VANCOUVER, B.C.– BioteQ Environmental Technologies, Inc. (TSX: BQE), a leader in the treatment of industrial waste water, is initiating plans to restart SART plant operations at the Lluvia de Oro gold mine site in Mexico, owned by NWM Mining (TSX-V: NWM). NMW Mining announced on October 30 that it has closed a private placement equity financing of $3.99 million.
BioteQ sold the SART plant to NWM Mining on a sales lease as of June 2009. Minimum lease payments of US$150,000 per month are scheduled to commence in October 2010. Minimum loan repayments of $50,000 per month from NWM to BioteQ are scheduled to commence in January 2010, increasing to a minimum of $125,000 per month in January 2011. BioteQ will provide SART plant supervisory services on a fee basis, and receive a technology fee of US$0.035 per pound of copper recovered and US$0.25 per pound of cyanide regenerated over the life of the project.
Brad Marchant, BioteQ’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “We are pleased that NWM Mining has successfully raised financing to re-start mining operations at the Lluvia gold mine site. This milestone is important for the re-start of SART operations, which will enhance gold recoveries, reduce site operating costs for NWM Mining, and facilitate repayment of the loans BioteQ has provided to NWM.”
The SART process improves gold yields and enhances the environmental performance of the gold mining operation by removing dissolved copper from the gold leach solution, and regenerating the leaching reagent for re-use in gold recovery operation. BioteQ designed, built, and commissioned the SART plant in 2008, and produced copper concentrate containing more than 60 percent copper from the heap leach solution at Lluvia. The copper concentrate was sold to Trafigura.
BioteQ Corporate Profile
BioteQ is a water treatment company that applies innovative technologies and operating expertise to solve challenging water treatment problems, reducing environmental liabilities while delivering lower life cycle costs for water treatment. The Company’s commercially proven technologies treat industrial wastewater contaminated with dissolved heavy metals and sulphate, producing saleable by-products and clean water that can be discharged safely to the environment. BioteQ has built 8 plants at sites in Canada, the US, China, Australia and Mexico, with additional projects in design and construction.
BioteQ has been named one of Canada’s Top 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations by Jantzi Research and Maclean’s, and the company’s sustainable water treatment solutions have been recognized with the Globe Award for Environmental Excellence, the PDAC Award for Environmental and Social Responsibility, the China Mining Environmental Protection Award, and the Mines & Money Sustainable Development Award. BioteQ is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and trades on the TSX under the symbol BQE. For additional information, please go to www.bqewater.com.
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On behalf of the Board of Directors
Brad Marchant
The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.