VANCOUVER, BC – BQE Water Inc. (TSX-V: BQE) , a leader in the management of mine wastewaters and metallurgical bleed streams, has entered into an Engineering Services Agreement with Black & Veatch, an international engineering firm, for the design of a Selen-IX™ water treatment plant at a scale larger than the currently constructed Selen-IX™ treatment plant in BC.

BQE Water’s patented Selen-IX™ process will be applied to satisfy the removal of selenium below 3 parts per billion limit at the end-of-pipe. The plant will be designed to treat several thousand gallons per minute of water on average and to adjust quickly to adapt to the changes in feed flow.

“We recognize the value of BQE Water’s expertise in water treatment and the uniqueness of Selen-IX™ which moves selenium control in the mining industry to a new level and enables important resource projects to be developed,” stated Jim Spenceley, VP Mining for Black & Veatch. “The technological leadership of BQE Water combined with Black & Veatch’s successful track record in delivering mission critical capital projects matches perfectly the project requirements and we are excited to initiate the work jointly with BQE Water.”

David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, commented, “The ability of Selen-IX™ to remove selenium to levels below 3 parts per billion coupled with the ability to quickly adapt to treatment requirements by fast turn-up and turn-down in terms of throughput was key to signing this agreement and goes to strengthening our leadership position in selenium management. It also provides a platform for BQE Water and Black & Veatch to demonstrate to the mining industry our joint capabilities of delivering innovative water treatment solutions safely and cost effectively.”

BQE Water successfully completed lab testing in 2019 that demonstrated the capability of Selen-IX™ to achieve the required water quality. The design of the water treatment plant is expected to be completed in Q3 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. The process fixes selenium into stable refractory non-hazardous solids suitable for co-disposal with tailings and potential offtake by steel producers.

BQE Water developed Selen-IX™ specifically to enable compliance with the most stringent limits in the US and Canada without relying on dilution in the receiving environment. 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 can be 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 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.

SOURCE BQE WATER

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Taxonomy

• Ion Exchange
• Industrial Wastewater Treatment