SPARKS, Nev., June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- SulphCo(R), Inc. is set to join the Russell 3000(R) Index when Russell Investment Group reconstitutes its family of U.S. indexes on June 30, according to a preliminary list of additions posted Friday on http://www.russell.com .

Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000(R) Index or small-cap Russell 2000(R) Index as well as the appropriate growth and style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market capitalization rankings and style attributes.

"We are thrilled that SulphCo(R) will be listed in the Russell 3000 Index. It is a reflection on the company's growth, and investors can see our strong presence in the market," remarked Mr. Gunnerman.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $3.8 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index.

Annual reconstitution of Russell indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000. The largest 1,000 companies in the ranking comprise the Russell 1000 while the remaining 2,000 companies become the widely used Russell 2000. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers.