- Following an extensive location selection process, Rock Tech
has selected the former Norampac Paper Mill site in Red Rock as the location to develop
Ontario's first Lithium Refinery
("Converter").
- Rock Tech and the BMI Group signed a binding Cooperation
Agreement outlining a long-term lease for the Converter location
and a CAD 5.5mn investment by the BMI
Group into the Project.
- With Rock Tech's unparalleled expertise gained through the
successful development of Europe's
first Lithium Converter in Germany, Red
Rock is positioned to become Canada's premier lithium refining
destination.
TORONTO, March 4,
2024 /CNW/ - Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (TSX-V:
RCK) (OTCQX: RCKTF) (FWB: RJIB) (WKN: A1XF0V) (the
"Company" or "Rock Tech") and the BMI Group ("BMI") are pleased to
announce the signing of a Cooperation Agreement ("Agreement"). The
Agreement bindingly confirms the parties' plans to enter into a
long-term lease contract for the location of Ontario's first Lithium Converter. The
Red Rock site was selected by Rock
Tech following the successful completion of a comprehensive
site-assessment process. BMI further commits to invest CAD 5.5mn into the Project as part of the
Agreement.
Rock Tech has decided to develop Ontario's first Lithium Converter on the
former Norampac Paper Mill site in Red
Rock. The township of Red
Rock is located approximately 110 km northeast of
Thunder Bay, along the
Trans-Canada Highway 17, on the north shore of Lake Superior. Rock Tech's 100% owned Georgia
Lake mining project is located approximately 60 km north of
Red Rock.
In early 2023, Rock Tech engaged in an extensive site selection
process. Several green and brown-field sites across Ontario and the Northern United States were evaluated. Rock
Tech's comprehensive expertise in developing Europe's first Lithium Converter in
Germany was instrumental in
running an efficient and successful selection process in
Canada. Since 2021, the Company
has invested over 350,000 engineering hours and CAD 60mn into developing the Guben Lithium
Converter in Germany.
Among others, the location in Red
Rock was selected due to:
I.
|
The availability of
major supporting infrastructure including the proximity to BMI's
emerging multimodal logistics hub and an energy grid providing
abundant clean electricity.
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II.
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Strong support for the
Project by the local community and Indigenous partners.
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III.
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Its proximity to the
Georgia Lake project.
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With BMI developing multimodal road and rail logistics
capabilities in the port of Red
Rock, the location is strategically positioned to become the
prime lithium refining destination in Northern Ontario. Equipped with the capability
to process lithium from third-party mining projects, the Red Rock
Converter will further unlock Northern
Ontario's nascent lithium mining sector.
"This is a fundamental milestone for our North American Lithium
refinery plans," explains Kerstin
Wedemann, Rock Tech's Chief Legal & Operations Officer,
"Lithium Converters are large value-added production facilities.
Substantial infrastructure and several supporting factors are
required to enable such projects. Our site selection process
evaluated more than 150 different criteria and determined that
Red Rock is the best location for
this important Project."
The binding Cooperation Agreement signed between Rock Tech and
BMI is comprised of two aspects:
I.
|
Rock Tech and BMI will
enter into a long-term lease agreement for an area of approximately
50 acres (20 hectares) on the former Norampac Paper Mill site in
Red Rock, allowing Rock Tech to develop, build and operate
Ontario's first Lithium Converter.
|
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II.
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BMI will invest CAD 5.5
mn into Rock Tech's Red Rock Lithium Converter on the asset-level
of the Project. The investment by BMI will include an equity
component, where BMI will acquire an equity stake in the Project,
as well as a long-term loan.
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The exact terms and conditions of the lease and investment
agreements will be negotiated in the coming weeks and amongst
others are subject to the outcome of usual due diligence.
"We believe in strong partnerships and the community benefits
our projects can generate," Rock Tech's CEO Dirk Harbecke adds, "For over a decade now, we
have been committed to developing relationships with our Indigenous
partners in the area. With our decision to build our first Ontario
Lithium Converter in Red Rock we
are proud to honour their request to refine where we mine.
The Red Rock community is eager to
see a large industrial project return. BMI shares this vision of
realizing sustainable economic development in Northern Ontario, demonstrated by their
asset-level investment into the Red Rock Lithium Converter
Project."
