BQE Water Nuvumiut Developments to Operate Water Treatment at Nunavik Nickel

VANCOUVER, BC, March 19, 2026 /CNW/ - BQE Water Inc. (TSX-V: BQE), a leader in the treatment of mine waters and metallurgical bleed streams, is pleased to report that its joint venture with Nuvumiut Development entered into a 3-year agreement with Canadian Royalties Inc. (CRI) to operate mine water treatment plants at CRI's Nunavik Nickel Project operations.

Mine water treatment at Nunavik Nickel involves seasonal operation of five treatment systems, typically running from May to October depending on the volume of water requiring treatment. 

BQE Water Nuvumiut Development Inc. is a joint venture between BQE Water and Nuvumiut Development which is a company fully owned in equal share by Qaqqalik Landholding Corporation of Salluit and Nunaturlik Landholding Corporation of Kangiqsujuaq. The joint venture between BQE Water and Nuvumiut Development is registered with Makivvik corporation, an Inuit land claims organization that administers and invests the funds, promotes economic growth and the preservation of Inuit culture, language, health, welfare, relief of poverty and education of Inuit communities.

Canadian Royalties Inc. is a private mining company based in Montreal that owns and operates the Nunavik Nickel Project which includes open pit and underground mines and a concentrator plant to produce copper and nickel sulphide concentrates.

Adamie Alaku, President of Nuvumiut Developments Inc., commented, "Clean water is essential to our communities, and we are very pleased that CRI selected BQE-Nuvumiut for the role that helps ensure the environment is protected." 

David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, commented, "This new contract expands the scope of our existing partnership with Inuit communities centered around water stewardship in Nunavik and will support the growth and strengthening of BQE's core expertise in mine water treatment operations in Eastern Canada in general and Quebec in particular."

About BQE Water
BQE Water is a service provider specializing in water treatment and management for metals mining, smelting and refining. We are helping to transform the way the industry thinks about water in the context of natural resource projects by offering services and expertise which enables more sustainable water management practices and improved overall project performance at reduced risks. BQE Water invests in innovation and has developed unique intellectual property through the commercialization of several new technologies at mine sites around the world for organizations including Glencore, Jiangxi Copper, Freeport-McMoRan and the US EPA. BQE Water is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BQE. Visit www.bqewater.com for more information.

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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.sedarplus.ca (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, 2024). 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.

SOURCE BQE Water Inc.

For further information please contact: BQE Water Inc., Suite 200 - 30 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 1J4, David Kratochvil, President & CEO, [email protected]; Heman Wong, CFO, [email protected], 604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073