Mr. Lee Barker reports

SPARTON SAYS: A LET THE GREEN GAMES BEGIN!

Sparton Resources Inc. is boasting that the Zhangbei wind and solar renewable energy project will provide 100 per cent of the energy used during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games which begin today. Zhangbei, a county in Hebei province in north China, is one of the four places where power stations were built to convert wind, solar and other green energies into flexible direct current.

An integral part of the Zhangbei project is an eight-megawatt-hour vanadium flow battery built by VRB Energy Inc.'s predecessor company and commissioned with funds provided by Sparton subsidiary, VanSpar Mining Inc. (please see Sparton news release dated Feb. 25, 2016, for background).

Zhangbei became operational after three years of construction. The project, the first of its kind, is one of the largest renewable energy distribution projects in the world.

It currently can generate 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This is all generated by clean sustainable sources in Zhangbei and is being transmitted to all Olympic venues, including those in the city of Beijing itself.

Zhangbei will meet all of the electricity needs of the 26 Winter Olympics venues in Beijing and the co-host city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province. The VRB Energy battery has been successfully operational for over five years and is an important part of the energy distribution system.

Green commitment

Since Beijing won the bid five years ago to host the Winter Games, the focus has been on eco-friendly solutions not only for the planned 17 days of competitions but also to harness the green drive for national development.

In recent years, reducing carbon dioxide emissions has become an urgent requirement for all major sports competitions. In the past, such events usually achieved carbon neutrality through forestry management, energy conservation and emission reduction. Beijing 2022 will do more.

Beijing 2022 is the first Winter Olympics to be solely powered by green energy which will also be used to control carbon emissions.

During a UN General Assembly debate on sports for development and peace in December, 2019, China reaffirmed the promise that green energy will be used in all Olympic venues in 2022 to strive for carbon neutrality. Natural carbon dioxide refrigerants, which have no impact on the environment, are being used in the Beijing 2022 speed skating, figure skating and short track venues, as well as the ice hockey venues.

This will be the first time the technology is used in China and at the Olympic Games. It will lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions equal to the yearly footprint of almost 3,900 cars. A similar carbon reduction can only be achieved if more than 1.2 million trees were planted.

Discussion

"Sparton and its management are delighted to have been involved indirectly in providing a base for providing energy used in the first 'Green Olympics'," stated Lee Barker, Sparton chief executive officer. "Our foresight in August of 2016 (when Beijing was awarded the 2022 Winter Games) to contract and finance the commissioning of the Zhangbei battery was a milestone for the company and its supporters."

Sparton's interest in VRB Energy

Sparton's 89.8-per-cent-owned subsidiary, VanSpar Mining Inc., registered in the British Virgin Islands, owns 9.8 per cent of VRB Energy which is registered in the Cayman Islands, which in turn owns 100 per cent of VRB Energy Systems, registered in China and is the vanadium flow battery manufacturer. Full information regarding the history of the VRB Energy investment interest held by Sparton is in its various news releases and available on SEDAR, in its corporate filings.

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