Energizer Resources To Present at Madagascar Mining Fair
Energizer Resources Inc. (TSX.V: EGZ) (OTCBB: ENZR) (FWB: YE5) (“Energizer” or the “Company”) announces that it will be participating in Madagascar’s first-ever Mining and Hydrocarbon Fair being held in the capital city of Antananarivo on May 6, 7 and 8, 2011. As a gold-level sponsor of the Mining Fair, in addition to a prominent booth and presence at the Fair, Energizer will be making presentations on its Green Giant vanadium project, as well as the latest developments in vanadium-based technologies.
Other companies participating in the Mining Fair include, among others, Sherritt International Corporation (operator and 40% owner of the Ambatovy nickel-cobalt project), Rio Tinto (operator and owner of 80% of QMM Mineral Sands project) and Caterpillar (manufacturer of construction and mining equipment), according to the organizers of the Fair.
Julie Lee Harrs, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, said “We look forward to presenting our Green Giant vanadium project and meeting with participants who, by their attendance at the Mining Fair, are clearly interested in mining projects in Madagascar. We are encouraged by the advent of this first-ever Mining Fair, as it further signals Madagascar’s commitment to the development of its mining sector.”
Latest Advancements with Vanadium Redox Batteries
The United States Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Researchers at the United States Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) announced that they were able to increase the energy storage capacity of the VRB by 70 percent and to expand the temperature range in which they operate by modifying the battery’s electrolyte solution. This advancement will allow the size of the VRB to be reduced, while generating the same amount of power storage and output, and will allow the VRB to work in a wider temperature range while maintaining its high (approximately 87%) efficiency.
PNNL’s announcement can be read in its entirety at http://www.pnl.gov/
Through the PNNL, the United States Department of Energy has committed millions of research dollars towards further advancement and development of the vanadium redox battery. As mentioned in President Obama’s speech at the Forum for Small Business in Cleveland, Ohio this past February, the Department of Energy is helping fund the installation of the largest VRB in North America at a municipal power plant in Painesville, Ohio.
Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute
The Fraunhofer Institute, the German government’s research organization that employs around 18,000 scientists and engineers, announced on March 31, 2011 that they are working to expedite the development of vanadium redox batteries.
Researchers demonstrated the operation of a VRB at the Hanover Fair (Hannover Messe), the world’s foremost technology and energy event, which is held in Hanover, Germany each year. The Fraunhofer Institute announced that their long-term goal is to build a 20 MWh capacity VRB installation. A VRB this size would utilize approximately 33 tonnes of battery-grade vanadium (V2O5) and would provide enough energy to provide power to roughly 2000 households for an entire day.
The full text of this announcement can be read at http://www.fraunhofer.de/en
The Fraunhofer Institute has created hundreds of commercial enterprises, inventions and patents, including the MP3 audio and the H.264/MPEG-4 video compression algorithmsVanadium is well established as a strategic metal that strengthens and hardens alloys like steel and is positioned to play a significant role in emerging battery technologies such as batteries for electric cars and for large-scale energy storage.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China’s largest and state-owned science and research institute, have discovered a new nanofiltration membrane material that enhances the efficiency of VRBs making them a more viable tool for large-scale energy storage. Researchers found that by utilizing a new material, they could the lower cost of the membrane without sacrificing the performance or efficiency of the VRB.
The membrane serves as the facilitator of energy transfer in a VRB, allowing energy in the form of ions to pass from one side of the battery to the other during charge-discharge cycles, which enables the VRB to release power.
The CAS announcement can be read in its entirety at http://www.rsc.org/
The CAS has created hundreds of commercial enterprises, including with Lenovo Corporation (which purchased IBM’s PC division).
Vanadium Redox Batteries – Nearing the Tipping Point
The vanadium electrolyte and the membrane are the two most expensive components in a VRB. Together, they represent approximately 50 percent of the cost of the battery.
The advancements in the development of the VRBs by these leading research institutes are expected to both reduce the size and cost of the VRB, and in turn, accelerate their implementation on a commercial level.
The increasing evidence in the marketplace of key developments in VRB technology is expected to result in the acceleration of commercial applications of vanadium-based battery technologies and in turn, may signal that the tipping point for vanadium redox batteries is near.
A great opportunity exists for vanadium producers who can provide the necessary high purity, battery-grade vanadium required by the VRBs. Energizer is uniquely positioning itself to meet the new anticipated demand for high purity, battery-grade vanadium (V2O5), as well as the anticipated 7% annual growth in demand for vanadium expected from the steel industry.
Please visit our website at www.energizerresources.com to learn more about the Green Giant vanadium project and to read the latest developments in vanadium news.
Clarification
At the request of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company wishes to clarify the disclosure in its press release dated March 24, 2011. The Company previously announced that it had submitted an application to list its common shares on The Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) and that it had met the TSX minimum listing requirements. The Company wishes to clarify that although it believes that it will be able to meet all of the listing requirements to graduate to the TSX from its current listing on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company has not received confirmation from the TSX. The Company is confident that it will be able to work diligently to satisfy the TSX listing requirements.
About Vanadium
Vanadium is well established as a strategic metal that strengthens and hardens alloys like steel and is positioned to play a significant role in emerging battery technologies such as batteries for electric cars and for large-scale energy storage. While there are some opportunities for substitution in steel production, the same is not true for other markets, including the emerging energy (battery) storage markets, the military and particularly in the aerospace industry, where vanadium is irreplaceable.
About the Green Giant Vanadium Project
The Green Giant vanadium project, located in Madagascar, is 100% owned by Energizer. The Company has a NI 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 49.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.693% vanadium pentoxide (“V2O5“) containing 756.3 million pounds of V2O5 and an inferred resource of 9.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.632% V2O5 containing 134.5 million pounds of V2O5. With this resource estimate, the Green Giant deposit currently ranks as one of the largest known vanadium deposit in the world, with only 75% of the 21-kilometre (18 mile) stratigraphic trend of vanadium remaining open for drilling.
Energizer’s vanadium is unique – it is sedimentary-hosted, in contrast to the majority of other vanadium deposits, which are magnetite-hosted. As a result, Energizer is the only company that has announced its intention to produce the high purity vanadium pentoxide required by the battery technologies (> 99.4% purity) as its primary product.
Qualified Person
The resource estimate referred to in this press release was completed by AGP Mining Consultants Inc. (“AGP”) and is in conformance with the CIM Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve definitions referred to in NationaI Instrument 43–101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Pierre Desautels, P.Geo., of AGP, is the Independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101 responsible for the resource estimate.
About Energizer Resources
Energizer Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company based in Toronto, Canada. The Company’s common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EGZ, on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol ENZR, and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol YE5.
For more information please visit our website at www.energizerresources.com
Or contact:
Brent Nykoliation
Vice President of Business Development
Toll Free: 800.818.5442 or 416.364.4911
Email: bnykoliation@energizerresources.com
or Julie Lee Harrs, President and COO