VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwired) — 10/14/14 — BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX: BQE), a leader in the treatment of mine impacted waters, is pleased to announce that a settlement has been reached in its litigation with Aditya Birla Minerals (“Birla”).
Under the terms of the settlement, BioteQ has agreed to pay $75,000 Australian dollars (approximately $73,000 Canadian dollars) to Birla by October 30, 2014. Birla will take ownership of all demobilization obligations and residual plant equipment currently at their Mt. Gordon mine site. Both parties also agree to release and withdraw their claims against each other. The settlement agreement involves no admission of liability or violation of law by either party, and bars the parties from pursuing further associated claims in the future.
“These legal claims were originally filed in 2010 and relate to matters dating back as far as 2006,” said BioteQ President & Interim CEO, David Kratochvil. “With the legal complexity of the charges filed by both parties and the volume of data, information and facts collected, this case has involved substantial time and expense on pleadings, motions and discovery to date. Although we firmly believe we have substantial legal and factual defenses to all of Birla–s claims as well as a strong basis for our counter claim, management and our Board of Directors have determined that a settlement at this time is in the best interests of BioteQ and its shareholders. By eliminating the future expense and uncertainty related to this litigation, the settlement allows us to focus on our strategic initiatives and plans for growth.”
As a result of the settlement agreement, BioteQ will record a one-time charge of $75,000 AUD in the third quarter ending September 30, 2014. For more information on the case, please refer to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in BioteQ–s 2013 Annual Report.
BioteQ Corporate Profile
BioteQ is an innovative clean technology leader in global mine water treatment, serving the mining, metal smelting, refining and hydrometallurgical sectors. The company has commercially proven patented technologies and operational capabilities to help customers achieve compliance with stringent regulations cost effectively while minimizing waste and maximizing water recovery. Over the past decade, BioteQ has designed and commissioned plants at mine sites for leading organizations including Glencore-Xstrata, Freeport McMoRan, Jiangxi Copper and the US EPA and is currently operating six plants under long-term contracts. These plants remove dissolved metals and sulphate to well below the required regulatory discharge limits while reducing or eliminating the production of waste sludge and/or recovering valuable metals from waste streams for sale which reduces the life cycle cost of water treatment. BioteQ is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX under the symbol BQE. Please visit our website at for additional information.
The Toronto Stock 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 (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, 2013 and the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company–s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2013). 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.
Contacts:
BioteQ Environmental Technologies
David Kratochvil
President & Interim CEO
604.685.1243 or 1.800.537.3073
BioteQ Environmental Technologies
Paul Kim
CFO
604.685.1243 or 1.800.537.3073