VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 28, 2025 /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, 2025.
"In Q2 2025, we continued the momentum from the first quarter and grew our technical services revenues to $15.6 million for the first half of the year. We advanced several projects in Canada, USA, and China into the commissioning stage, and continued with the temporary water treatment operations for the emergency response at Eagle Gold Mine," said David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water. "We expect strong results over the next two quarters as we continue to complete these large projects, with potential for generating new recurring revenue from these projects."
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
-- Record revenues under GAAP and Proportional Revenues of $11.3 million and
$12.9 million in Q2 2025 respectively, compared to $3.4 million and $6.1
million in Q2 2024.
-- Historical high in technical services revenue for a 3-month period of
$10.1 million in Q2 2025 compared to $856,000 in Q2 2024.
-- Gross margin of $3.7 million in Q2 2025 compared to $1.6 million in Q2
2024, a $2.1 million increase.
-- Net income of $1.9 million in Q2 2025 compared to $560,000 in Q2 2024, a
$1.3 million increase.
-- Earnings per share (basic) of $1.48 in Q2 2025 compared to $0.44 in Q2
2024.
-- Adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 million in Q2 2025 compared to $1.3 million in Q2
2024, a $1.1 million increase.
-- Working capital of $16.2 million at June 30, 2025, compared to $12.6
million at December 31, 2024, a 28% increase.
Selected financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 are as follows:
(in '000s) 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
2025 2024 2025 2024
Revenue from Operation
Services 1,147 2,561 3,109 4,350
Revenue from Technical
Services 10,129 856 15,613 1,574
Revenue from joint
ventures in China 1,632 2,666 2,134 3,568
Proportional Revenues
(Non-GAAP measures) 12,908 6,083 20,856 9,492
Net income 1,908 560 3,635 70
Adjusted EBITDA
(Non-GAAP measures) 2,482 1,342 4,359 1,219
COMMENTARY AND OUTLOOK
We are very pleased to report record second quarter financial results, following on the heels of our record first quarter. The key areas that contributed to our year-to-date results for 2025 in technical services, recurring operations revenue, and our share of revenue from China joint ventures are as follows:
-- We delivered record technical services revenue of $15.6 million for the
first six months in 2025, with seven major projects at varying stages of
completion accounting for over 90% of this total. We completed
construction of a new plant as part of a broader tailings remediation
project, where our scope included traditional engineering and
commissioning services as well as the supply and installation of a water
treatment plant and related equipment. This combination of scope is not a
typical contract arrangement for us and is unlikely to be repeated in the
near term.
-- Our recurring revenue from water treatment operations decreased by $1.4
million in 2025 when compared to the same period in 2024 for two primary
reasons: (1) we were not operating at Minto Mine in 2025 and (2) as
previously reported, we reduced our scope of services at a plant in the
Southwest US on the renewal of our contract. Our Minto Mine operations
team was fully transitioned to the Eagle Mine in 2025. Although we have
generated steady monthly revenues from Eagle Mine since Q3 2024, and
water treatment operations represent the key component of our services
there, we do not include services at Eagle Mine as recurring operations
revenue. While we renewed our contract twice with the receiver of Eagle
Mine, the status and future requirements of the site are not yet known.
-- The metals recovery revenue from the JCC-BQE joint venture was
significantly lower than last year mainly due to a 52% reduction in
copper production when compared to the same period in 2024. Revenue from
metals recovery from China continues to fluctuate and its contribution to
BQE Water's overall performance has diminished.
While we are disappointed with the decline in our recurring revenue in 2025, we don't consider it to be indicative of a long-term trend reversal. Our strategic focus on growing our recurring revenue remains unchanged. We are developing new tools and avenues to support and possibly accelerate its growth. One example is our recently announced investment and expansion into aquatic toxicology services, which has the potential to open direct channels to existing operating plants.
Our current pipeline features a healthy mix of early-stage and well-advanced stage projects. The advanced stage projects are expected to move into construction with possible recurring operations revenue. Our pipeline of new and early-stage projects in 2025 reflects several notable trends:
-- Selenium management features strongly in all of our new early-stage
projects in 2025.
-- BQE Water's leadership and expertise in applying ion exchange $(IX)$ on an
industrial scale is being recognized.
-- The number of SART projects has increased significantly, likely due to
the strength of the precious metals sector.
