VANCOUVER, BC, July 19, 2010 -- BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc., a leader in the treatment of industrial wastewater, has announced plans to initiate construction of a third water treatment plant in China, in joint venture with Jiangxi Copper Company ("JCC").
The project will enable the mine site to maximize resource recovery and produce clean water. The design report for the plant, announced in March 2010, has been approved by the joint venture, and the project will proceed to construction in the third quarter of this year. The capital cost of the plant is estimated to be US$3 million, which includes the process plant, initial reagents required in the process, and contingency. The capital cost will be shared equally by the joint venture partners. BioteQ's share of the capital costs will be drawn from existing cash reserves in China.
The plant, which will have a design capacity of 800 cubic meters per hour, will provide new treatment capacity at the Dexing site to selectively recover cobalt and nickel from acid wastewater and produce a saleable cobalt-nickel product using innovative ion exchange technology developed by BioteQ to treat wastewater with very low concentrations of dissolved metals. The feed concentration for cobalt and nickel in the water is estimated to range between 4 and 8 parts per million for each metal. Based on annual precipitation at Dexing and the site water balance in 2009, the plant can be expected to treat approximately 5 to 6 million cubic meters of water per year and recover an estimated 50,000 pounds of nickel and 60,000 pounds of cobalt annually. The novel ion exchange process has been tested in both laboratory and field settings during 2009 and 2010.
The project is driven by both economic and environmental considerations. By recovering nickel and cobalt from wastewater, the plant provides a means to remove valuable residual metals from the site, maximize resource recovery, produce treated water that meets strict environmental requirements, and further reduce the life cycle cost of wastewater treatment at the Dexing mine.
The design report for the project is complete; detailed engineering is underway, with procurement and construction to commence this quarter. BioteQ anticipates that the plant will be constructed by the end of this year, and will contribute incremental revenue in Q2 2011. Revenues will be based on the amount of metals recovered.
"This new project in China, along with the recently completed plant in the Canadian Yukon, delivers on our 2010 goal to add two new plants with ongoing operating contracts that provide recurring revenues to our operations portfolio," stated Brad Marchant, BioteQ's Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to again be working with our joint venture partners, Jiangxi Copper Company. JCC will provide on-site support for construction, while BioteQ will provide technology and ongoing operating expertise. This partnership builds on the strong relationship our companies have developed with the initial ChemSulphide(R) plant at the Dexing site."
About BioteQ
BioteQ 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 10 plants at sites in Canada, the US, China, Australia and Mexico, with additional projects in design and construction.
BioteQ's sustainable water treatment solutions have been recognized with the CIM/Syncrude Award for Excellence in Sustainable Development, the Canada Export Achievement Award, the Jantzi/Maclean's Most Socially Responsible Corporations in Canada, 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.bioteq.ca.
###
