ENGINEERING CONTRACT FROM XSTRATA NICKEL

Montreal, Quebec, March 12, 2008 - BBA is pleased to announce a significant engineering contract with Xstrata Nickel, headquartered in Toronto, Canada and one of the Xstrata Group's global commodity businesses, involving the potential expansion of its Raglan Mine operations in Nunavik. The mine currently produces just over 1-million tonnes of ore per year.

With engineering fees amounting to about $8M, the contract calls for BBA to perform pre-feasibility studies for energy generation and distribution, for the metallurgical process and plant, as well as a scoping study for  site infrastructure.

"We are extremely proud to have earned this mandate. This project with a major client confirms our relevance in the strategic and very active mining and metals sector," said Steeve Fiset, BBA President and CEO.

In this assignment, BBA will team up with WorleyParsons, a resources and energy engineering firm complementing BBA's staff in certain infrastructure work.

This contract strengthens BBA's presence in the sector, demonstrated over the years by mandates with major players in the iron industry - notably with the engineering of the Bloom Lake Project, Québec's largest in the last 30 years - and also including zinc, copper and gold. Xstrata Nickel's expansion projects give BBA an opportunity to show its expertise in both the mining process, and in energy - the niche where the firm originally established its strong reputation.

BBA is a multidisciplinary engineering firm offering services and expertise in energy, mining and metals. With more than 400 employees, and founded almost three decades ago, its engineering disciplines include electrical, civil, mechanical, mining and mineral processing, automation, controls, process optimization, network studies, testing and commissioning.

Contact: 

Louise Giroux

Public Relations

BBA

Telephone: 450.464.2111, ext. 2057

Email: louise.giroux@bba.ca