Bioteq Environmental posts record topline despite lower copper prices

Bioteq Environmental’s water treatment facility in China. Bioteq Environmental (TSX:BQE) today reported its fiscal 2012 results. The Vancouver-based cleantech lost $3.36-million on revenue of $9.4 million, which was up 27% over the $7.4 million topline the company posted in 2011.

CEO Jonathan Wilkinson said the year was an important one in setting up future growth.

“2012 was a year in which significant progress was made with regard to development and implementation of a new strategy that we believe will stabilize the existing business and provide a platform for rapid growth going forward,” he said. “Given the numerous financial, sales and operational accomplishments made by the company over the past 12 months, I believe that we are poised for sustained growth and that we are well on our way towards creating a robust, innovative and financially sound organization.”

Vancouver’s Bioteq Environmental has been in the water treatment technologies field since 1998, and has a pitch that sounds as though it would be hard for many of the world’s larger mining companies and utility operators to refuse. In an increasingly regulated environment, Bioteq has developed a sulphide based process that recovers metals from contaminated water and leaves behind clean water, besting older, sulphate based treatment systems. To top it off, the recovered metals from Bioteq’s processes are byproducts that can be sold to offset the cost of water treatment.

Bioteq’s 2012 sales came largely from the sale of copper recovered at its three active treatment operations, in China, Quebec, and Arizona. The three plants treated 2.2 million cubic metres of water during the quarter, and recovered 2.5 million pounds of metal. The company says its record revenue cam despite “significantly lower copper pricing in 2012 vs. 2011”. Copper spent much of 2011 over the $4 mark, but did not approach that mark in 2012, and currently goes for (US) $3.42 a pound.

Bioteq management says it may soon add to its operations, as a proposed treatment facility to remove arsenic from a mine in Chile is in the review phase.

Shares of Bioteq Environmental closed today even at $.145.

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