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Clean TeQ Water shares rise Dewatering Technology
SURFACE MINING
Dewatering Technology
Clean TeQ Water shares rise
Following the conclusion of an exclusive global technological licensing deal with Soane Labs LLC for its ATATM (Accelerated Dewatering Technology), Clean TeQ Water Ltd (ASX:CNQ) shares increased 6% intraday to $0.62.
The deal grants Clean TeQ a sole global right to use the ATA technology and gives Clean TeQ the option to buy the technology at its own discretion within 18 months. During the 18-month evaluation period, Clean TeQ will finish its due diligence and start a pilot-scale demonstration to verify the technology's effectiveness and costs.
"We are happy to have signed this deal with Soane Labs," said CEO William Vriesendorp. "We feel that this is an extraordinarily exciting and diverse portfolio of technologies that will strongly position our company to provide innovative solutions in mine waste management." Our current objective of developing innovations that use low-cost solutions to address big challenges and with a reduced energy impact is complemented by licensing the ATATM technology.
License terms
According to the conditions of the license, Clean TeQ must pay Soane Labs up to $300,000 over an 18-month period. Clean TeQ will pay Soane Labs A$3 million in cash, shares, or a mix of cash and shares, at Clean TeQ's discretion, if it chooses to exercise its option to purchase the technology.
The licensing agreement is already in existence, and a consulting services agreement will be added so that Soane Labs may continue to support Clean TeQ as long as the license is in effect.
Quick separation of solids and water
By quickly separating water and solids to create stackable tailings and recycled water, ATA technology was created to provide a secure and affordable mining tailings treatment method.
The solids in ore slurries are swiftly agglomerated by ATA using clever chemistry. The solids are either screen filtered and dewatered using gravity, or low-pressure filters might be employed instead.
The materials that are produced can be compacted and piled, and the extracted water can be recycled, significantly lowering the amount of water used. The compact material may be used for backfill in underground mining operations, either with or without cement.
Massive market potential
According to Clean TeQ, mine waste dewatering offers a large market opportunity. At many mine sites across the world, dewatering is a serious environmental and safety concern, especially in tropical areas where natural evaporation rates are low or where seismic activity raises geotechnical risks.
Rapid and inexpensive dewatering technology, like ATA, will also become crucial for achieving the mining industry's ESG goals as environmental bonding requirements rise in reaction to the greater perceived risk in maintaining tailings storage facilities.
According to Clean TeQ, chemical-based approaches to mine waste dewatering yield significantly better results than mechanical-based ones. To extract water from a slurry, current technologies use a combination of high-pressure filtration and/or mechanical evaporation, which is costly and energy-intensive.
Applications for base and precious metals
Additional advantages of the ATA technology, according to Clean TeQ, include the ability to recover important metals as part of a comprehensive mine rehabilitation program when combined with its own ion exchange systems (Clean-iX®).
In South Africa, the ATA technology is already in use in applications for the quick dewatering of mine tailings. Soane Labs will continue to be the owner of the current apps, while Clean TeQ will handle the clients going forward in accordance with a mutually agreed-upon revenue-sharing structure.
Additionally, Clean TeQ is also evaluating the ATA technology in applications involving base metals and precious metals. In the upcoming months, it is planned to deploy the technology to possible client locations for pilot-scale testing.
