VVC Portfolio Company, Proton Green, Plans for "Reverse Merger" with Nasdaq Listed Company

TORONTO, July 21, 2022 - VVC Exploration Corporation (TSX:VVC), dba VVC Resources, ("VVC") announces that Proton Green, LLC. has entered into a non-binding term sheet ("Term Sheet") which contemplates the reverse merger ("Merger") with Schmitt Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMIT) ("Schmitt").

VVC is a founding shareholder of Proton Green, which launched in 2021 and currently owns approximately 14% of Proton Green.

"I would like to congratulate our former VVC colleague Steve Looper on his tremendous work building Proton Green into a trailblazer in helium, carbon capture and the global energy transition," said Jim Culver, VVC President and CEO. "We are proud to have supported Proton Green in its start-up phase and be a part of its vision for a 'carbon negative future'. This is an eco-friendly project and great for VVC shareholders. "


Highlights:

- Proton Green, led by Steve Looper, a former VVC team member, is one of the leading helium and hydrogen production and carbon sequestration hubs in North America.

- As a founding shareholder, VVC currently owns 13.97% of Proton Green.

- Proton Green was founded in 2021 based on the potential of the St. John’s Field which contains 33 billion cubic feet (“BCF”) of helium based on an independent third-party report (source: Proton Green website).

- Under the merger agreement with Schmitt, Proton Green would own 95% of the combined company. The Company would be renamed 'Proton Green Corporation' and the common stock would continue to trade on the Nasdaq under a new symbol.

The press release issued by Schmitt can be viewed at Cision PR Newswire. For more information on Proton Green, visit www.vvcresources.com/proton-green.


About VVC Resources

VVC engages in the exploration, development, and management of natural resources - specializing in scarce and increasingly valuable materials needed to meet the growing, high-tech demands of industries such as manufacturing, technology, medicine, space travel, and the expanding green economy. Our portfolio includes a diverse set of multi-asset, high-growth projects, comprising: Helium & industrial gas production in western U.S.; Copper & associated metals operations in northern Mexico; and Strategic investments in carbon sequestration and other green energy technologies. VVC is a Canada-based, publicly-traded company on the TSXV (TSX-V:VVC). To learn more, visit our website at: www.vvcresources.com.


About Proton Green

Proton Green, LLC, is a producer of helium and hydrogen, and is building out its position as a large carbon sequestration operator in North America. With operating control over the St. Johns Field, a 152,000-acre property in Apache Country, Arizona, Proton controls a helium reservoir and carbon storage basin. Helium remains in short supply and is used to cool magnets in MRI systems, as the temperate of silicon during semiconductor manufacturing, for space and satellite system applications, as well as in many other critical technologies. Carbon capture and sequestration is fast becoming a climate imperative, and Proton has the ability to inject up to 22 million metric tons of CO2 per year at its primary basin, and over one billion tons of total storage capacity. For more information, please see Proton’s website at: www.protongreen.com.


On Behalf of the board of Directors

Michel J. Lafrance
Secretary-Treasurer



For further information, please contact:

VVC Exploration Corporation
Patrick Fernet
(514) 631-2727
pfernet@vvcexploration.com or

Trevor Burbank
(214) 641-1041
trevor@vvcresources.com



Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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