VanadiumCorp Receives Patent for Exclusive Recovery Technology

VanadiumCorp Resource (TSXV:VRB) in conjunction with its partner Electrochem Technologies & Materials have officially patented their proprietary technology used for vanadium recovery.

The technique is described as a metallurgical and chemical process for recovering vanadium and iron from vanadiferous titanomagnetite and vanadiferous feedstocks. It is the first of its kind and has been formally published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The patent dated August 30, 2018, is listed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, with the International Patent Application designation WO 2018/152628.

The jointly created and owned VanadiumCorp-Electrochem processing technology (VEPT) was invented by Dr. Francois Cardarelli to recover vanadium, iron, titanium and silica from feedstocks.

The VEPT process first digests vanadium rich feedstock into concentrated sulfuric acid. The reaction created results in a sulfation cake. From there, the cake is dissolved in a minimal amount of water, the solution is electrochemically reduced, cooled and crystalized.

Following another concentration by evaporation process, paired with chilling and crystallization,vanadyl sulfate is produced. The sulfate is a key component for the preparation of vanadium electrolyte (VE) used in vanadium redox flow batteries or for preparing various vanadium chemicals.

According to VanadiumCorp, its patented process is cleaner and significantly reduces the amount of energy and water needed for producing vanadium, unlike the traditional smelting and roasting process.

“For vanadium specifically, VEPT addresses the largest industry challenges relating to price volatility and high carbon footprint in the current vanadium market,” added Bakker. “With VEPT, vanadium is recovered directly from virtually any feedstock with high efficiency and negligible carbon footprint,” Adriaan Bakker, CEO and president of VanadiumCorp, said in the announcement.

Both companies believe the technology has the potential to revolutionize the mining sector.

For Canada-based Electrochem Technologies the advancement of the VEPT project is another milestone towards sustainable extraction. The company has already developed four internationally patented processes in addition to VEPT. One of the technologies recycles rare earths from fluorescent lamps and also produces tantalum and tungsten fine chemicals at its production facilities in Quebec.

“This milestone was a mandatory step for securing our joint IP with VanadiumCorp and before initiating the national entry phases for key jurisdictions where negotiations are ongoing with industrial partners for the optioning/licensing of the technology,” said Dr. Francois Cardarelli, president of Electrochem Technologies & Materials.

The joint partners will now move towards a commercial demonstration phase, which they hope results on widespread commercialization and global deployment.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: VanadiumCorp Resource is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.