CVW CleanTech Responds to Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee Recommendations

Press Release

CALGARY, ALBERTA – (June 16, 2025) – CVW CleanTech Inc. (the “Company” or “CVW CleanTech”) (TSX-V: CVW, OTCQX: CVWFF, FSE: TMD0) today issued a statement following the release of the initial recommendations of the Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee (the “Committee”). CVW CleanTech is proud to have contributed to the Committee’s study through multiple rounds of engagement.

“Firstly, we would like to thank Minister Schulz and the Committee for their leadership and proactive approach on such an incredibly important situation given the scale of the environmental liabilities associated with oil sands mine tailings. As the Committee correctly noted, technologies are available today to treat oil sands mine water. Alberta has a unique opportunity to implement proven solutions that can meaningfully address the challenges presented by oil sands tailings ponds,” said Akshay Dubey, CEO of CVW CleanTech. “Our proprietary Creating Value from Waste™ (“CVW™”) technology represents a commercially ready solution that can transform these environmental liabilities into economic opportunities while reducing freshwater draw, improving mine water quality, and reducing the accumulation of mine water in tailings ponds.”

The Committee, established by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas in 2024, has been tasked with determining feasible options for accelerating oil sands mine water management and tailings pond reclamation. Their recommendations will inform the Government of Alberta’s approach to addressing the over 1.8 billion cubic meters of fluid tailings and oil sands mine water currently contained in tailings ponds, to which the industry added 45 million cubic meters of fluid tailings in 2023.

For more than a year, the Committee has met with operators, Indigenous community members, technology developers, governments, and others, to review evidence and carefully consider recommendations for a path forward. The Committee released its first set of five initial recommendations on June 12, 2025, which are as follows:

• Recommendation 1 calls for more segregation and prioritization of use of water that has not been impacted by the industrial process, along with clear standards for that water’s safe release, to help reduce the future accumulation of oil sands mine water;
• Recommendation 2 advises government to promote more water-sharing between mine sites to minimize new withdrawals from the Athabasca River;
• Recommendation 3 advises government to focus on managing oil sands mine water within the watershed, not across watersheds;
• Recommendation 4 advises government that deep well disposal be considered to manage low volumes of otherwise untreatable oil sands mine water and some legacy mine water, once all other options have been fully explored; and
• Recommendation 5 calls for a standardized method to be developed for measuring naphthenic acids, naturally occurring organics that are sourced from oil sands bitumen.

CVW CleanTech’s ready-to-deploy technology specifically addresses froth treatment tailings (“FTT”), which contain the highest concentration of challenging elements such as solvent, bitumen, and other solids. Deployment of the CVW™ technology could:

• Prevent over 80% of naphthenic acids from deposition into tailings ponds;
• Treat oil sands mine water to enable integration into site-wide, or regional, water sharing strategies;
• Avoid the permanent loss of water from the Lower Athabasca sub-watershed, preserving long-term hydrological and ecological balances;
• Treat up to 84 million cubic meters of oil sands mine water per year, reducing freshwater draw and cutting water-use intensity by over 15%;
• Capture total suspended solids through thickening and ultrafiltration, avoiding contributions to fluid tailings inventories;
• Manage pyrite and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM);
• Reduce mineable oil sands greenhouse gas emissions by up to 12% by abating up to 1.8 million tonnes of methane per year;
• Generate positive economic returns by recovering significant amounts of bitumen and solvent to maximize the recovery of hydrocarbons; and
• Develop a new critical minerals industry by recovering titanium, zircon and potentially rare earth elements otherwise lost to tailings ponds to maximize Alberta’s natural resource wealth.

“We welcome the Committee’s focus on naphthenic acids given their challenging environmental impacts,” continued Mr. Dubey. “Implementing our CVW™ technology would significantly reduce naphthenic acid concentration in oil sands mine water leading to improved environmental benefits while creating meaningful economic benefits for Alberta and the country.”

A 2024 independent economic impact assessment found that industry-wide implementation of the CVW™ technology could boost Canada’s GDP by up to $47.4 billion and create over 144,000 person-years of employment across Canada.

CVW CleanTech has engaged extensively with Indigenous communities in the Treaty 8 region, recognizing their role as stewards of the land most directly impacted by oil sands operations. In 2024, the Company signed a framework agreement with five First Nation and Métis partners, establishing the foundation for economic participation and governance rights in the implementation of the CVW™ technology.

“As Alberta seeks viable solutions to reclaim oil sands mine water, we stand ready to contribute our technology and expertise to support the safe and sustainable management of oil sands tailings,” said Mr. Dubey.

Click here for more detailed information on CVW CleanTech’s water management capabilities.

About CVW CleanTech Inc.

CVW CleanTech invests in innovative technologies which provide returns linked to commodities and which operate in a sustainable manner to help accelerate the world’s transition to net zero. CVW CleanTech is building a portfolio of royalty-based cash flow streams by partnering with clean technology innovators in the commodity space. CVW CleanTech is also the 100% owner of its proprietary technology, Creating Value from Waste™, which is designed to recover bitumen, solvents, critical minerals, and water from oil sands froth treatment tailings, which would reduce tailings pond fugitive methane emissions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and enhance tailings management for Alberta’s oil sands.

Additional information on CVW™ can be found within the Company’s Process and Technology Overview which is accessible using the link below:

https://cvwtechnology.com/technology/process-and-technology-overview/

CVW CleanTech trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “CVW”, on the OTCQX under “CVWFF”, and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “TMD0”.

For further information, please contact:

Akshay Dubey
CEO
403.460.8135
Akshay.Dubey@CVWCleanTech.com

Joshua Grant
CFO
403.460.8135
Joshua.Grant@CVWCleanTech.com

IBF5