News

BQE Water signs agreement with Randy Agius to grow cyanide management services

Posted on 17 Sep 2021

BQE Water has signed agreements with Randy Agius to transfer all intellectual property residing in his business to BQE Water, and for the two parties to jointly grow holistic cyanide management services globally.

Under the agreement, Randy will work exclusively with BQE Water’s technical and business development teams, train and help mentor staff, and ensure that his legacy in providing technical excellence in cyanide destruction continues, BQE Water says.

Agius has over 40 years of experience in the mining industry and was one of the pioneers in the development and commercialisation of the SO2/Air cyanide destruction technology while working for INCO (now part of Vale) between 1972 and 2003, BQE says.

“Randy has become recognised as the global knowledge leader and ‘go-to specialist’ for cyanide destruction and has been responsible for the testing, design, commissioning and operation of over 65 large scale cyanide destruction systems.”

The SO2/Air cyanide destruction process was developed by INCO during Agius’ tenure and currently represents the most common method for removing residual cyanide from gold process tailings worldwide, according to BQE. Since the technology was first applied in the mid 1980s, the environmental standards applied to discharges from cyanide destruction plants have been tightened significantly. At the same time, commercially exploited gold deposits have become more complex, often challenged by the presence of cyanide soluble base metals and/or iron sulphide minerals. This not only increased the demand placed on cyanide destruction plants, but also created the need for cyanide recovery and recycle.

“While Randy developed valuable know-how in addressing the new cyanide destruction requirements in a cost-effective manner, BQE Water became the industry leader in cyanide recovery through its expertise in SART (sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening) technology,” BQE says. “Together, our combined expertise will enable BQE Water to offer complete cyanide management services.”

Agius says: “I have followed BQE Water for several years now and selected them as the best successor for my work because of their reputation and unique expertise in SART and water treatment. They have a young and knowledgeable group that can carry on my legacy for years to come and have had great success in China, which represents an untapped market opportunity for cyanide destruction.”

David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, added: “I am very excited about bringing Randy into the BQE Water fold. Randy’s know-how is highly complementary to our core business, providing strong upside to BQE Water’s long-term growth potential through our ability to offer complete and holistic management of cyanide and water which has never been more important to gold miners than it is today. The acquisition of intellectual property in cyanide destruction provides a good example of how the company can invest its free cash flow to drive future growth without impacting present cash reserves.”