TORONTO, Sept. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sparton Resources (TSX-SRI-V), ("the Company"), is pleased to report news from VRB China. It was announced September 5, 2025, that Beijing Puneng Century Technology Co. Ltd. ("BJP") has successfully won the bid to construct a 50 Megawatt, 200-Megawatt Hour all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage power station in Longzhouping Town, Changyang, Hubei Province PRC.
This announcement marks a significant milestone in the progress of the VRB China Joint Venture, which is 51% owned by Shanxi Red Sun Co., Ltd. ("Red Sun") and 49% owned by VRB Energy Inc. ("VRB Energy") through its 100% ownership of BJP.
Sparton's interest in the flow battery industry is a 9.975% interest in VRB Energy Inc. held through Sparton's 90% interest in VanSpar Mining Inc. This translates into an indirect 4.4% interest held by the Company in the VRB China Joint Venture. Ivanhoe Electric Inc. ("IE") owns 90.025% of VRB Energy which owns 100% of BJP. The Joint Venture was announced by IE on October 15, 2024
The installation will be put into operation by a consortium consisting of BJP, the Changyang Lutong Engineering Construction Co. Ltd. and the Hubei Electric Power and Design Institute Co. Ltd. According to an internet published report, the winning bid value was 467 million RMB (approximately $65.6 Million USD).
The project is expected to be connected to the grid by December 31, 2025, and once completed will effectively improve the stability of electricity in the area, enhance new economic development locally and will drive the coordinated development of the overall vanadium flow battery industry going forward.
Full details of the project can be found on the VRB China website at:
https://www.vrbenergy.com.cn/Home/news/news/cid/18.html
"The combination of the Joint Venture's ability to execute its projects quickly, BJP's advanced flow battery technology, and the successful 17-year history of building the world's, safest and longest active service vanadium flow batteries, has resulted in this successful bid. It is very rewarding to see this progress, and we congratulate the Joint Venture and BJP on these accomplishments," commented Company President A. Lee Barker.
It should be noted that in conjunction with the Red Sun announcement last fall, Ivanhoe Electric also announced that it is proceeding with the establishment of VRB USA to construct a vanadium battery manufacturing facility in Arizona, for vanadium redox battery deployment outside of Asia.
Full information regarding the history of the Company's VRB Energy investment is available in its various news releases and corporate filings available at www.sedarplus.ca, and on the Sparton website at www.spartonresources.com.
For more information, contact:
A. Lee Barker, M.A. Sc., P. Eng.
President and CEO
Tel./Fax: 647-344-7734 or Mobile: 416-716-5762
Email: info@spartonres.ca Website:www.spartonres.ca
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release involves forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, financings and transactions being pursued, and all such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although the Company believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such forward-looking statements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein.
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