unique advantage to separate power and energy also provides
significant advantages over competing technologies. With
sustainably produced VanadiumCorp ElectrolyteTM, the
carbon footprint of the VRB is remarkably low.
On behalf of the board of
VanadiumCorp:
Adriaan
Bakker
President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE VanadiumCorp Resource Inc.