CVW CleanTech Responds to Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee Recommendations
CVW CleanTech Responds to Oil Sands Mine
Water Steering Committee Recommendations
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 16, 2025) -
CVW CleanTech Inc. (TSXV: CVW) (OTCQX:
CVWFF) (FSE: TMD0) (the "Company" or "CVW CleanTech")
today issued a statement following
the release of the initial recommendations of the Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee (the
"Committee"). CVW CleanTech is proud to have contributed to the Committee's study through multiple
rounds of engagement.
"Firstly, we would like to thank Minister Schulz and the Committee for their leadership and proactive
approach on such an incredibly important situation given the scale of the environmental liabilities
associated with oil sands mine tailings. As the Committee correctly noted, technologies are available
today to treat oil sands mine water. Alberta has a unique opportunity to implement proven solutions that
can meaningfully address the challenges presented by oil sands tailings ponds," said Akshay Dubey,
CEO of CVW CleanTech. "Our proprietary Creating Value from Waste™ ("CVW™") technology
represents a commercially ready solution that can transform these environmental liabilities into economic
opportunities while reducing freshwater draw, improving mine water quality, and reducing the
accumulation of mine water in tailings ponds."
The Committee, established by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas in 2024, has been tasked with
determining feasible options for accelerating oil sands mine water management and tailings pond
reclamation. Their recommendations will inform the Government of Alberta's approach to addressing the
over 1.8 billion cubic meters of fluid tailings and oil sands mine water currently contained in tailings
ponds, to which the industry added 45 million cubic meters of fluid tailings in 2023.
For more than a year, the Committee has met with operators, Indigenous community members,
technology developers, governments, and others, to review evidence and carefully consider
recommendations for a path forward. The Committee released its first set of five initial
recommendations on June 12, 2025, which are as follows:
Recommendation 1 calls for more segregation and prioritization of use of water that has not been
impacted by the industrial process, along with clear standards for that water's safe release, to help
reduce the future accumulation of oil sands mine water;
Recommendation 2 advises government to promote more water-sharing between mine sites to
minimize new withdrawals from the Athabasca River;
Recommendation 3 advises government to focus on managing oil sands mine water within the
watershed, not across watersheds;
Recommendation 4 advises government that deep well disposal be considered to manage low
volumes of otherwise untreatable oil sands mine water and some legacy mine water, once all other
options have been fully explored; and
Recommendation 5 calls for a standardized method to be developed for measuring naphthenic
acids, naturally occurring organics that are sourced from oil sands bitumen.
CVW CleanTech's ready-to-deploy technology specifically addresses froth treatment tailings ("FTT"),
which contain the highest concentration of challenging elements such as solvent, bitumen, and other
solids. Deployment of the CVW™ technology could:
Prevent over 80% of naphthenic acids from deposition into tailings ponds;
Treat oil sands mine water to enable integration into site-wide, or regional, water sharing
strategies;
Avoid the permanent loss of water from the Lower Athabasca sub-watershed, preserving long-term
hydrological and ecological balances;
Treat up to 84 million cubic meters of oil sands mine water per year, reducing freshwater draw and
cutting water-use intensity by over 15%;
Capture total suspended solids through thickening and ultrafiltration, avoiding contributions to fluid
tailings inventories;
Manage pyrite and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM);
Reduce mineable oil sands greenhouse gas emissions by up to 12% by abating up to 1.8 million
tonnes of methane per year;
Generate positive economic returns by recovering significant amounts of bitumen and solvent to
maximize the recovery of hydrocarbons; and
Develop a new critical minerals industry by recovering titanium, zircon and potentially rare earth
elements otherwise lost to tailings ponds to maximize Alberta's natural resource wealth.
"We welcome the Committee's focus on naphthenic acids given their challenging environmental
impacts," continued Mr. Dubey. "Implementing our CVW™ technology would significantly reduce
naphthenic acid concentration in oil sands mine water leading to improved environmental benefits while
creating meaningful economic benefits for Alberta and the country."
A 2024 independent economic impact assessment found that industry-wide implementation of the
CVW™ technology could boost Canada's GDP by up to $47.4 billion and create over 144,000 person-
years of employment across Canada.
CVW CleanTech has engaged extensively with Indigenous communities in the Treaty 8 region,
recognizing their role as stewards of the land most directly impacted by oil sands operations. In 2024,
the Company signed a framework agreement with five First Nation and Métis partners, establishing the
foundation for economic participation and governance rights in the implementation of the CVW™
technology.
"As Alberta seeks viable solutions to reclaim oil sands mine water, we stand ready to contribute our
technology and expertise to support the safe and sustainable management of oil sands tailings," said
Mr. Dubey.
Click here for more detailed information on CVW CleanTech's water management capabilities.
About CVW CleanTech Inc.
