Rock Tech Enters Framework Cooperation Agreement with GP Papenburg Cooperation includes LiOH converter site, logistics and recycling

2021-01-26 / @thenewswire

(TheNewswire)

Vancouver, BC, Canada - TheNewswire – January 26, 2021 – Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (the "Company" or “Rock Tech”) (TSXV:RCK) (Frankfurt:RJIB) (OTC:RCKTF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Framework Cooperation Agreement (“FCA”) with the German construction company GP Günter Papenburg AG (“Papenburg”).

Under the FCA which expires on October 31, 2021, Rock Tech obtains the exclusive right to purchase up to 20 hectares (“ha”) of land for the construction of a Lithium Hydroxide Converter in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, a region with a long history of mining and chemical processing which hosts a highly skilled workforce pool for the converter.

The chosen site is strategically placed near the two chemical parks of Bitterfeld-Wolfen and Piesteritz from which most of the reagents for the conversion process can be sourced. Further, it is located only 160 km south-west of Tesla’s new gigafactory in Grünheide and 130 km west of BASF’s new cathode factory in Schwarzheide.

The Company considers the ability to expand the site layout in the future a key advantage over a site in one of the chemical parks where space is scarce and therefore expansion optionality is limited.

In addition, Rock Tech and Papenburg will cooperate in the fields of logistics and recycling. The Parties have agreed on principal terms for the handling of the residue materials and by-products the converter will produce in Germany. As part of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility work, Rock Tech is assessing various converter configurations as well as process flowsheets, including its proprietary Nitrate Process, for which the company filed a patent application late last year. Depending on the final converter configuration, different materials will be generated at site, such as aluminosilicates and/or gypsum. Subject to a binding agreement Papenburg will guarantee the offtake of these materials and will cooperate with Rock Tech on recycling them into value-adding applications.

“We are very pleased to work together with Papenburg as a highly reputable and well-known construction company in Germany, employing over 3,800 people with a turnover of EUR 1.0 billion in 2019. Apart from its construction business, the company also has a large logistics unit which can assist Rock Tech in determining the most cost-effective transport strategy from the ports to the converter and to the customers. The ongoing Pre-Feasibility work will assess the most economic plant configuration, including a possible split of the converter in a Canadian unit and a German unit, which will dictate where certain by-products are generated. It is important for us that the target converter location can handle a variety of configurations. This is clearly the case for the site provided by Papenburg,” said Simon Bodensteiner, Rock Tech’s Chief Executive Officer.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Simon Bodensteiner"
Simon Bodensteiner
Director, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Brad Barnett
Chief Financial Officer
Rock Tech Lithium Inc.
777 Hornby Street, Suite 600
Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 1S4
Telephone: (778) 358-5200
Facsimile: (604) 670-0033
Email: bbarnett@rocktechlithium.com

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.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward‐looking statements". Forward‐looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward‐looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward‐looking statements.