(TheNewswire)
Team to Kick OffDetailed Bench-Scale Testing Program in January
Toronto, ON - TheNewswire - December 12, 2023 - BacTechEnvironmental Corporation (“ BacTech ” or the “ Company ”) (CSE:BAC ) ( OTC:BCCEF ) ( FSE:0BT1) , a well-established environmental technologycompany specializing in environmentally friendly bioleaching andremediation solutions for the recovery of precious metals and criticalminerals, has issued an update on its proposed pyrrhotite bioleachR&D project in Sudbury, Canada.
As previouslyreported , BacTech is part of aconsortium aiming to provide innovative solutions for remediating80-100 million tonnes of pyrrhotite tailings deposited in and around Sudbury. Pyrrhotite(“ Po ”) is a highly reactive iron sulfide mineral that reacts strong ly when exposed tooxygen, releasing soluble acidic iron harmful to the environment.Historically, predecessor companies such as INCO and Falconbridgeseparated pyrrhotite from the more valuable nickel cobalt pentlandite,depositing resulting pyrrhotite waste either underwater or undercaps/covers to prevent oxidation. Despite being contained, natural bacteria can cause some degradationover the years. Current ly ,Vale and Glencor e , continue managing these tailings to reduce theirlong-term liabilities .
Dr. Nadia Mykytc z uk, President and CEO of Mirarco, a leader in innovative solutions for themining industry, confirmed that the continuous laboratory-scalebioleach pilot plant is undergoing pre-testing of equipment. This willlead to BacTech’s technology being tested on a few kilograms a daybasis starting in January 2024, with the program estimated to runapproximately 6 months.
Techno-Economic Feasibility Testing
The objective of the overall test is to determine if bioleaching cannot only break down pyrrhotite to liberate small amounts of cobalt andnickel values as project revenue streams but also if other by-products from bioleaching can be manipulatedinto intermediary products of value, creating additional revenuestreams. Technically, the results will be crucial for BacTech insecuring patent protection for this innovative process, representingthe next step in advancing the provisional patent application alreadyin place. Commercially, the results are vital for designing a fullyintegrated demonstration plant using commercial-scale equipment,proving the techno-economics of the entire process and producingtonnage quantities of products for end-user testing. This would leadto the construction of a full-scale prototype production facility.
Readying Proven Tech for Today’sEconomy
Over 20 years ago, BacTech conducted a pilot project in Australia(Radio Hill Mine), successfully bioleaching pyrrhotite to recovernickel and cobalt into a saleable mixed precipitate. However, economicviability was hindered by the need to dispose of benign waste from thebioleach process. Fast forward to the present, the total flowsheetconcept has been redesigned, focusing on managing benign waste streamsas a key process driver to enhance profitability. The combination ofreducing the need for benign waste disposal facilities anddiversifying revenue streams benefits project economics. Proventechnologies can integrate with conventional bioleach processes tocreate saleable intermediary products from waste streams, reignitingresearch in this area.
Ross Orr, President and CEO of BacTech, explained, “Pyrrhotite is an interesting mineral.The idea here is to create separate products for sale from theoriginal elements. For example, roughly 60% of pyrrhotite is iron. Ifthe free iron generated from the bioleaching process can bereconstituted as a feed to replace iron ore as an input to steelmakinginstead of being disposed of as benign waste, we would have a majorbreakthrough.” Orr added, “In addition to iron, production of elemental sulfur, anothermajor component of the original pyrrhotite waste, could be sold to thesulfuric acid industry. The nickel grade in Po is roughly 0.8%, withsome associated cobalt, a key feature of revenue. At today’s nickelprices, the tails contain approximately $15 billion alone. These couldbe precipitated for sale, as demonstrated from BacTech’s pilotingexperience in processing Radio Hill material in Australia. Finally,the clean siliceous waste from our processing, making up about 15% ofthe original feed, can be used to produce construction materials usinginnovative proven geopolymer technology.” Orr concluded, “It may be that we cannotsuccessfully manipulate all of these by-product streams, but thetransformation of a majority of process streams into revenue creators,as opposed to creating benign wastes, would be an economicgame-changer for environmental remediation of pyrrhotite tailingsusing bioleaching.”
Success factors for this program include co-production of metals andmaterials, demonstration of environmentally benign processing, andcompetitive economics in today’s evolving market. BacTechanticipates providing results on an ongoing basis over the 6-monthtest program
About BacTech’s Tenguel – PonceEnriquez Bioleaching Project
BacTech plans to construct an owner-operatedbioleaching facility in Tenguel, Ecuador, a region known for itsassociation with arsenic in sulphide gold ore (Arsenopyrite). Thecompany intends to build a 50 tpd bioleach plant capable of treatinghigh gold/arsenic material. Such a plant, processing feed with 1.75ounces of gold per tonne, similar to what local miners provide, wouldyield approximately 31,000 ounces per year. The modular plant designsallow for expansion without disrupting ongoing production. BacTech hasalso signed an agreement with the government for a Phase 2 plant thatwould add 150-200 tpd of capacity, producing more than 100,000 ouncesper annum.
Key economic highlights, assuming a base gold price of$1,600 per ounce, include:
• Pre-tax NPV (Net Present Value with a 5% discountrate) of $60.7 million
• Pre-tax IRR (Internal Rate of Return) of 57.9%
• Annual Gold Production of 30,900 ounces • CapitalCost of $17.0 million
• Bioleach Operating Cost of $212 per tonne
• Pre-tax Earnings Prior to Employee Bonus – $10.9million annually
• Estimated local employee bonus pool – $1.64million
The area hosts over 100 small mines, and BacTech isactively exploring the possibility of establishing modern bioleachingfacilities in other regions of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Thecompany aims to collaborate with national and local governments,non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders to fundthese projects and ensure adherence to high environmental and ESG(Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards.
About BacTech EnvironmentalCorporation
BacTech Environmental Corporation is a company thatspecializes in environmental technology. We use a process calledbioleaching to recover metals like gold, silver, cobalt, nickel, andcopper, while also safely removing harmful contaminants like arsenic.This process is eco-friendly and uses naturally occurring bacteriathat are safe for both humans and the environment. By using ourproprietary method of bioleaching, we can neutralize toxicconcentrates and tailings while also creating profitableopportunities. The company is publicly traded on several stockexchanges, including the CSE, OTCQB, and Frankfurt StockExchange.
For further information contact:
Ross Orr
President & CEO, BacTechEnvironmental Corporation
416-813-0303 ext. 222
Vimeo http://vimeo.com/bactechgreen
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-lookinginformation”, which may include, but is not limited to, statementswith respect to future tailings sites, sampling or otherinvestigations of tailing sites, the Company’s ability to make useof infrastructure around tailings sites or operating performance ofthe Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-lookingstatements can be identified using words such as “plans”,“expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”,“estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, orbelieves” or variations (including negative variations) of suchwords and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results“may”, “could”, “would”, “ might ” or “will” be taken, occuror be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknownrisks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of theCompany to be materially different from any future results,performance or achievements expressed or implied by theforward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements containedherein are made as of the date of this news release and the Companydisclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update anyforward-looking statements whether because of new information,results, future events, circumstances, or if management’s estimatesor opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurancethat forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actualresults and future events could differ materially from thoseanticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautionednot to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewedand does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy ofthe contents of this release.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sellor a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the shares, nor is it asolicitation of interest from a prospective investor.
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