BioteQ Reports Q1 2016 Financial and Operating Results

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 18, 2016) -  BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BQE), a leader in the treatment of mine impacted waters, releases its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016. Further information on the quarterly results can be obtained from the Company's Q1 2016 Interim Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A").

To ensure clarity and comparability with historic results, certain statements in this news release and in the MD&A are characterized as BioteQ's "proportional" share, which means the effective portion of results that BioteQ would have reported if each of its joint ventures had been reported in accordance with past accounting standards. For further details, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in the Company's Q1 2016 MD&A.

Q1 2016 Financial Results
The Company reported the following results for the first quarter:

• Revenues as reported under GAAP were $391,000 compared $512,000 in Q1 2015;
• Proportional revenues were $1.7 million compared to $1.3 million in Q1 2015, an increase of 30% compared to Q1 2015;
• Net loss as reported under GAAP was $816,000 compared to $650,000 in Q1 2015;
• Adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization ("adjusted EBITDA") was $584,000 compared to a loss of $566,000 in Q1 2015;
• Cash and cash equivalents reported under GAAP as of March 31, 2016 was $797,000 compared to $1,409,000 at December 31, 2015; and
• Proportional cash and cash equivalents and short term investments, which includes our share held in joint ventures, as of March 31, 2016 was $1.1 million compared to $2.1 million at the end of 2015.

Water Treatment Operations:

• BioteQ's joint venture in China with partner Jiangxi Copper Company ("JCC") operated three plants during the quarter. Two of the plants are located at the Dexing mine site as well as a plant at the Yinshan mine site. Both mine sites are owned by JCC. The joint venture treated a total of 4.7 million cubic metres of water and recovered 916,000 pounds of copper from all three sites during the quarter.

Sales and New Technology Development:
The following is an update on key sales opportunities in progress:

• Design, Construction, and Commissioning Services
  During the quarter, BioteQ began a project to provide design, construction and commissioning services for a water treatment plant at the Silvertip project in Northern BC. The design and construction has been completed and commissioning is currently in progress. The plant is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of Q2 2016.

• Lab Testing Contracts
  During the quarter, BioteQ began contracts with customers in Canada and Latin America to perform lab scale testing of its technologies at various mine sites. These tests will allow the customers to assess BioteQ's technologies and provide high level cost estimates for a possible full scale plant. If results prove favourable, it may lead to additional services including pilot scale testing, design, construction, and operation of a full scale plant in the future.

• Zinc and Copper Recovery -- Joint Venture
  BioteQ also completed a detailed technical and economic assessment of a new treatment plant to be installed at an active smelter in China. The proposed new treatment plant is currently undergoing environmental permitting and BioteQ is working closely with a potential new partner on forming a joint venture to deliver the treatment plant for the smelter under a Build-Own-Operate business model following the environmental approval.

Q1 2016 COMMENTARY AND 2016 OUTLOOK
As noted in BioteQ's 2015 year end update, since the beginning of the year, BioteQ has begun work on several smaller contracts including: design, construction, and commissioning services for a water treatment plant at the Silvertip project in Northern BC, laboratory scale testing of Selen-IX™ on a wastewater stream at an active mineral processing operation in Northern Saskatchewan, water management consulting services for a mine site in Mongolia, and preliminary technical and economic assessments of water treatment requirements at two sites in Mexico. BioteQ has also completed its detailed technical and economic assessment of a new treatment plant to be installed at an active smelter in China.

Although these projects provide significant opportunities for future one-time and recurring revenues, the short term cash flow potential is limited. As a result, since the end of 2015, BioteQ's working capital level has declined and they will need to secure new sources of working capital in the form of debt or equity investments by early Q3 2016. BioteQ ended Q1 2016 with approximately $800,000 in cash outside of its China joint venture. Although the joint venture continues to be cash flow positive, low copper prices have reduced the rate at which cash accumulates in the joint venture account and, it will likely take 2-3 quarters of operations before any significant funds are available for repatriation to its Canadian parent entity.

The Company is currently in discussions with possible lenders in order to meet its immediate working capital requirements. While the Company has been successful in securing financing in the past, there is uncertainty whether financing will be available in the future on terms acceptable to the Company.

2016 ANNUAL GENERAL AND SPECIAL MEETING
BioteQ will host its Annual General and Special Meeting for shareholders on June 21, 2016 at 9:00 am (Pacific Time), at the BCIT-Downtown Campus, 8th Floor - 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC. The Management Information Circular outlining the meeting resolutions and Director Nominees will be mailed to all shareholders of record as of May 11^th, 2016.

Q1 2016 Financial Highlights Summary
For a complete set of Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, please go to www.bioteq.ca

BioteQ Corporate Profile
BioteQ is a service provider that specializes in treating mining wastewater and specific hydrometallurgical streams with the focus on reducing Life Cycle Costs while achieving compliance and introducing sustainability into water management. We have extensive expertise and operations experience in sulphide precipitation, ion exchange, alkali/lime neutralization and SART process technologies. Over the past decade, BioteQ has designed and commissioned plants at mine sites for leading organizations including Glencore Canada, Freeport-McMoRan, Jiangxi Copper and the US EPA and is currently operating six plants under long-term contracts. These plants remove dissolved metals and sulphate to well below the required regulatory discharge limits while reducing or eliminating the production of waste sludge and/or recovering valuable metals from waste streams for sale which reduces the life cycle cost of water treatment. BioteQ is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BQE. Please visit our website at www.bioteq.ca for additional information.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain information contained herein may not be based on historical fact and therefore constitutes "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. This includes without limitation statements containing the words "plan", "expect", "project", "estimate", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "may", "will" and other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the Company's dependence on key personnel and contracts, uncertainty with respect to the profitability of the Company's technologies, competition, technology risk, the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary information, fluctuations in commodity prices, currency risk, environmental regulation and the Company's ability to manage growth and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators at www.sedar.com (including without limitation the factors described in the section entitled "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2015). Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All forward-looking information contained herein is based on management's current expectations and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update such forward-looking information to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.