VanadiumCorp Resources and Electrochem Technologies file International PCT patent application

— Photo courtesy VanadiumCorp Resource Inc.

VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. (TSX-V: "VRB") and Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. ("Electrochem") are pleased to announce that they have jointly filed for an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on February 21st, 2018 in order to secure IP rights for the new VanadiumCorp-Electrochem technology worldwide.

The technology invented by Dr. Francois Cardarelli addresses the efficient recovery of vanadium compounds including vanadyl sulfate and vanadium pentoxide, ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (copperas), titania and silica by-products from vanadiferous feedstocks. The disclosed subject matter of the PCT application is strongly supported by results of metallurgical and chemical trials conducted at Electrochem's facilities located in Boucherville, QC, Canada.

The PCT Application is a unified international patent application with 152 participating independent states and countries. With the filing of the PCT Application, the VanadiumCorp Electrochem Process Technology is now protected and once the PCT will be issued patent applications will be filed in selected countries and become patent pending in the chosen national jurisdictions.

VanadiumCorp and Electrochem continue to receive expressions of interest from global energy storage companies, specialized chemicals and vanadium producers, specialty iron and steel companies to evaluate the technology and to negotiate commercial licensing agreements.

The current mandate is to focus on the steady production of large batches of vanadium compounds from various sources for final qualification by targeted end-users while interacting with the technical staff of several interested companies for on-site deployment followed by pilot testing.

Conventional pyrometallurgical processes utilize either direct soda ash roasting of the magnetite followed by water leaching, or the arc smelting and slagging of the magnetite followed by soda ash roasting of the vanadium-rich slag. Smelting or roasting is capital intensive with high operating costs, technical risks and significant emissions of greenhouse gases that pose serious environmental issues. Hydrometallurgical processes for the extraction of vanadium have been proposed in the last decade as a lower cost alternative in replacement of the conventional processes but they fail to produce a high quality iron co-product. The Vanadiumcorp-Electrochem Technology addresses these key issues and allows the full recovery of vanadium for the production of vanadium electrolyte (VE) or vanadium chemicals as well as the concurrent production of copperas, titania and silica by-products.

VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. is developing and exploring licensing potential for an innovative, carbon-free process technology that unlocks a new strategic supply of vanadium and coproducts such as titanium. Jointly developed and owned with Electrochem, this innovative chemical process allows for integrated and carbon-free recovery of critical metals needed on a global scale. VanadiumCorp also holds a significant vanadium-titanium-iron bearing resource base in mining friendly Quebec, Canada.

Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. is a private Canadian corporation that invents, develops, patents, scales-up and commercializes proprietary chemical, metallurgical and electrochemical technologies that are innovative, and sustainable. Electrochem owns the exclusive rights for its patented iron electrowinning process worldwide. The company also manufactures electrolyzers, industrial electrodes and produces tantalum and tungsten fine chemicals.