-- We have started working on projects in different areas of the metals
mining and extraction market, including:
-- Wastewater treatment integrated into rare earth elements recovery;
-- Cyanide and metals cyanide complexes removal to meet ultralow
limits of single digit ppb for environmental compliance;
-- Lithium brine purification to manage impurities;
-- Cobalt/nickel recovery from wastewater as a way of offsetting
long-term water treatment costs;
-- Cobalt recovery as a primary resource; and
-- Rhenium purification.
For the remainder of 2025, we continue to have good visibility and certainty over existing operations contracts and several large technical services contracts. As such, we expect strong results over the next two quarters.
OPERATIONAL SERVICES HIGHLIGHTS
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:
Operations Location Revenue Source
JCC-BQE Joint Venture Jiangxi province, China Sales of recovered metals
MWT-BQE Joint Venture Shandong province, China Water treatment fees
Raglan Mine for Glencore Northern Québec, Water treatment fees
Canada
Zhongkuang Metallurgical Shandong province, China Operations support fees
Facilities for MWT
Zhaojin Metallurgical Shandong province, China Operations support fees
Facilities for MWT
Power utility ash pond Eastern USA Water treatment fees
for WesTech
Base metal project for a Southwestern USA Operations support fees
metal producer
JCC-BQE Joint Venture Operations
Our 50/50 joint venture with partner Jiangxi Copper Company ("JCC") operates three water treatment plants at Dexing Mine and at Yinshan Mine in Jiangxi province of China. The volume of water treated, and metals recovered by the plants fluctuate seasonally depending on precipitation levels in the region. The operating results for the three and six months ended June 20, 2025 are as follows:
(in '000s) 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
2025 2024 2025 2024
Water treated (cubic
metres) 6,152 8,249 8,067 12,452
Copper recovered
(pounds) 471 919 619 1,299
Zinc recovered (pounds) 512 430 689 532
In Q2 2025, all three plants met mechanical availability and process performance set by the Company. The volume of water treated decreased by 25% and the mass of copper recovered decreased by 49% when compared to Q2 2024. Such changes in water volume and metal grade in feed water from period to period are largely the result of environmental conditions beyond the control of the joint venture.
MWT-BQE Joint Venture Operations
Our 20% share of MWT-BQE is with our 80% partner Beijing MWT Water Treatment Project Limited Company ("MWT") and together we operate a water treatment plant at a smelter in Shandong province of China. Starting Q1 2025, MWT-BQE amended the contract with the customer from generating revenues from the sale of recovered metals to water treatment fees for the treatment of smelter wastewater. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 are as follows:
(in '000s) 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
2025 2024 2025 2024
Water treated (cubic
metres) 38 63 107 130
BQE Water Operations
The number of operating days contributing to water treatment or support fees for three and six months ended June 30, 2025 are as follows:
(in days) 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
2025 2024 2025 2024
Raglan Mine water
treatment plants 58 26 58 26
Zhongkuang SART plant 85 86 175 177
Zhaojin SART plant 91 87 176 178
Water treatment plant in
Eastern USA 64 69 128 136
Water treatment plants
in Southwest USA 91 91 181 182
The volume of water treated by geographic location for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 are as follows:
(in '000s cubic metres) 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
2025 2024 2025 2024
Raglan Mine water
treatment plants 273 210 273 210
SART plants in China 170 150 280 286
Water treatment plants
in USA 578 183 1,327 384
The Company, with our Inuit partner Nuvumiut Development, operates four water treatment plants at Raglan Mine for Glencore Canada Corporation ("Glencore"). During Q2 2025, we mobilized our operations team to site to commence our 22nd operating season at the mine. Operational activities were initiated in early May and treated water discharge began in the same month.
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 2025 without disruption.
In 2022, we began operations of a treatment plant utilizing our Selen-IX$(TM)$ process to remove selenium from ash pond water for WesTech Engineering ("WesTech"). In Q2 2025, our team continued at site providing water treatment services with the Selen-IX(TM) circuit to manage the presence of selenium in the feed.
In January 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 August 2023, our team completed the performance test milestone for a 2nd newly constructed selenium removal water treatment plant which entered the operation phase. Starting April 2025, we have reduced our scope from full operations of the treatment plant to operations support by providing technical onsite supervision at the treatment plants.
