BQE BQE Water Inc

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 25, 2023 /CNW/ - BQE Water Inc. (TSXV: BQE), a leader in the treatment and management of mine impacted waters, is pleased to release its interim consolidated financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023.

"With new streams of recurring revenues that began last year, we grew our 2023 year-to-date revenues from water treatment fees to $2.3 million from $848,000, a record high for a first half of the year in our company history. Looking forward, we plan to continue to execute on our long-term growth strategy, expand our project pipeline, and grow our recurring revenues as we bring online the fourth Selen-IX™ treatment plant at a US mine and a third SART plant in China." stated David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water.

• Grew both Proportional and GAAP revenues by 12% and 54% respectively, compared to Q2 2022.
• Doubled our operating margin from $949,000 in Q2 2022 to $2.0 million in Q2 2023.
• Recorded net income of $615,000 and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 million in Q2 2023 compared to $642,000 and $1.3 million in Q2 2022.
• Ended Q2 2023 with $6.8 million in working capital, $4.7 million in cash and $7.5 million in Proportional cash.

Other selected financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 are as follows:

Our operational services consist of the operation or technical supervision of water treatment plants, which generate recurring revenues from three main sources: sales of recovered metals, water treatment fees and operations support fees. The Company's operations by source of revenue are as follows:

Our 50/50 joint venture with partner Jiangxi Copper Company operates three water treatment plants at Dexing Mine and at Yinshan Mine in Jiangxi province of China. The volume of water treated and pounds of copper recovered by the plants fluctuate seasonally depending on precipitation levels in the region. The operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 are as follows:

In Q2 2023, all three plants met mechanical availability and process performance targets set by the Company. The volume of water treated increased by 27% while the mass of copper recovered decreased by 28% compared to Q2 2022. Changes in water volume and feed grade from period to period are largely the result of environmental conditions beyond the control of the joint venture.

Our 20% share in MWT-BQE is with our 80% partner Beijing MWT Water Treatment Project Limited Company and together we operate a water treatment plant at a smelter in Shandong province of China. MWT-BQE generates revenues from the sale of zinc and copper recovered from smelter wastewater. The operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 are as follows:

The smelter periodically operated its production lines with ores from different sources which led to varying concentrations of zinc and copper in the feed and fluctuations in the volume of wastewater treated by the plant. The joint venture has no control over the composition and volume of feed that flows into the plant. During Q2 2023, the plant was shut down temporarily as the value of zinc and copper in the feed was lower than the recovery cost of the metals.

The number of operating days contributing to water treatment or support fees by plant for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 are as follows:

The volume of water treated by geographic location for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 are as follows:

The Company, with Inuit partner Nuvumiut Development, operates four treatment plants at Raglan Mine in Nunavik for Glencore Canada Corporation. During Q2 2023, we mobilized our operations team to site to commence our 20th operating season at the mine. Operational activities were initiated in May and treated water discharge began the same month.

In September 2022, we began providing operational services for Minto Metals at Minto Mine in the Yukon. During the second quarter, the customer ceased active operations at the mine and the Yukon Government stepped in to ensure the continuation of water management services in support of environmental protection. Throughout this transition, our operators were onsite to operate the water treatment plant and provide continuous water treatment.

In 2021, we began operations of the Zhongkuang SART plant and the Zhaojin SART plant at metallurgical facilities in China. Both plants have been under our technical supervision since the start of full production. Both SART plants operated fully throughout Q2 2023 without disruption.

In 2021, we completed the commissioning of our first project in the power generation industry, a treatment plant utilizing our Selen-IX™ process to remove selenium from ash pond water for WesTech Engineering. In Q2 2023, our operations team continued providing water treatment services with the Selen-IX™ circuit to manage the presence of any selenium in the feed.

In 2022, we completed the commissioning of a treatment plant utilizing a combination of nanofiltration and our proprietary selenium electro-reduction process for the simultaneous removal of selenium and sulphate from mine water for a base metal project in the American Southwest. In Q1 2023, our team successfully completed the performance test milestone for the treatment plant. As a result, we are now also receiving a variable treatment fee based on the volume of water treated, in addition to the monthly base fee.

BQE Water's technical expertise and IP are applicable globally across broad areas of water management. The highlights of technical services provided to clients and technical innovation projects during Q2 2023 are summarized below.

• Initiated the wet commissioning phase of a third Selen-IX™ plant at a US mine.
• Completed a lab scale treatability assessment for selenium removal from contact water at an existing gold mine undergoing expansion in the US.
• Initiated a preliminary technical assessment to treat selenium rich wastewater at a power generation site in the US.