"From developing the northernmost port on the Great Lakes
in partnership with the Red Rock Indian Band to working with the
town of Red Rock, Iron and Oak
Railroad Services, and Hydro One, we've been working to make
Red Rock industry-ready,"
commented Paul Veldman, CEO of the
BMI Group, "Today, that work has secured a pivotal partnership with
Rock Tech and a new future for the Red
Rock community. Together, we're working to fortify
Ontario's Critical Mineral
Corridor from the North to Niagara to establish a robust,
made-in-Ontario lithium supply
chain crucial for meeting the province's burgeoning automotive and
battery manufacturing potential. At PDAC 2024, we'll be meeting
with industry partners to discuss the Port of Red Rock, Rock Tech's Lithium Converter
capabilities, and the Critical Mineral Corridor strategic supply
chain."
ABOUT ROCK TECH
Rock Tech is a cleantech company with operations in Canada and Germany on a mission to produce lithium
hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries. The Company plans to
build lithium converters at the doorstep of its customers, to
guarantee supply-chain transparency and just-in-time delivery,
beginning with the Company's proposed lithium hydroxide merchant
converter and refinery facility in Guben, Germany. The second Lithium converter will be
built in Red Rock, Ontario,
Canada. Rock Tech plans to source raw material from its
wholly-owned Georgia Lake spodumene project located in the Thunder
Bay Mining District of Ontario,
Canada, as well as procuring it from other responsibly
producing mines. In the years to come, the Company expects to also
source raw material from discarded batteries. To close the most
pressing gap in the clean mobility story, Rock Tech has gathered
one of the strongest teams in the industry. The Company has adopted
strict environmental, social and governance standards and is
developing a proprietary refining process aimed at further
increasing efficiency and sustainability. Rock Tech's goal: to
create a closed-loop lithium production system.
ABOUT THE BMI GROUP
BMI Group is a real estate development and revitalization
company specializing in the adaptive reuse and repurposing of
end-of-use industrial and commercial properties and their
transition from linear to circular economies. The former
Red Rock mill site is being
developed in partnership with the Red Rock Indian Band (RRIB), an
Ojibwe First Nation in Northwestern
Ontario, as a catalyst for the town of Red Rock and the greater Nipigon region. Aligned with the core themes
of the Township's Community Development Strategy, the Mill
Redevelopment Concept Plan (2022) outlines BMI's aspirations for
the future of the former mill site and its conceptual
redevelopment, inclusive of its evolution to integrate future
opportunities, investment, and business interest.
https://www.thebmigroup.ca/
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute
"forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws and
are referred to herein as "forward-looking statements". All
statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address
events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects
to occur are forward-looking statements. When used in this news
release, words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans",
"predicts", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets",
"projects", "forecasts", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could"
or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular,
this press release contains forward-looking information pertaining
to the outcome of the site selection and assessment together with
BMI and its partners, regulatory decisions and outcomes;
anticipated due diligence results; infrastructure and construction
and its costs, schedules and completion dates; access to capital
markets and other sources of financing; the supply and demand for,
deliveries of, and the level and volatility of prices of,
intermediate and final Lithium products; future exchange and
interest rates; general business and economic conditions; the costs
and results of development, exploration and operating activities;
Rock Tech's ability to start construction on the selected site, to
procure supplies and other equipment necessary for its business;
and the accuracy and reliability of technical data, forecasts,
estimates and studies; Rock Tech's opinions, beliefs and
expectations regarding the outcome of the Cooperation Agreement and
the subsequent due diligence, the Company's own business strategy,
development and exploration opportunities and projects, and plans
and objectives of management for the Company's operations and
properties; and BMI's ability to provide financing, procure
supplies and other equipment necessary for their business; the
pending development and infrastructure of the Red Rock port area, their accuracy and
reliability of technical data, forecasts, estimates and
studies.
Forward-looking statements by their nature are based on
assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors which may cause the actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements. There may also be
other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from
the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties
and other factors discussed in the Company's most recent
management's discussion and analysis and annual information form
filed with the applicable securities regulators, or known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may the Company's ability to
access additional funding required to invest in available
opportunities and projects (including the Company's converter
projects and the Georgia Lake project).
No assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by
the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, and the
Company cautions the reader not to place undue reliance upon any
such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, nor
does it assume any obligation to update or revise any of the
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
changes in assumptions, future events or otherwise, except to the
extent required by applicable law.
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SOURCE Rock Tech Lithium Inc.