Mining has a reputation for using dirty and environmentally destructive extraction methods; but that’s not the case with bioleaching – a cleantech or green mining process that obtains valuable metals from their ores through the use of living organisms like bacteria.  Small cap BacTech Environmental Corporation (CSE: BAC; OTCMKTS: BCCEF) has long been at the forefront of bioleaching research and development. In addition, the Company is actively deploying the technology to clean up and extract valuable metals from contaminated mining sites in South America. INVESTMENT SUMMARY: Bioleaching is a much cleaner process than traditional heap leaching using cyanide while low concentrations are not a problem for the bacteria being used because they simply ignore the waste that surrounds the valuable metals - attaining extraction yields of over 90% in some cases. Small cap BacTech Environmental Corporation (CSE: BAC; OTCMKTS: BCCEF) has a green mining bioleaching solution that uses bacteria in reactors (tanks) to create a “Garden of Eden” environment for naturally-occurring bacteria to thrive and multiply. This bioleaching process acts as a “cure” for contaminated concentrates by targeting the source sulphides and can accomplish in as little as six days what would normally take 20 years to occur naturally with zero environmental damage from the process itself.  Since 2001, bioleaching research and development carried out by BacTech Environmental (or its predecessor entity) has led to many improvements with the technology existing today being considerably different and more advanced compared to what was used in the past. The Company is working closely with a Canadian University environmental microbiologist who helps the Company find the right bacteria to use for bioleaching potential projects as she has “bugs” from more than 300 mine sites in her collection. BacTech Environmental is now applying bioleaching to extract valuable metals (as well as for ARD remediation, arsenic stabilization and mercury reduction) by undertaking a test program in Ecuador.  Over the past year, the Company has also been approached by third parties for potential projects in other Latin American countries as well as in the USA and Canada.  Bioleaching: A Quick Primer and History Traditional mining extraction approaches like smelting, roasting and pressure oxidation entail subjecting sulphide ore to intense heat to burn the sulphides off - leaving behind the valuable metals for recovery.  The problem with these methods is that there are strict limits on the amount of arsenic that can be burned through a mineral treatment process, there is a general industry rule that smelters cannot treat base or precious metal concentrates that contain more than 1.5% arsenic and there is generally a total tonnage limit that can be produced in a given year. In addition, substances like sulphides that are both used in the mining process and/or are found naturally in the ground (and would otherwise be harmless when left underground) are poisonous to humans and animals when exposed to the elements.  In historic mining areas or in developing countries with few environmental safeguards where small scale unregulated artisanal mining occurs, nothing is often done to properly treat sulphides. This material then reacts (or oxidizes) with the atmosphere to create an acidic solution called acid rock drainage (ARD) that seeps into the surrounding area over time and will cause wider spread and more severe environmental damage.  In contrast, bioleaching is a much cleaner process than traditional heap leaching using cyanide and the method can be used to recover copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, antimony, nickel, molybdenum, gold, silver and cobalt. Low concentrations are also not a problem for the bacteria being used because they simply ignore the waste that surrounds the valuable metals - attaining extraction yields of over 90% in some cases. The method has the advantage of improving metal recovery at significantly lower capital and operating costs since fewer specialists are needed to operate a bioleaching plant compared with a smelting operation or a chemical plant. However, the bioleaching process is slower compared to smelting – meaning there can be less profit as well as a significant cash flow delay for new plants.  Currently, it’s more economical to smelt copper ore since the concentration of copper in its ore is generally quite high with the speed and yield of smelting justifying the cost in relation to profit. On the other hand, the concentration of gold in its ore is generally very low; but the lower cost of bioleaching outweighs the time it takes for the bacteria to extract the metal – so long as the mining operation is financially capable of waiting longer for profits. The history of bioleaching is tied to the history of BacTech Environmental which began as BacTech Mining Corporation in 1988 with origins in Western Australia. The Company was latter incorporated in Ontario (Canada) in mid-1997 and went public in September of the same year. In 2010, BacTech Mining Corporation changed its name to REBgold Corporation and as part of a new Plan of Arrangement, entered into an agreement with newly created cleantech company (BacTech Environmental Corporation) for the licensing of bioleaching technology to be used by the latter perpetually (exclusively and royalty free) for the remediation of mine tailings. As for the history of bioleaching technology itself: 1980s - Bioleach technology was first investigated in the mid 1980s at King’s College in London for the elimination of sulphur from coal. Late 1980s - The technology, still in its infancy, migrates to Perth, Australia, where it is funded privately. 1994 - A public company, Gold Mines of Australia, builds the first BacTech bioleach plant at the Youanmi Mine in Western Australia. By processing refractory arsenic gold concentrates from the mine, the mines life was extended a further three years. Although the mine was closed in 1997 due to low gold prices, BacTech had its first successful commercial application. 