PyroGenesis Canada Inc. announced the receipt of an initial contract valued at 250,000 EUR (approximately CAD 360,000) from a European engineering services firm (the Client) undertaking the discovery and safe destruction of chemical warfare agents with the European Union. The contract includes a 45% upfront payment of the total contract value, or 112,500 EUR (approximately CAD 160,000), which has already been received. Under this agreement, as part of a potential three-phase project PyroGenesis will first provide a lab-scale size plasma arc chemical warfare agent destruction system (the "PACWADS") as part of a multi-partner project aimed at identifying, extracting, and disposing of chemical munitions and chemical warfare agents residing in active marine passageways and corridors.

The second phase will consist of testing the system to validate its efficiency, performance and capacity. The eventual goal is to develop a full-scale system once results from the lab-scale system are reviewed. The mobility of the PACWADS was key to ensure the applicability of this type of the project, as safe destruction at sea is fundamental to the initiative's goals of protecting the marine environment and reducing further potential damage caused by transportation of the toxic chemicals to land for processing.

The Client, a provider of geotechnical and geophysical services, is one of several participant companies (including teams from national Naval units) involved in the project, while the over-arching initiative is being funded by various regional development funds and government programs within the European Union. PyroGenesis' PACWADS is a safe, versatile, and efficient mobile destruction system, that uses high temperature electric plasma to eliminate a variety of dangerous chemical and biological warfare agents, including sarin, mustard gas, soman, and VX. With a 99.9999% (or 6N) destruction efficiency, the PACWADS leaves only a non-toxic salt effluent that can be safely released at sea.

These systems are typically designed for use in the field or near conflict zones, and they serve several key purposes, including protecting human lives, environmental preservation, compliance with international Treaty, operational efficiency, and mobility. The Company's development of plasma engines for use in the safe destruction of hazardous chemicals such as toxic chemical warfare agents is part of the Company's three-tiered solution ecosystem that aligns with economic drivers that are key to global heavy industry. Plasma engines as a waste destruction application are part of the Company's Waste Remediation tier, encompassing the safe destruction of hazardous materials, and the recovery and valorization of underlying substances such as chemicals and minerals.