Overview

BacTech is a publicly listed Canadian company with its shares quoted on the TSX Venture Exchange (Symbol: BM). The Company owns proprietary bacterial oxidation technology that liberates precious and base metals from difficult to treat sulphide ores and concentrates. Bacterial oxidation is a safe and environmentally friendly process. It has the advantage of improving metal recovery at significantly lower capital and operating costs when compared to the traditional treatment methods of smelting, roasting and pressure oxidation. BacTech is a proven leader in the commercialization of bacterial oxidation technology in the metal extractive industry.

Chief Projects

Cobalt Camp Tailings Reclamation

In 1903, silver was discovered in Cobalt and that set off a mining rush similar to the Klondike gold fields. Between 1903 and 1922, over 300 million ounces of silver were produced from 100 mines. Keep in mind, that a mine can be anything from a project with a 1,000 foot shaft, to a hole in the ground made by a lone miner following a silver-rich vein underground.

In any event, the grades of some of the veins in this camp reached 1,000 ounces per ton, meaning that a significant amount of silver was left behind if it was deemed to be too difficult to recover. In addition, there were very few applications or uses for cobalt metal in those times, and so it was thrown out with the silver tails. Recently, cobalt metal traded as high as $50 per pound compared to historic prices closer to $3 per pound. All of this means that there is considerable value entombed in the tailings of this mining camp and the hard work of blasting and lifting rock to surface has been paid for by someone else.

But there is also a big problem associated with the Cobalt tailings… arsenic. To begin with, the background levels of arsenic that occur naturally in the rock of Cobalt are very high. With the crushing of rock in search of silver, the arsenic has become mobile, and today has leached into the local lakes and streams to such a point that there are very high levels of arsenic in the local water.

One of the attributes of BacTech’s bioleaching is its ability to liberate arsenic from its sulphide host. This, in turn, allows us to “marry” the arsenic with iron to produce a benign and stable ferric arsenate product that has been approved for conventional disposal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. BacTech has identified a long-standing environmental problem which we hope to correct or mitigate, while also producing a profit from the production of silver, cobalt and nickel.

Papua New Guinea

Recently, BacTech signed agreements with Yamana Gold Inc. and Gold Aura Limited, two companies who have been working on two gold projects in Papua New Guinea for the past 10 years. The gold deposits are refractory in nature, so they fit BacTech’s strategy of acquiring metallurgically challenging deposits. It’s our first acquisition of what we hope will be many more. Our goal is to amass over 1 million ounces in the ground by year end.

Under the terms of the agreement, BacTech will issue 15 million common shares to Yamana as compensation for the purchase. Yamana will own a 19.97% equity interest (non-diluted) in BacTech post closing of the transaction. BacTech will also provide bioleach consulting on one Yamana project going forward. On closing, the existing agreement between Gold Aura Limited (“GOA”) and Yamana will be cancelled to accommodate BacTech’s participation.

Management

• John C. Gingerich, P. Geo., Director, Mr. Gingerich is a professional geophysicist (APGO) with 25 years experience. In October, 2002, he left Noranda/Falconbridge and formed Geotechnical Business Solutions, a company focused on the development, financing and implementation of new and/or advanced technology. He is currently President and CEO of Advanced Explorations Inc.
• M. Ross Orr, B.A., Director, President & CEO. Ross Orr initially brought BacTech to Canada from Australia in 1997 and was instrumental in the success of the Company’s IPO. He sat on the board as an outside Director until taking the role of President and CEO in 2004. The first 2 years in this new position were consumed by restructuring the Company and positioning it to begin its refractory gold acquisition strategy. Mr. Orr is a graduate of the University of Calgary and currently sits on the boards of Caldera Resources Ltd. and Golden Odyssey Mining Inc.
• Peter J. George, P.Eng., Director. Mr. George worked for over thirty years with the Noranda group of companies. In 2002, he formed Peter George Mine Consulting Inc., providing services to a broad range of clients in North America, Mexico and Australia.
• David L. Stevens, B.Sc., MSc., Director. Mr. Stevens has over 40 years of international and domestic exploration experience, having served as a senior corporate exploration executive for 22 of those years. He was Vice President of Exploration for Noranda and Senior Vice President of Independence Mining Company and its predecessor, Freeport-McMoRan Gold Company. Before joining Freeport, he spent 10 years in the international minerals exploration division of Exxon. He is presently a minerals industry consultant living in Gig Harbor, Washington.
• Gregory B. Starr, B.Bus CPA, Director. Mr. Starr is currently Chairman of Australian-listed Gold Aura Limited, a position he assumed in February 2008. He has over twenty years of experience in corporate financial management, with the last seventeen years focused on the resources and mining sector. From 2005 to December 2007, he was President and CEO of Golden China Resources Corporation (TSX and ASX listed) and prior to that, was CEO of its predecessor company, Michelago Limited. From 2000 to 2004, he was CEO and Managing Director of Emperor Mines Limited.
• W. Walter Cimowsky, B.Sc., MBA, Director. Mr. Cimowsky is a founding partner and director of Ocean Partners Holdings Limited, a privately held company active in the global physical trading and marketing of copper, zinc, lead and precious metal concentrates. The company operates with an international network of field and agency offices. Ocean Partners provides or arranges financing for small/medium sized mining projects, and currently holds equity positions in mines located in Canada, Mexico and Turkey.
• Louis R. Nagy, C.A., Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Nagy has more than 15 years of professional experience as a chartered accountant. During this time he has held several senior financial positions in the consumer goods and high tech industries.
• Dr. Paul C. Miller, BSc.Hons. (Minerals Engineering) MSc. (Biochemical Engineering) PhD. (Chemical Engineering) MBA M IMM, C-Eng, Vice President, Technology and Engineering. Dr. Miller has over 25 years’ industrial experience in bioleaching and commercial applications. He commenced his career working for Mintek in South Africa in 1981, and formed the original group evaluating bioleaching as a potential treatment option. In 1986, he joined Davy McKee in the U.K. as a group leader responsible for development of process technology in support of worldwide contracting activities, with an emphasis on refractory gold projects, determining the feasibility of bioleaching against competing technologies. He joined BacTech in Australia in 1996 as technical manager and, since that time, has been responsible for all technical aspects of projects, from initial test work and management of studies through to project design and execution.

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What is Bioleaching? What does BacTech do?

Put simply, some metals are easy to separate from rock and some aren’t. BacTech uses naturally occurring bacteria (bioleaching) to help separate metal from the tougher rock. Our technology provides a suitable environment for the bacteria within the plant, creating a ‘garden of eden’ for them to live in. The separation technology achieves in 6 days what would normally take 20 years to occur in nature. That’s 500,000 times faster. And they work all day and demand very little. Now that’s a work force! Best of all, the tailings created are benign and no environmental damage occurs.

We are one of only two companies worldwide who have commercally proven, bioleaching technology. BacTech has just signed a major deal with Yamana Gold, involving the purchase of two of their refractory gold deposits. Our team is continually searching for viable deposits that would benefit from our technology.