1998 – Public company Allstate Mining licenses and installs the second BacTech bioleach plant to process refractory arsenic ore from the Beaconsfield Mine in Tasmania (Australia).  2000 - Shandong Tarzan Biogold Co. Ltd. (Biogold), a Chinese company, licenses and installs a bioleach plant capable of treating 100 tonnes of concentrate per day from mines located in China and abroad. This demonstrates the diversity of the technology for treating non-homogenous feeds from various metallurgical backgrounds. The current owner (Sino Gold Mining Limited) have also recently doubled the capacity of the current plant to 200 tonnes per day. 2001 - Industrias Peñoles S.A. de C.V. (Peñoles), the world’s largest silver producer, contributed USD$5 million to build a demonstration plant in suburban Monterrey, Mexico, to test the technology’s ability to treat dirty or complex base metal concentrates. The findings of the study proved the benefits of bioleaching with respect to: (A) Neutralizing deleterious elements in the concentrate, and (B) Eliminating costly transportation of concentrates to smelters, thereby reducing the environmental footprint left by smelting and truck haulage usage. Since 2001, bioleaching research and development carried out by BacTech Environmental and its predecessor REBgold has led to many improvements with the technology existing today being considerably different and more advanced compared to what was used in the past. At Ontario’s Laurentian University in Sudbury, environmental microbiologist Nadia Mykytczuk has been developing cost-effective green alternatives to deal with the long-term challenges associated with mine waste while finding ways of extracting value from any ore left over in the waste material. She teamed up with BacTech Environmental through the Ontario Genomics Institute who recognized that expertise in microbiology and molecular biology was the perfect fit for a company that worked with microbes. They then secured a grant in 2014 to help optimize the technology they had been applying at a number of different sites. Mykytczuk has helped BacTech Environmental identify the ideal bacteria required for these processes as she has “bugs” from more than 300 mine sites in her collection. As she explained in an interview earlier this year, there is thriving ecosystem inside a mining tailings pile which is inhabited by an abundance of microbes that can be harnessed to break down the waste and extract precious metals:  “But if you take a handful of tailings from Copper Cliff or Ecuador you have thousands to millions of individual organisms, and that diversity matters because those bugs are best adapted to those conditions…” “…Nature knows best. It will have picked bugs that can grow in a particular situation. My goal is to demonstrate that we can use this technology to reprocess the many thousands of abandoned mines here that still hold a lot of value…” More specifically, her bioleaching research work revolves around manipulating microbial communities to find just the right recipe and match the right microbes to specific waste types to optimize the outcome. BacTech Environmental’s Advanced Bioleaching Process BacTech Environmental’s unique cleantech bioleaching solution uses bacteria in reactors (tanks) to create a “Garden of Eden” environment for naturally-occurring bacteria (harmless to both humans and the environment) to thrive and multiply:    These reactors provide the bacteria with optimal operating and living conditions to oxidize sulphide materials left behind and separate the valuable metals from the otherwise difficult-to-process concentrates. The bacteria can accomplish in as little as six days what would normally take 20 years to occur naturally and what is left behind is benign with zero environmental damage as a result of the bioleaching process itself (e.g. any water used can be reused). However and since bacteria is naturally occurring, BacTech Environmental cannot apply for any protection on them as entities; but it can apply for patents relating to their application. Nevertheless, the Company has found that the art of bioleaching is made up of 50% process patent and 50% know-how, which can only be acquired through a lengthy commercial track record. The Company will also always protect its intellectual property through the application of process patents in countries where deemed necessary. BacTech Environmental is now applying bioleaching to extract valuable metals (as well as for ARD remediation, arsenic stabilization and mercury reduction) by undertaking a test program in Ecuador. As in many developing countries, mercury use in Ecuadorian mining has led to severe environmental degradation and contaminated leftover ores that cannot be sold at market prices. Moreover and over the past year, the Company has been approached by third parties for potential projects in other Latin American countries as well as in the USA and Canada.  Mykytczuk has also noted in her interview that Canada is behind other countries in making advances in bioleaching and bio-mining because the country has the luxury of having abundant space and mineral wealth. Thus, Canada feels that addressing problems of mining waste piles isn’t a priority. On the other hand, she pointed out: “Industry, government and communities are recognizing that our legacy issues around mining are very costly. They affect social licence and the ability for companies to open new mines if they haven’t dealt with their old problems.”  “There’s a huge opportunity to not only clean up these sites but extract value at the same time.” That’s a major reason why the Small Cap Network has taken notice of both bioleaching as well as BacTech Environmental as a potential small cap cleantech or green mining investment.