BacTech Announces Growth Plans to Expand IP and Commercial Bioleaching Applications Development
BacTech Announces Growth Plans to Expand IP and
Commercial Bioleaching Applications Development
TORONTO, ON., September 22, 2021 – BacTech Environmental Corporation
(OTC:BCCEF, CSE:BAC) (“BacTech or the Company”), a commercially proven
environmental technology company delivering effective biomining metal recovery
and eco-friendly remediation solutions, is pleased to announce strategic growth
plans to help accelerate the creation of new intellectual property (IP) being
developed to pursue different commercial bioleaching opportunities as identified
by the Company.
As demand for greater environmental responsibility across the mining and resource
sectors increases, interest in using natural bacteria in a wider variety of commercial
applications to extract valuable metals is also accelerating. Outside of the gold
industry, the Company sees a new generation of metallurgical opportunities
emerging, each with significant upside potential.
“I’m very happy with the progress being made with our Ponce Enriquez project in
Ecuador, and it’s this confidence that allows me to consider diversification
opportunities that are not only potentially lucrative for shareholders, but also best-
suited to be tackled by our unique and expanding team of specialized industry
experts,” said Ross Orr, President and CEO of BacTech. “In this sense, targeting
and expanding into relatively untapped, yet high-demand recovery areas, will
allow us to develop projects of considerable value on a global basis across a broad
spectrum of metal industries using proprietary green technology. Presently, we’re
evaluating a number of opportunities that are currently deemed ‘uneconomic’ for
competing bio-processing and recovery technologies, or simply too great of an
environmental risk for traditional processors. It’s an outstanding position for the
Company to be in.”
For example, the electric vehicle (EV) battery market is a high-stakes area where
both mining companies and auto manufacturers alike have a vested interest in
extracting and sourcing valuable metals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and
manganese with minimal environmental impact and favourable process economics.
And with EV batteries comprising up to one-third of an electric vehicle’s overall
cost, in a market worth tens of billions of dollars, manufacturers will continue to
watch, compete for, and keep these metal commodities in high demand for years to
come. Mining technologies that are designed to provide economic, environmental,
and social benefits to resource companies, customers, and stakeholders, occupy a
far better position than those that do not.
“For over two decad es BacTech’s intellectual property has focused on the
development and commercial implementation of large-scale complex bioreactors for
economic treatment of refractory gold concentrates,” said Dr. Paul C. Miller,
BacTech Vice President, Technology & Engine ering. “We’re one of just a few
companies that possess such expertise in which naturally occurring microbes are
introduced to a large-scale engineered environment to accelerate metal leaching and
provide a favourable economic extraction process in just a f ew days. Importantly,
the expertise and commercial know -how developed by BacTech has included the
economic integration of bioleaching into the total metal recovery process. This
know-how has kept pace with a portfolio of advances made in other areas of
metallurgy which now allows us to assemble unique flowsheets incorporating a suite
of novel but commercially proven processing techniques. These advances in other
areas of metallurgy, in combination with bioleach processing, may serve to
considerably increase scopes of application.
BacTech has always protected its intellectual property through the application of
process patents in countries that were deemed necessary. Since bacteria are
naturally occurring, the Company cannot apply for any protection on them as
entities but can apply for patents relating to their application. BacTech will
continue to advance its base metal bioleach technology and will apply for patents
during this expansion plan as appropriate.
“Here in Canada, as well as the rest of the world, we need to focus on scientific
solutions and move away from the old ways of doing things,” said BacTech
Strategic Advisor, Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk. “Modern mining practices need to
incorporate a variety of new tools for mine waste management, and bioleaching is
well positioned to advance these efforts. It’s exciting to be part of BacTech’s
expansion into new application development which in turn opens the doors to new
applications for the Company. The global demand for critical metals like nickel,
cobalt, copper and other strategic metals is growing, but ultimately needs to remain
part of a sustainable energy future.”
About the Ponce Enriquez Bioleaching Project
BacTech is planning to build its new owner-operated bioleaching facility in Ponce
Enriquez, Ecuador, in a region where arsenic is well-known to exist in the gold ore.
The Company’s plan is to build a 50 tpd bioleach plant capable of treating high
gold/arsenic material. A 50 tpd plant, processing 1.5 ounces of gold per tonne of
feed, similar to feeds available to the Company, would produce approximately
26,000 ounces per year. Plant designs are modular and can be expanded without
affecting ongoing production.
BacTech continues to investigate the prospects of establishing additional modern
mining operations across other areas of Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Central
America. Where possible, the Company will partner with national and local
governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and others to assist with
the funding of these projects.
About BacTech Environmental Corporation
BacTech is a proven environmental technology company, delivering effective and
eco-friendly biomining and remediation solutions to commercial operations to
smartly process and recover preferred metals (gold, silver, cobalt, and copper) and
safely remove and transform harmful contaminants like arsenic into benign EPA-
approved products for landfill. Tapping into numerous environmental and
economic advantages of its proprietary method of bioleaching, BacTech uses
naturally occurring bacteria, harmless to both humans and the environment, to
neutralize toxic mining sites with high-pay potential. BacTech is publicly traded
on the CSE under the symbol “BAC” and on the OTC as “BCCEF”.
For further information contact:
Ross Orr
President & CEO, BacTech Environmental Corporation
416-813-0303 ext. 222,
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://bactechgreen.com/
Investor Presentation: https://bactechgreen.com/investors/
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Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking information”, which may include, but
is not limited to, statements with respect to future tailings sites, sampling or other
investigations of tailing sites, the Company’s ability to make use of infrastructure
around tailings sites or operating performance of the Company and its projects.
Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified using words
such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”,
“forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or believes” or variations (including negative
variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results
“may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-
looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release
and the Company disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update
any forward-looking statements whether because of new information, results,
future events, circumstances, or if management’s estimates or opinions should
change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not
to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Shares outstanding: 141,342,204
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responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to
buy any of the shares, nor is it a solicitation of interest from a prospective investor.