(via TheNewswire)
VANCOUVER, BC –TheNewswire – November 1st, 2021 – BQE Water Inc. (TSXV:BQE), a leader in the management of mining and metallurgical waste streams, has entered into a contract with Codelco to demonstrate its Sulf-IX™ technology for sulphate removal and BioSulphide® process for copper recovery at multiple sites in Chile.
Under the contract, BQE Water will design, supply and operate pilot plants for sulphate removal and copper recovery at Codelco’s existing operations in Chile over the next 18 months.
Karin Schulz, Project Manager of the Innovation team at Codelco stated, “An important factor in the open innovation model that Codelco is promoting consists of searching and testing technologies from the ecosystem that allows us to face and solve our challenges together with those actors who have the experience, knowledge and necessary technologies. This is how the tests of the proposed BQE Water technologies are part of a pilot-level technological evaluation in situ that during 2022 we will carry out in our divisions. In the case of obtaining positive results, they will make available new technologies for water treatment for the future of our operations.”
David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, commented, “We are honoured to be selected by Codelco, one of the world’s top metal producers, to help solve difficult water treatment issues and are excited for the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of our Sulf-IX™ and BioSulphide® technologies at their sites in Chile.”
Definition of Sustainable Mine Water Treatment
Sustainable water treatment produces clean water and by-products for re-use and/or sale while minimizing life cycle costs and risks. Key aspects of sustainability include: maximizing clean water production for beneficial use downstream with no harm to the receiving environment, eliminating long term liabilities and optimizing value recovery from waste.
Sulphate & Sulf-IX™ Overview
Sulphates are a form of salt produced from a wide range of industrial activities, including mining. At high concentrations, sulphates can impart taste and odour in drinking water and cause digestive disorders in humans. It is also harmful to aquatic life and negatively impacts crop yields and domesticated mammal reproduction. This has led to increased environmental regulation for dissolved sulphates globally. Developed by BQE Water in the late 2000s and subsequently successfully demonstrated on an industrial scale at an active mine in the US in the mid 2010s, the Sulf-IX™ process removes sulphate from mine water while generating a high purity solid gypsum by-product for potential re-use. The process achieves water recoveries greater than 98% and does not generate any liquid brine waste.
Copper & BioSulphide® Overview
At copper mines with long operating histories, it is not uncommon to see economically significant quantities of copper present in mine wastewater. BQE Water’s BioSulphide® and ChemSulphide® processes enable selective and cost-effective recovery of copper in the form of high-grade copper sulphide concentrates that are blended into metal concentrates produced by the mines. Since commercializing these technologies in the mid 2000s, BQE Water has successfully implemented half a dozen large scale metal recovery plants treating mine wastewater at sites around the world.
About BQE Water
BQE Water is a service provider specializing in water treatment and management for metals mining, smelting and refining. We are helping to transform the way the industry thinks about water in the context of natural resource projects by offering services and expertise which enables more sustainable water management practices and improved overall project performance at reduced risks. BQE Water invests in innovation and has developed unique intellectual property through the commercialization of several new technologies at mine sites around the world for organizations including Glencore, Jiangxi Copper, Freeport-McMoRan and the US EPA. BQE Water is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BQE. Visitwww.bqewater.comfor more information.
****
The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.