(TheNewswire)
November 13, 2018 / TheNewswire / VANCOUVER, BC – BQE Water Inc. (TSX-V:
BQE), a leader in mine water management, has entered into an Operating Services Agreement with AuRico Metals Inc (a
wholly owned subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc) for water treatment at the Kemess mine site in Northern British Columbia, Canada. The
treatment plant will remove heavy metals and selenium. The selenium removal portion of the overall treatment will utilize BQE
Water’s patented Selen-IX™ process and treat up to 6,400 m3/day of mine impacted water.
The initial term of the agreement is five years beginning on January 1, 2020 and includes a provision for a three year
term extension subject to satisfactory plant performance. The services provided by BQE Water under the agreement and the
compensation received, will be similar to the Raglan Mine water treatment agreement with Glencore where BQE Water earns treatment
fees linked directly to the volume of water discharged into the environment subject to effluent water quality meeting project
requirements. The agreement follows an earlier Engineering Services Agreement between AuRico and BQE Water to implement the
proposed treatment at the site.
“We have been working with BQE Water for the past three years to advance our Kemess Underground Mine project in BC,”
stated John Fitzgerald, VP Projects & Technical Services of Centerra Gold. “After a successful pilot program, we received
regulatory approvals for advancing the project with Selen-IX™ as the means of controlling selenium in environmental discharge over
the project life.”
David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, commented, "The signing of this agreement represents a major milestone for
us. Not only does it increase the portfolio of plants operated by BQE Water and will contribute recurring revenue in North America,
but crucially it assigns the responsibility for the start-up and operation of the first commercial scale Selen-IX™ plant to us as
the technology provider. Based on our 14 years of operations experience at the Raglan Mine project, we believe that this agreement
provides an excellent platform for Centerra Gold and BQE Water to develop a long-term relationship vested in the success of the
Kemess Underground project.”
Detailed engineering for the plant has been issued for construction and the project is currently in early stages of
procurement and equipment fabrication. The plant is expected to complete commissioning by the end of 2019 with operations beginning
in 2020.
About Selen-IX™
Selen-IX™ is a water treatment process technology that combines ion exchange and electro-reduction to remove selenium from large
volumes of wastewater. As a purely physico-chemical process, Selen-IX™ is insensitive to water temperature and is highly adaptable
to variability in water flows and selenium levels.
BQE Water developed Selen-IX™ specifically as a non-biological method of selenium removal from industrial
wastewater to the most stringent limits in the US and Canada without relying on dilution in the receiving environment. The process
fixes selenium into stable refractory non-hazardous solids suitable for co-disposal with tailings and potential offtake by steel
producers. As an entirely non-biological process, Selen-IX™ does not increase the risks of selenium bioavailability across
treatment and/or acute fish toxicity which are real risks for biological treatment systems.
About Selenium
Selenium is a naturally occurring element essential to all life forms in trace amounts. It is transferred into water through the
weathering of plant life, soils and bedrocks. Selenium is also released into water as a by-product of mining activities at an
accelerated rate. When selenium is present in water at higher concentrations, it is harmful to most fish and other aquatic life. As
a result, selenium management has been identified as an important environmental issue by regulators and the industry in North
America.
About BQE Water
BQE Water is a service provider specializing in water treatment and management for the mining and metallurgical industry.
We focus on reducing Life Cycle Costs through solutions that reduce risks and long-term environmental liabilities while
introducing sustainability into the overall water management plan. We have extensive expertise in the removal, recovery, and/or
recycle of a broad range of metals, sulphate, selenium, cyanide, ammonia and other nitrogen species. BQE Water has commercialized
several water treatment technologies and built plants at mine sites around the world for organizations including Glencore, Jiangxi
Copper, Freeport-McMoRan and the US EPA. We also provide plant operation and maintenance services and currently operate several
plants under long-term contract. BQE Water is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under
the symbol BQE. Visit www.bqewater.com for more information.
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The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the
accuracy of this release.
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Certain information contained herein may not be based on historical fact and therefore constitutes "forward-looking
information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. This includes without limitation statements containing the words
"plan", "expect", "project", "estimate", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "may", "will" and other similar words or expressions.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are
subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include,
but are not limited to, the Company’s dependence on key personnel and contracts, uncertainty with respect to the profitability of
the Company’s technologies, competition, technology risk, the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and
proprietary information, fluctuations in commodity prices, currency risk, environmental regulation and the Company’s ability to
manage growth and other factors described in the Company’s filings with the Canadian securities regulators at www.sedar.com (including without limitation the factors described in
the section entitled "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2017). Given these risks
and uncertainties, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All forward-looking
information contained herein is based on management’s current expectations and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or
update such forward-looking information to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
For further information please contact:
BQE Water Inc.
Suite 250 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver BC Canada V6Z 2M4
David Kratochvil, President & CEO
dkratochvil@bqewater.com
Heman Wong, CFO
hwong@bqewater.com
604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073
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