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Vanadiumcorp acquires patent rights to Electrochem tech

2020-11-24 11:44 ET - News Release

Mr. Adriaan Bakker reports

VANADIUMCORP RESOURCE INC. ACQUIRES ALL PATENT RIGHTS AND THE ENTIRE VANADIUMCORP-ELECTROCHEM PROCESS TECHNOLOGY ("VEPT") INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PORTFOLIO

Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc. has fully executed a patent purchase agreement (PPA) with Quebec-based Electrochem Technologies and Materials Inc. Pursuant to the terms of the PPA, Vanadiumcorp has purchased all patent rights for the Vanadiumcorp-Electrochem processing technology (VEPT) including the entire intellectual property portfolio. This important milestone will facilitate accelerated commercial development of the green process technology for Vanadiumcorp.

Under an original agreement with Electrochem signed Feb. 14, 2017, Vanadiumcorp had the option to purchase the 50-per-cent-remaining interest in the VEPT. Pursuant to the completed PPA, signed Nov. 10, 2020, Electrochem has assigned its interest in the technology to Vanadiumcorp under the following terms:

  1. Electrochem has received a cash payment of $350,000. Electrochem will also be entitled to royalties on production equivalent to 3 per cent for every plant using the VEPT worldwide. Vanadiumcorp will have the option to buy back each 0.5 per cent for $1-million (U.S.) up to the full 3 per cent for $6-million (U.S.).
  2. Electrochem will remain the exclusive contractor/consultant for the continued development of VEPT subject to standard work agreements, budgets and approvals.
  3. Electrochem will undertake test work for other companies wishing to utilize the VEPT process, provided the other companies understand that licensing will ultimately be required and negotiated, on reasonable terms, with Vanadiumcorp.

Vanadiumcorp is now the 100-per-cent owner of VEPT patent rights and the entire intellectual property portfolio including all patent applications in key jurisdictions related to the International Patent Cooperation Treaty application entitled "Metallurgical and Chemical Process For Recovering Vanadium And Iron Values From Vanadiferous Titanomagnetite."

Jurisdictions where patent protection for VEPT is filed and pending:

  • European Union (EP 18757453.8);
  • Canada (CA 3032329 A1);
  • United States (US 2020/0157696 A1);
  • Australia (AU 2018/225820);
  • India (IN 2019/17004662);
  • South Africa (ZA 2019/00743).

Vanadiumcorp's chief executive officer, Adriaan Bakker, said: "We have achieved another critical step in our strategic plan to rapidly advance Vanadiumcorp's sustainable assets. The acquisition of these IP assets further bolsters our patent portfolio surrounding the green and efficient recovery of vanadium. Combined with our recent Lac Dore resource statement and current negotiations with global companies, this acquisition reinforces our plan to commercialize the demonstrated low-cost and environmentally friendly advantage of VEPT to recover vanadium. Retaining Electrochem as the exclusive provider of scientific services in the next phase of pilot testing and production will facilitate commercialization of VEPT and will open the door to new sources of vanadium globally, and formalizes our development plans for our strategic mining assets."

Electrochem's president and owner, Dr. Francois Cardarelli, inventor of the VEPT, said: "I am pleased about the outcome of the provisioned buyout of VEPT to Vanadiumcorp, and Electrochem will continue to work with Vanadiumcorp to speed up the commercialization of the technology, especially in Quebec but also abroad. This important milestone demonstrates the strength of our company who owns a portfolio of 18 patented electrochemical and metallurgical processes granted and enforced in 16 countries. These green technologies address the reduction of carbon emission, the circular economy and the recycling of critical metals."

About VEPT

The VEPT process and technology was invented by Dr. Cardarelli in 2017 to address specific challenges and bottlenecks in the vanadium industry. VEPT was jointly owned and co-developed by Electrochem and Vanadiumcorp over the past four years. VEPT was developed as a cost-effective, green and much-higher-yielding alternative to conventional pyro-metallurgical processes, for many new vanadium sources, such as calcine waste, steel slags and as a central process option of Vanadiumcorp's green development plan for its flagship Lac Dore vanadium project in Quebec, Canada. Electrochem's in-house sulphation digestor, built in February, 2017, with a nameplate capacity up to 300 kilograms per month, facilitated subsequent trial production and successful testing of many global feedstocks provided by numerous global specialty steel, primary vanadium, hematite, and vanadiferous titano-magnetite (VTM), producers. The lower carbon footprint and maximum recovery of all metal values represent key advantages of VEPT over pollutive and limited recovery methods currently in the mining industry. Metals recovered concurrently with VEPT include vanadium pentoxide, vanadyl sulphate, iron (II) sulphate heptahydrate (copperas), silica and titanium hydrolysate, which are all products with strong demand and market forecast.

About Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc.

The company is focused on the commercial development of its 100-per-cent-owned VEPT, a green and efficient chemical process invented by Dr. Cardarelli, which addresses the recovery of vanadium, iron, titanium and silica from feedstocks such as vanadiferous titano-magnetite, iron ores and other industrial byproducts containing vanadium. Vanadiumcorp's mandate is to become a strategic supplier of renewable vanadium electrolyte for redox flow batteries and other high-purity applications that benefit most from exclusively green and cost-effective vanadium. Vanadiumcorp plans to license VEPT globally and integrate VEPT into the development of the 100-per-cent-owned Lac Dore vanadium-titanium-iron flagship project adjacent to Blackrock Metals Inc.'s property, which is currently permitted to build a mine and mill to produce a vanadium-rich magnetite concentrate product. Vanadiumcorp provides investors with leverage to vanadium, titanium and iron in the mining-friendly and geopolitically stable jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada. Green recovery technology, primary vanadium resource size, superior grades and well-developed infrastructure, puts Vanadiumcorp in a valuable strategic position to take advantage of the strong vanadium market driven by supply shortages and growing demand from the Chinese steel industry, as well as the fast-emerging renewable use of vanadium in sustainable energy storage for residential to unlimited-scale applications. Nearby infrastructure includes a 161-kilovolt hydro power at approximately two cents per kilowatt hour, CN Rail line, available water, local airport and a mining community of over 7,000 people in the city of Chibougamau.

We seek Safe Harbor.

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