TECHNICAL SERVICES HIGHLIGHTS
BQE Water's technical expertise and IP are applicable globally across broad areas of water management. Highlights of some of our technical services and technical innovation projects during Q2 2025 are summarized below.
Trusted Advisory Services (Water Management and Water Studies)
-- Completed the construction and initiated the commissioning phase of a
water treatment facility to support the clean-up of legacy tailings site
in the Yukon.
-- Continued to provide ongoing advisory and water treatment services in
response to the environmental emergency caused by a heap leach failure at
the Eagle Gold Mine in the Yukon.
-- Continued plant operations support and engineering services to an
actively producing mine requiring improvements to their existing
treatment in the Yukon.
-- Commenced the commissioning process of a selenium removal plant using
BQE's Selen-IX(TM) to meet end-of-pipe limit of less than 2 parts per
billion at a gold mine in US.
-- Continued assisting an integrated lead smelter-recycling facility in
Eastern Canada with completing upgrades to existing treatment system and
implementation of new sulphate removal stage to a discharge limit less
than 1,500 mg/L and initiated operations support for the newly upgraded
facility.
-- Initiated preparations for on-site pilot demonstration of Selen-IX at an
operating mine in the US using the company's mobile unit.
-- Completed a technical assessment of recovering cobalt and nickel from
acid mine wastewater using ion exchange at an operating mine owned by a
Canadian producer.
-- Initiated lab testing of lithium brine purification using ion exchange
for a customer in Canada.
-- Provided field commissioning and operations support for a water treatment
system integrated into a rare earth extraction pilot plant in Brazil.
-- Provided engineering services to support the completion of a feasibility
study involving water treatment as part of a rare earth extraction
project in Chile.
-- Completed preliminary engineering aimed to expand rhenium production at
an existing facility using ion exchange.
-- Initiated a study to assess methods of improving quality of recycled
water to help increase metallurgical performance at an operating mine in
Mexico.
Cyanide Management (Destruction and Recycle)
-- Continued to provide plant engineering design services to a US project
requiring the end-of-pipe cyanide level below 8 ppb.
-- Completed a preliminary technical assessment of SART integrated into an
existing gold metallurgical facility in Chile.
-- Initiated a study aimed at improving tailings water quality by
implementing SART at a gold metallurgical facility in Canada.
-- Initiated a preliminary economic assessment of SART to be integrated into
an existing heap leach operation in the US.
-- Initiated the design for construction of a SART plant at a mine in
Mexico.
-- Advanced to the commissioning stage for Shandong Gold for the third SART
plant in China.
SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION
For a complete set of Financial Statements and MD&A, please go to www.bqewater.com.
(in $'000 except for per 3 months ended Jun. 30 6 months ended Jun. 30
share amounts)
2025 2024 2025 2024
$ $ $ $
Revenues 11,276 3,417 18,722 5,924
Operating expenses
(excluding depreciation) (7,575) (1,810) (11,814) (3,213)
Gross margin 3,701 1,607 6,908 2,711
Share of income from joint
ventures 427 1,129 488 1,461
General and administration (1,029) (892) (1,796) (1,592)
Sales and development (804) (928) (1,480) (1,852)
Share-based payments (191) (343) (274) (617)
Depreciation and
amortization (134) (103) (260) (205)
Income (loss) from
operations and joint
ventures 1,970 470 3,586 (94)
Other income (expenses) (54) 100 53 187
Income tax expenses (8) (10) (4) (23)
Net income for the period 1,908 560 3,635 70
Net earnings per share
(basic) 1.48 0.44 2.81 0.06
Net earnings per share
(diluted) 1.46 0.43 2.78 0.06
Proportional Revenues
(Non-GAAP measures) 12,908 6,083 20,856 9,492
Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP
measures) 2,482 1,342 4,359 1,219
Comprehensive income 1,646 574 3,382 128
at Jun. 30, at Dec. 31,
2025 2024
$ $
Cash and cash equivalents 13,911 11,771
Working capital 16,174 12,593
Total assets 31,061 27,093
Total non-current
liabilities 2,170 1,842
Shareholders' equity 24,136 20,529
About BQE Water
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, 2024). 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.
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/CONTACT:
For further information please contact: BQE Water Inc., Suite 200 - 30 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 1J4, 604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073, David Kratochvil, President & CEO, dkratochvil@bqewater.com; Heman Wong, CFO, hwong@bqewater.com
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