Ultra Power Systems Pty Ltd completes final payment to purchase the exclusive license for Australia for VanadiumCorp-Electrochem Processing Technology ("VEPT")
Ultra Power Systems Pty Ltd completes final
payment to purchase the exclusive license for
Australia for VanadiumCorp-Electrochem
Processing Technology ("VEPT")
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 Electrolyte
TM
, 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.
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http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2019/26/c7612.html
%SEDAR: 00005245E
For further information:
Adriaan Bakker, President and CEO, VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. (TSX-
V: "VRB"), By phone: 1-604-385-4489, By email: [email protected], Website:
www.vanadiumcorp.com; Brad Appleyard, Managing Director, Ultra Power Systems PTY By email:
[email protected], By phone: +618 6141 3395; Francois Cardarelli, President &
Owner, Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. Website: www.electrochem-technologies.com
CO: VanadiumCorp Resource Inc.
CNW 13:33e 26-JUN-19