BQE Water and its Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Partners to Resume Water Treatment Operations at Eagle Gold Mine

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 18, 2026 /CNW/ - BQE Water Inc. (TSXV: BQE), a leader in the treatment and management of mine-impacted waters is pleased to announce that it signed a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. in its capacity as court appointed Receiver of Victoria Gold Corp. (the "Receiver"), to operate water treatment at Eagle Gold Mine in the first half of 2026.

The scope of services is identical to those performed in 2025. The objective is to manage the volume of contaminated water on site during and immediately following the 2026 spring freshet using the treatment system installed in 2024 and operated in 2025. Effluent water quality will be continuously monitored using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that had been developed and successfully implemented by BQE in 2025. The BQE Water team will deliver the services in partnership with Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Development Corporation (NNDDC) and Big River Operations (BRO), a First Nation-owned business operating on the Traditional Territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND). BRO provided site-based operational personnel during the 2025 season, contributing directly to successful treatment performance and regulatory compliance. The 2026 contract creates opportunities for deeper technical collaboration between the two companies.

Franklin Patterson, owner of Big River Operations, commented, "The 2024 heap leach failure directly impacted our land, waters and community. It is important that FNNND citizen-owned businesses play a meaningful role in restoring and protecting water quality on our Traditional Territory. BRO remains committed to advancing mine water treatment expertise and long-term environmental stewardship within our Nation. We value our collaboration with BQE Water and look forward to contributing to a successful 2026 treatment season."

David Kratochvil, the President and CEO of BQE Water, stated, "The successful restart and operations of the treatment system that BQE winterized at the end of 2025 is only an intermediate step, but an important one, to enable the site to transition to a long-term solution in an orderly fashion. Importantly, it will allow BQE to advance the training of BRO personnel and deepen the collaboration between BQE, BRO, and NNDDC aimed at building the expertise and capacity within the FNNND to manage and treat water from Eagle and other mining projects on the FNNND's territory."

About BQE Water's Work at Eagle Gold Mine Since September 2024BQE Water was contracted by the Receiver as water treatment consultants and operations specialists to assist with the emergency response at the Eagle Gold Mine situated on the Traditional Territory of the First Nation Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND) in central Yukon, which experienced a failure in its cyanide heap leach facility. As a result of the failure and the pre-existing water treatment plant unable to treat cyanide leach solution to produce non-toxic effluent, an emergency solution had to be developed and implemented quickly. Working collaboratively with the technical advisors to the Yukon Government, the FNNND, the Receiver, and past Victoria Gold employees, the BQE Water team developed and implemented a treatment process combining existing plant equipment with off-the-shelf rental equipment and newly constructed ponds. Engineering design, lab testing, procurement, operations, and toxicological data analysis had to be carried out simultaneously to ensure safe and timely discharge of treated water into the environment. The subsequent operation of the system resulted in a successful discharge of more than 1 million cubic meters of water into the environment, allowing the heap to be drained and the inventory of contaminated water to be reduced to safe levels before freeze-up. Following a tender process managed by the Receiver and its technical advisors, BQE Water was selected in November 2025 to complete the first phase of engineering for a new long-term water treatment system at Eagle Mine that would allow ongoing efficient management of water on site under a wide range of scenarios while meeting all regulatory requirements. BQE Water is expected to deliver the design in Q1, 2026.

About BQE WaterBQE 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.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATIONCertain 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.

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