(TheNewswire)
January 14, 2019 / TheNewswire / VANCOUVER, BC – BQE Water Inc. (TSX-V:
BQE), a leader in the management of mine wastewater and metallurgical bleed streams, has entered into a services
agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of a Canadian mining company for the staged implementation of the SART process at an
operating gold mine located in Latin America. The driver for this project is the possible extension of the mine life in a
cost-effective way that simultaneously minimizes the project’s environmental footprint.
In the first stage of the project, BQE Water will complete the SART plant engineering design for construction which
will enable the client to confirm the construction budget and overall project economics. Subject to the client’s approval in Q2
2019, the project will proceed to implementation. At full capacity, the SART plant is expected to treat up to 600 m3/hr of leach solution, recycle approximately 6,700 metric tons of cyanide and recover approximately 3,400 metric tons
of copper per year.
“We are excited about this project which in terms of its cyanide recycle and copper recovery capacities may become
the largest application of SART in the industry to date,” said David Kratochvil, the President & CEO of BQE Water. “And with the
need to achieve high plant availability and target metallurgical performance quickly following start-up and to maintain excellent
SART performance throughout the project life, the client has also expressed interest in BQE Water’s services for ongoing plant
operations once the plant is commissioned.”
About the SART Process
Invented in the mid 90’s by Dr. Chris Fleming at Lakefield Research, the SART
(Sulphidization-Acidification-Recycling-Thickening) process recovers copper from cyanide leach solution while allowing free cyanide
to be recycled back to the leaching of precious metals. This lowers the cost of gold extraction and reduces the environmental
footprint of gold mining projects. Fewer than ten industrial scale SART plants have been built and operated globally.
About the Significance of SART for the Gold Mining Industry
Historically, gold producers could not develop deposits containing elevated levels of cyanide soluble copper due to
the high cost of processing associated with the metallurgical interference of copper. SART enables ore from these types of deposits
to be processed cost-effectively while reducing the environmental footprint which represents a game changer for the industry.
Mining companies could increase gold resources reported on their balance sheets and extend the lives of existing mines while
improving the sustainability profile of their projects. This is highly significant for the industry that is adopting higher
standards of environmental and social responsibility and is faced with the absence of discoveries of major new “clean” gold
deposits.
About BQE Water’s Expertise in SART
SART represents a natural extension of our core know-how in sulphidization of waste streams produced by mining and
metallurgical processing. Over the last two decades, BQE Water has designed, built and operated fifteen sulphidization plants and
applied its know-how to four large scale SART plants. Being involved in SART operations has enabled us to improve plant designs and
ensure our SART projects reach and maintain target safety, mechanical, metallurgical and environmental performance. This helps our
clients reduce the costs and risks of implementing SART. Recognized as a leader in SART, our project pipeline current includes six
new SART projects in different stages of development globally.
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. Visit
www.bqewater.com for more information.
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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
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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
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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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