VANCOUVER, BC – BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX:BQE) today reports on its current operations and development projects in progress during 2007:
- Bisbee plant operating consistently for over one year
- Raglan plant operating at twice design capacity
- Hand-over of Caribou operations complete
- Mt Gordon construction progressing toward September completion
- Dexing construction progressing for fourth quarter startup
- Lluvia de Oro construction in progress for early 2008 completion
- Wellington Oro construction in progress for second quarter 2008 completion
Bisbee Plant – One Year of Consistent Operations
The Bisbee copper recovery plant, located in Arizona, has operated consistently for the past year. Copper production during the first half of 2007 was 708,000 pounds while treating 373 million gallons of water. Copper recovery from solution remains at over 99%. BioteQ’s share of revenue for the first half of 2007 from Bisbee, after refining charges, was $C 1,340,000.
Raglan Plant – Operating at Twice Design Capacity
BioteQ’s Raglan plant, located in Northern Quebec at the Raglan Mine owned by Xstrata, started discharging treated water in April, approximately one month earlier than last year. However, a slow melting season caused a depletion in available water to treat during May and part of June. In spite of this delay, BioteQ expects to treat approximately 800,000 cubic meters of water this year, matching the volume treated last year. This is feasible because of process improvements made to the original design that have enabled the company to double the processing flow of the plant. BioteQ charges a treatment fee of $1.12 per cubic meter treated and $31,800 per month in capital fees.
Caribou Site – Handover of Operations to Blue Note Complete
Effective July 31, 2007, the water treatment operations at Caribou and the adjacent Restigouche sites were handed over to Blue Note Metals Inc, who have recently re-started mining operations at Caribou. BioteQ was paid $419,000 by Blue Note for its fixed assets last fiscal year. BioteQ is no longer responsible for water treatment operations at the Caribou operation and has re-deployed senior personnel associated with the project to new development projects owned by BioteQ.
Mt Gordon, Queensland Australia
The first construction project scheduled for completion in 2007 is at Mt Gordon, located in Queensland, Australia. The plant has been designed to recover copper and cobalt and minor nickel values from acid drainage, using BioteQ’s ChemSulphide® Process, with concurrent reduction in sulphate by evaporation methods to meet site environmental regulations. Construction is currently in progress and is expected to be substantially complete by the end of September to begin the commissioning process, which is scheduled to take 3 months.
BioteQ has decided to install a larger plant than originally anticipated, for possible expansion of capacity in the future, which has increased the total capital cost expected to $C 4.3 million, from the previously announced $C 3 million.
Procurement and construction management has been contracted to Dennerik Engineering & Fabrication, based in Vancouver, who have arranged for local contractors in all construction disciplines. A BioteQ plant manager has been hired and will be on site to supervise the process construction and initiate plant commissioning and operator training.
Dexing Project, Jiangxi China
The second project scheduled for commissioning during 2007 is the Dexing plant located near Dexing city in Jiangxi Province, China. The plant has been designed to recover copper, again using BioteQ’s ChemSulphide® Process, similar to BioteQ’s plants at Mt Gordon and Raglan. The joint venture with Jiangxi Copper Corporation (“JCC”) has been formed and joint funding of the construction is in progress.
All major contracts for construction have been issued by the joint venture and site construction is in progress. Completion of construction and initiation of operation is anticipated in the fourth quarter this year as originally planned. The original capital cost estimate of $C 4.2 million has not changed.
Construction is being managed by the joint venture using the construction expertise of JCC and local subcontractors. One of BioteQ’s senior engineers is on site to supervise process construction as well as serve as the Technical Manager for the joint venture.
Lluvia de Oro Project, Sonora Mexico
Construction of BioteQ’s Lluvia de Oro plant, in cooperation with Columbia Metals Corporation Limited, has been initiated at Columbia’s gold mine site in the State of Sonora, Mexico. The plant has been designed to recover copper from cyanide solutions, using BioteQ’s ChemSulphide® Process, as well as recycle cyanide for use in gold extraction, using the SART process, originally developed by SGS Lakefield in cooperation with Teck Corporation (1998) and used by permission.
Detailed engineering design and equipment procurement are in progress and site preparation has been initiated. The company expects construction completion during the first quarter of 2008 to coincide with initial gold production in late 2007. The total capital cost for BioteQ’s plant is expected to be $C 4.5 million.
Site construction and local fabrication is being managed by Dennerik Engineering and Fabrication using local construction contractors. BioteQ’s construction manager is managing the overall project.
Wellington Oro Project, Breckenridge Colorado
The Company is supplying a treatment plant for zinc and cadmium recovery, under agreement with the Town of Breckenridge and the Board of County Commissioners of Summit County, Colorado for the construction and commissioning of the Wellington Oro water treatment plant. The Wellington Oro project will use BioteQ’s ChemSulphide® process, similar to that previously incorporated in the Blackwell project for Phelps Dodge.
BioteQ has provided engineering and procurement of the process plant equipment on a fee for service basis. The overall project is managed by Stantec Engineering. BioteQ will manage the plant commissioning and operator training also on a fee for service basis. It is expected that plant construction will be completed during the second quarter of next year and be fully operational in the third quarter of 2008.
Development Projects
BioteQ continues to work on developing projects for Molymet (two plants, copper recovery and sulphate removal), Columbia Metals (La Jojoba, also copper and cyanide recovery), and CVRD-INCO (nickel recovery). As previously announced, these projects are expected to progress through various stages of engineering and pilot plant work in 2008.
The development contract with IM2, a subsidiary of Codelco, to evaluate technology for possible application at the Andina Mine has been terminated prior to completion of evaluation of BioteQ’s technologies for copper recovery and sulphate removal. The contract was terminated due to the time constraints of the original contract to complete the evaluation by September 2007, which is not possible. There has been no progress on the Pueblo Viejo project with Barrick Gold during 2007.
BioteQ has an active project pipeline, and the company continues to evaluate potential projects for the future.
Second Quarter Results
The second quarter results will be filed on August 14, 2007, at which time a separate release will be issued and a conference call to review the second quarter results arranged.
Corporate Profile
BioteQ is establishing itself as a leader in the treatment of acid contaminated water through the use of its patented BioSulphide® Process and the ChemSulphide™ Process. Focused on the mining industry, BioteQ has partnered with leading metal producers including Phelps Dodge (Freeport), Breakwater, CVRD-INCO, Jiangxi Copper, Aditya Birla, Molymet and Xstrata as well as utilities operator EPCOR Water Services, to finance, design, build and operate mine site water treatment plants which recover saleable metals in addition to meeting ever stricter environmental regulations.
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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 accuracy of this release.