BioteQ Settles Litigation with Aditya Birla Minerals
VANCOUVER, BC – 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 atwww.bioteq.ca for additional information.