• Completed a feasibility study design report for post closure water treatment at an existing copper mine in BC.
• Continued to provide engineering design services for three water treatment plants to support permitting of the KSM gold-copper project in BC.
• Operated a pilot water treatment facility at a rare earth elements project in Chile.
• Completed a treatability assessment and preliminary design for copper concentrate filtrate that will need to comply with stringent limits for molybdenum and sulphate in Argentina.
• Completed a lab scale treatability study utilizing our Sulf-IX™ technology to treat and eliminate brine as part of a broader study to comply with sulphate discharge regulations for a tailings storage facility at an existing iron ore processing facility in the US.
• Completed a laboratory scale program aimed at increasing water recovery and reducing brine waste for a reverse osmosis system being planned for implementation at a gold mine in BC.

• Completed a cyanide removal treatability test and preliminary engineering design for a cyanide removal plant at a project where the discharge limit is expected to be less than 10 ppb in the US.
• Performed a site visit and completed a preliminary technical assessment to integrate a SART process and recover cyanide from thiocyanate at a gold mining operation in Ontario.
• Continued with the engineering design for a third SART plant for Shandong Gold in China.
• Completed humidity cell testing to support permitting for the co-disposal of tailings containing traces of residual cyanide and residue from the electro-reduction of selenium for a project in the US.

Overall, we are very pleased with our second quarter results. We delivered significant growth in GAAP revenues, which more than offset a decline in our share of revenues from China joint ventures and allowed us to deliver good growth in Proportional revenues as well. A closer look at our revenue breakdown shows strong progress in the execution of our key strategic initiatives.

First, recurring revenues from water treatment fees are foundational to our business model. During Q2 2023 water treatment fees increased by $775,000 from Q2 2022, offsetting the $856,000 decrease in recurring revenues from the sale of recovered metals that are largely dependent on commodity prices and seasonal climate fluctuations in China. This shift is part of an anticipated longer-term rebalancing trend in favour of water treatment fees.

Second, our technical services revenues also increased $689,000 from Q2 2022. As technical services precede and often lead to future full-scale plants and the accompanying plant operations that generate recurring revenues from water treatment fees, a strong and steady stream of revenues from technical services bodes well for our long-term growth.

Another development in Q2 2023 that deserves mention is the operational status of Minto Mine. Despite the sudden stoppage in mine operations, we continue to be responsible for clean water production and environmental protection at the site under new contractual arrangements, first with JDS Energy and Mining and now with the Yukon Government. Although we recorded a bad debt expense of $259,000 on receivables from Minto Metals during the quarter, we have gained an opportunity for long-term engagement with the Yukon Government for this site and potentially other sites in the territory.

On the project side, we are pleased with the successful completion of pilot campaigns for Codelco utilizing our Sulf-IX™ and BioSulphide® processes. These campaigns met all project objectives set out by Codelco, and Codelco has now initiated internal planning of next steps, including the engineering of an industrial scale demonstration facility to support scale-up to the full flow of mine water.

We received important industry recognition for our Selen-IX™ process for selenium removal when we were awarded the 2023 MetSoc Innovation Award winner. MetSoc is a constituent society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and organizes annual awards to acknowledge advancements in the industry. Equally gratifying is the steady stream of inquiries about selenium management we are receiving from different projects across North America. We are continuing to grow our track record as water specialists helping mines in development fulfill their permitting requirements to secure the necessary approvals to advance their projects. Reviews for these projects have been completed by both government regulators and Indigenous groups.        

Looking at our year-to-date results, while our operating margin increased in 2023 compared to 2022, our team and costs have grown, resulting in a lower net income. There are two components in the overall cost increases: general inflation and corporate growth. We anticipate that the peak of cost increases is now behind us. Pricing for our technical services has been adjusted for inflation and all future contracts include an inflation adjustment provision. Costs to establish operations support infrastructure and to grow our capacity to execute projects – both required for long-term growth – are already reflected in our costs. We do not anticipate our overall costs to decrease moving forward, but we do expect them to stabilize as our internal processes for onboarding and professional development improve, and our capacity to execute projects starts to benefit from training already completed. 

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2023, we plan to continue executing on existing projects and expect to add a new stream of water treatment fees in Q3 2023 from the latest selenium removal plant in the US. While we expect strong revenues from technical services in 2023, we are seeing delays in investment decisions related to new projects, which may affect our revenues in 2024. Our technical services are a mix of activities related not only to capital spending for new mines but also expansions of existing mines, with operational improvements, optimizations, and permitting activities all preceding major capital spending. We expect this to mitigate impacts from a slow-down in major capital investments in the short-term. In the medium and long-term, we see no change in the heightened focus on environmental protection, stricter regulations, need for social acceptability of natural resource extraction projects, and the outsourcing of water know-how; all factors that support our long-term growth.

We expect our balance sheet to remain strong as we enter 2024. We are pleased to announce that we received our 2022 annual dividend of $1.2 million in July 2023 from our China joint venture. As the dividend was subsequently received after the reporting period, the cash receipt of the dividend is not reflected in our Q2 2023 financial statements.

For a complete set of Interim Financial Statements and MD&A, please go to www.bqewater.com.

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.

The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.

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 www.sedarplus.ca (including without limitation the factors described in the section entitled "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022). 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.

SOURCE BQE Water Inc.