Vancouver-based industrial wastewater treatment company BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX: BQE) has signed an agreement with Mexico’s largest mining company to develop projects using BioteQ’s technologies.
This morning, BioteQ announced the agreement with Minera México, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of Grupo México S.A.B. de C.V.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will develop projects where BioteQ’s technologies can be used to recover, recycle and treat industrial waste and wastewater.
BioteQ will provide process design and commissioning services, as well as plant equipment, under a licensing agreement, and Minera México will build the treatment plants.
The companies have started the review of the first 10 potential treatment projects at three of Minera México’s sites in Mexico. Their goals iare to develop waste recovery and recycling projects focused on waste management opportunities in smelter dust treatment as well as copper, molybdenum and zinc recovery from wastewater sources.
Tanja McQueen, BioteQ’s vice-president of corporate development, said project budgets – and thus the value of the deal to BioteQ – can’t be determined until the company has assessed individual projects and determined water treatment requirements. But she said it’s a very large deal for BioteQ.
“This basically doubles our business development pipeline of active projects,” she said.
Grupo México operates 19 sites in Mexico, the U.S. and Peru with fully integrated operations in mining, smelting and refining to produce copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, zinc and lead.
Earlier this month, BioteQ announced that it had signed an agreement with an undisclosed European engineering firm to advance a cyanide regeneration and recovery project at a gold mine in Central Asia. (See: “BioteQ lands Central Asian project” – BIV Business Today, July 7).
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV