VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwire) — 01/23/13 — BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX: BQE), a leader in the treatment of industrial water and process solutions, has provided an update on plant operations and engineering activities for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012.
Operations
BioteQ had three active water treatment operations contributing to revenue during the fourth quarter – plants in Arizona, Quebec, and China. Combined, the plants treated 2.2 million cubic meters of water during the quarter, and removed over 288,000 pounds of metals from the environment, bringing total production for the 2012 year to over 10.6 million cubic meters of water and 2.5 million pounds of metal recovered.
The Bisbee, Arizona operation produced approximately 123,000 pounds of copper and treated 253,000 cubic meters of water during the quarter, bringing total production at this facility to 492,000 pounds of copper and 974,000 cubic meters of water treated for the year. This compares with 330,000 pounds of copper and 610,000 cubic metres of water treated in 2011. Revenues for this operation are based on the sale of copper recovered.
The Dexing, China operation produced approximately 165,000 pounds of copper and treated 1.7 million cubic meters of water during the fourth quarter, bringing total production to 2 million pounds of copper and 8.7 million cubic meters of water treated for the year. This compares with 1.7 million pounds of copper and 7.7 million cubic metres of water treated in 2011. The operation was inactive for a portion of Q4 due to routine, annual plant maintenance. Revenues from this operation are based on the sale of copper recovered.
The new Dexing ion exchange plant produced a limited volume of commercial quality cobalt-nickel product in 2012 due to performance issues. BioteQ and JCC have identified the cause of the performance issues, and are making appropriate upgrades to the plant. Management expects that the facility will ramp up to full production in Q2 2013.
The Raglan, Quebec ChemSulphide® concluded its operating season in late November. The plant treated 241,000 cubic meters of water during the fourth quarter. Treatment volumes in 2012 were 864,000 cubic meters, slightly lower than originally forecast, due to lower than expected precipitation levels over the treatment season. This compares with 1.2 million cubic metres treated in 2011. Revenues for this seasonal operation are based on fees for the volume of water treated.
Sales & Engineering Projects
BioteQ–s sales team continued to actively pursue new project opportunities in mining markets. The sales pipeline continues to strengthen, as evidenced by a number of new validation contracts that have recently been secured. Key highlights for the quarter included:
Guidance
In March 2012, BioteQ–s management provided guidance on expected financial results for 2012 which indicated that the Company expected to grow revenues by 30% vs. the $7.4 million achieved in 2011, and to reduce cash use by at least 40% vs. 2011 to less than $1.5 million. The Company remains on track with respect to the 2012 operations and financial guidance.
The Company expects to release its 2012 fourth quarter and annual audited financial results in March 2013. The Company will also provide full year operational and financial guidance for 2013 at that time. Details regarding the exact timing of the release and investor conference call will be provided a week prior to the release.
BioteQ Corporate Profile
BioteQ is an innovative clean technology leader in global industrial water treatment, serving the mining and energy markets. The company–s proven technologies have been applied at sites around the world to recover dissolved metals and remove sulphate, producing clean water and eliminating residual waste. BioteQ is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX under the symbol BQE. Please visit our website at for additional information.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain information contained herein may not be based on historical fact and therefore constitutes “forward-looking information” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. This includes without limitation statements containing the words “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “estimate”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “may”, “will” and other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the Company–s dependence on key personnel and contracts, uncertainty with respect to the profitability of the Company–s technologies, competition, technology risk, the Company–s ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary information, fluctuations in commodity prices, currency risk, environmental regulation and the Company–s ability to manage growth and other factors described in the Company–s filings with the Canadian securities regulators at (including without limitation the factors described in the section entitled “Risks and Uncertainties” in the Company–s Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2011 and the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company–s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2011). Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All forward-looking information contained herein is based on management–s current expectations and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update such forward-looking information to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
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Contacts:
BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc.
Jonathan Wilkinson
CEO
604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073
604-685-7778 (FAX)
BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc.
Paul Kim
CFO
604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073
604-685-7778 (FAX)