CVW CleanTech
invests in innovative technologies which provide returns linked to commodities and
which operate in a sustainable manner to help accelerate the world's transition to net zero. CVW
CleanTech is building a portfolio of royalty-based cash flow streams by partnering with clean technology
innovators in the commodity space. CVW CleanTech is also the 100% owner of its proprietary
technology, Creating Value from Waste™, which is designed to recover bitumen, solvents, critical
minerals, and water from oil sands froth treatment tailings, which would reduce tailings pond fugitive
methane emissions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and enhance tailings management for
Alberta's oil sands.
Additional information on CVW™ can be found within the Company's Process and Technology Overview
which is accessible using the link below:
https://cvwtechnology.com/technology/process-and-technology-overview/
CVW CleanTech trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "CVW", on the OTCQX under
"CVWFF", and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "TMD0".
Disclosure regarding forward-looking information
This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information") that reflect the current
expectations of management about the future results, performance, achievements, prospects, or
opportunities for CVW CleanTech.
Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or
statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved.
The forward-looking statements may include statements regarding the ability of the Company to make
strategic investments and identify opportunities, that the Company will effectively identify and
undertake future corporate transactions, the receipt of shareholder and Exchange approval to proceed
with the Classification Change, the anticipated benefits of the adoption and commercialization of
CVW™ technology, the chemical, material, financial, economic, operational, environmental and any
other anticipated results of the adoption thereof, potential diversification strategies and the
implementation and results thereof, expectations regarding future development, funding (including
necessity, sources, and expected structure of the same) and contracted work, expectation as to the
timeline on which any goals of the Company will be met, expectations regarding the key economic
and policy drivers supporting the adoption of CVW CleanTech's technology, expectations regarding
synergies or alignments between the business of the Company and any other organization, CVW
CleanTech's research and development and commercialization plans, the advantages of the
Company's technology, the Company's ongoing engagement with stakeholders, including business
development activities, the development of networks with strategic partners, potential financing
opportunities, including grant and financing opportunities from applicable government programs and
non-governmental organizations, and entering into funding agreements related thereto, any expected
next steps for the Company, timelines, strategic plans, and the scope of any activities that will be
undertaken. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain,
and actual achievements of the Company may differ materially from those reflected in forward-looking
statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. For the reasons set forth above,
investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include: uncertainties
involved in disputes and litigation, fluctuations in interest rates, commodity prices and currency
exchange rates; changes in the availability, and cost, of technical labour required for the success of
the Company's products and services; price escalation and/or inflationary pressures affecting the cost
of equipment and material required to commercialize the same; the uncertainty of estimates of capital
and operating costs; the need to obtain additional financing and uncertainty as to the availability and
terms of future financing; the impact on the Company of increasing inflation; any change in
government policy, programs, and funding opportunities, whether provincial, national, or international
which could negatively affect the Company, and any failure of the same to continue to evolve in
accordance with Company's expectations; any change in capital or commodity markets, whether
generally or particularly in the clean technology sector, which could cause or compel the Company to
adjust its goals, reallocate capital, and/or pursue alternative financing options; and other risks and
uncertainties disclosed in other information released by the Company from time to time and filed with
the appropriate regulatory agencies.
All forward looking statements are based on the Company's beliefs and assumptions which are based
on information available at the time these assumptions are made. The Company has made the
following assumptions in relation to the forward-looking statements in this press release: the expected
environmental and economic benefits to be achieved from CVW™ technology; the ability of the
Company to successfully access various government funding programs; the details of government
funding programs and that such programs will be implemented (and not change) as expected; that the
Company will continue to be able to protect its intellectual property; assumptions as to various market
and commercial opportunities for the Company and its technology; and the ability of the Company to
continue to develop and commercialize its technology; that market conditions will not change
adversely so as to prevent the closing of the Classification Change on the terms previously described
or at all. The forward-looking statements contained herein are as of the date set out above and are
subject to change after this date, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or
revise the statements to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to
applicable laws.
Although management believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking
information or statements are reasonable, there is significant risk that the forward-looking information
or statements may not be achieved, and the underlying assumptions thereto will not prove to be
accurate. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations
expressed or implied in any forward-looking information or statements, including the underlying
assumptions thereto, as a result of numerous risks, uncertainties and factors including: failure to
obtain regulatory approvals; the possibility that opportunities will arise that require more cash than the
Company has or can reasonably obtain; dependence on key personnel; dependence on corporate
collaborations; potential delays; uncertainties related to early stage of technology and product
development; uncertainties as to fluctuation of the stock market; uncertainties as to future expense
levels and the possibility of unanticipated costs or expenses or cost overruns; and other risks and
uncertainties which may not be described herein.
For further information, please contact:
Akshay Dubey
Joshua Grant
CEO
403.460.8135
CFO
403.460.8135
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policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
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