BacTech Signs Association Contract With COMIBOL for Remediation of Telamayu Tailings

TORONTO, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/24/16 -- BacTech Environmental Corporation ("BacTech" or the "Company"), (CSE: BAC) (OTC PINK: BCCEF) (WKN: A1H4TY) announced today that its 98% owned Bolivian subsidiary Empresa Minera Ambiental BacTech S.A. ("EMABSA"), has signed an Association Contract with Corporacion Minera de Bolivia ("COMIBOL"), the state mining company of Bolivia.

The ten-year contract calls for the environmental remediation and restoration of the "Antigua" tailings and an option on the "Nuevo" tailings, both situated at the Telamayu mill site. Telamayu is situated near the town of Atocha in the Department of Potosi. The agreement envisions three phases, with the first phase focused on the completion of a technical study on the 600,000 tonne Antigua tails. Included in the study will be the drilling of a grid of 10 metre holes that will provide information for a NI 43-101 study. In addition, tailings material will be used in metallurgical studies to determine the optimal flow chart for the proposed plant. Engineering of the plant will be conducted by Bumigeme Inc. of Montreal, Canada.

To date, the Company has conducted its own preliminary study on the tailings from material provided by COMIBOL. Approximately four years ago, COMIBOL collected some 2,000 bags of material at 1 metre intervals from 4 separate holes dug to the bottom of the tailings. BacTech engaged SGS Bolivia S.A. to take samples from each bag to create a 250 tonne representative sample for assay and early flotation work.

The work was carried out at PRA Inspectorate Labs in Vancouver and confirmed the reported grades provided earlier by COMIBOL. The tailings contain high levels of silver (8.8 oz/tonne), copper (2.24%), and commercial quantities of tin (1.5%). The early testwork showed that the material responded well to concentration by washing followed by flotation, while the assay and particle size data suggested that gravity separation may also be appropriate for recovery of coarse silver and tin values and should be investigated in subsequent testwork. It is therefore expected that the recovery will be improved by conducting further testwork. The results from the early work conducted by PRA Laboratories are summarized later in the press release.

The second phase will be the construction of a processing plant that will create concentrates of silver, tin and copper using conventional processing. There will be contributions from gravity separation, flotation concentration, and copper precipitation from water creating the final products leaving site.

There is considerable infrastructure at the mill site including power, rail, a mill housing and a local workforce. The Telamayu mill has processed ores from the surrounding mines for over 70 years, with the Antigua and Nuevo tailings created from the operation. The existing infrastructure should lead to reduced capital costs.

The final stage is the commercialization of the plant which is expected to be completed within the next 12 to 15 months. All three stages require the posting of a performance bond that is released upon completion of each phase. BacTech has posted a bond of USD$26,000 to cover the initial phase.

The Nuevo tailings are considerably larger, estimated to be approximately 4 million tonnes, but contain lower grades than Antigua. At some point in the future, BacTech will conduct an evaluation and an economic study to determine the viability of the tailings.

Previous Assays

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             Element      Unit    Telamayu Tailing
                                             Comp.
--------------------------------------------------
              Silver      g/mt               275.0
--------------------------------------------------
                Gold      g/mt                0.24
--------------------------------------------------
                 Tin         %                1.57
--------------------------------------------------
            Antimony         %                0.95
--------------------------------------------------
              Copper         %                2.24
--------------------------------------------------
             Bismuth         %                0.56
--------------------------------------------------

As mentioned previously, BacTech conducted its own evaluation from material provided by COMIBOL. It is understood that the mill processed head grades of 9,300 grams per tonne (300 opt) silver which provides an explanation for the high silver grades. It seems that the high grade copper is a result of no effort to capture the metal during processing of zinc, silver and tin.

"This agreement provides BacTech with a soft entry into the Bolivian market. The combination of low capex, multiple metals for recovery and a strong partner in COMIBOL, provides a great stepping stone for additional environmental reclamation projects in partnership with COMIBOL in the future. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company receives 100% of the cash flow in the initial 18 months or until the project financing debt is repaid, whichever comes first," said Ross Orr, President and CEO of BacTech.

BacTech's in-country General Manager for Bolivia is Dr. Jose Cordova, who has 32 years of experience in global mining, including positions as both President and as Technical Manager for COMIBOL. Dr. Cordova will be responsible for the development of the Telamayu project. EMABSA's in-country legal representatives are Reynolds and Associates.

The tonnages provided by COMIBOL are of a historical nature and have not been confirmed by the Company. BacTech is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or reserves as they are not NI 43-101 compliant.

The Qualified Person ("QP") on the press release is Gary Williams, P.Geo.

Company Profile

BacTech Environmental Corporation holds the perpetual, exclusive, royalty-free rights to use the patented BACOX bioleaching technology for the reclamation of tailings and mining waste materials. The Company's principle focus is a high- grade silver/copper tailings project called Telamayu, located in Atocha, Bolivia, in association with COMIBOL, the state mining group. The Company signed an MOU with Duran Ventures Inc. to explore the viability of building a BACOX plant in Peru to treat high-grade gold/arsenic ores. Investigation has begun to identify similar opportunities in Ecuador. The Company continues to field enquiries globally with respect to additional opportunities for remediation, including licensing transactions for the technology.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information", which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to future tailings sites, sampling or other investigations of tailing sites, the Company's ability to make use of infrastructure around tailings sites or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward- looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Shares outstanding 42,393,994

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

Contacts:
Ross Orr
President & CEO
BacTech Environmental Corporation
416-813-0303 ext 222
[email protected]

Source: BacTech Environmental Corporation

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