TORONTO, June 03, 2020  — Sparton Resources Inc. (TSXV: SRI) (“Sparton” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that VRB Energy Solutions  Inc. (“VRB”) announced via Twitter on June 2, 2020, the commissioning of a 5 kW (4 hour) vanadium redox battery, as part of  a 10 kW photo-voltaic plus energy storage system (“ESS”) pilot demonstration project with Hesteel Group Company Limited  (“Hesteel”),  the largest steel and vanadium supplier in China. This solar-shifting pilot project is just the first step toward widespread deployment of the technology.

The system will provide clean energy to support the Hesteel’s plant lighting system through a local smart-grid connection.

Located in Chengde City, Hebei Province, in the Vanadium and Titanium Industrial Park developed by Hesteel Group, this photovoltaic-vanadium energy storage demonstration project was jointly developed by VRB and Hesteel.

click picture above to enlarge

 The final commissioning has been completed and the system successfully put into operation. The project includes 10kW photovoltaic power generation and 5kW/20kWh all-vanadium flow battery energy storage system. It provides power support for the plant lighting system through intelligent connection to the park grid and plays the role of peak shaving and on demand power, thereby improving the park’s clean energy utilization efficiency and reducing overall fossil energy consumption. The system is contributing to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area clean energy initiative program.

This photovoltaic-vanadium energy storage demonstration project is the first vanadium battery energy storage demonstration project in Chengde City (Population 3.5 million).

The installation is the result of cooperation between two world-leading enterprises in the industries of all-vanadium flow energy storage batteries (VRB) and vanadium material manufacturing (Hesteel). The combination of the technology and resource advantages of the two companies will help to promote the efficient and comprehensive utilization of Hesteel’s Chengde vanadium production and resources.

The utilization of VRB’s advanced all-vanadium flow battery energy storage technology, will promote the establishment of this technology, and is expected to lead to the rapid deployment of new systems. It is designed to transform the current energy structure into increased use of renewables and storage. This first installation is expected to be a model for the implementation of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development of a national clean energy strategy.

Hesteel is a Chinese iron, vanadium and steel manufacturing conglomerate, and the second largest steel and steel products producer in the world.  The company was previously known as Hebei Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. (“HBIS”).

Sparton is delighted with this progress in Hebei and once again commends the VRB staff and management for achieving this milestone in VRB’s development as the initial supplier of choice to Hesteel for its battery storage technology pilot project. The Company believes that having Hesteel as a strategic partner for VRB going forward will open many opportunities for new business and significantly increase the value of the Company’s VRB interest.

The full VRB Twitter news was posted on June 2, 2020 and is available on VRB’s Twitter site “@Think VRB”.

Information regarding the Company’s minority interest held in VRB is as follows:

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