Rock Tech and Avalon Sign Letter of Intent to collaborate on the development of a joint Lithium Sulphate production facility in Thunder Bay
Rock Tech Lithium Inc.
600-777 Hornby Street | Vancouver | British Columbia | Canada | V6Z 1S4
P. +1.778.358.5200 | F. +1.604.670.0033
www.rocktechlithium.com | [email protected]
TSXV: RCK | Frankfurt: RJIB
Rock Tech and Avalon Sign Letter of Intent to collaborate on the development of a joint
Lithium Sulphate production facility in Thunder Bay
Vancouver, BC, Canada – November 16, 2020 – Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (the "Company" or
“Rock Tech”) (TSX-V: RCK; Frankfurt: RJIB) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a
Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (“Avalon”) (TSX: AVL) to assess
the technical and economic feasibility of a jointly operated lithium sulphate processing facility in
Thunder Bay, Ontario. This facility would be designed to accept lithium mineral concentrates
from both Rock Tech’s and Avalon’s 100% owned hard rock lithium deposits and convert them
into Lithium Sulphate, a precursor chemical for Lithium Hydroxide.
Under the LOI the parties agreed to assess the following areas:
• Design a process flowsheet that allows the treatment of petalite and spodumene
concentrates. The product of the flowsheet will be Lithium Sulphate.
• Conduct a piloting campaign on the process flowsheet to prove scalability of the process
to industrial scale and Feasibility level.
• Identify alternative applications for the high purity aluminum silicate process by-product
in other industries, such as the cement or ceramics industry.
“In our recently published PEA for a fully integrated lithium hydroxide producer we have shown
that we can greatly improve economics by scaling up the size of the lithium converter to its
technical limits. Last week we announced a capital raise to fund a pre-feasibility study with
exactly that aim – building a converter with an annual output of 24,000 tonnes. As Georgia Lake
may not provide sufficient feedstock for a converter with such a large nameplate capacity, we are
assessing third party concentrate sources. Avalon’s Separation Rapids Lithium Project may
qualify as one of them providing we can successfully develop a flowsheet that allows us to treat
the petalite ore together with our spodumene ore from Georgia Lake and other sources. We are
very happy to join forces with Avalon to assess this potential value-add opportunity,” said Simon
Bodensteiner, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer.
The co-operation will only focus on the front-end of the lithium conversion process up to the
precursor chemical Lithium Sulphate since both companies pursue different conversion
technology concepts from Sulphate to Hydroxide. As part of the Lithium Sulphate production
aluminum silicates will be generated as a by-product. In the view of Rock Tech and Avalon, this
high purity product may be suitable for applications in the cement or ceramics industry. Both
companies aim to develop an offtake strategy for those alumino-silicates.
“The LOI with Avalon is in line with our strategy to build and operate a converter facility in
Canada and Europe. As pointed out in our shareholder letter last week, we see benefits in
Rock Tech Lithium Inc.
600-777 Hornby Street | Vancouver | British Columbia | Canada | V6Z 1S4
P. +1.778.358.5200 | F. +1.604.670.0033
www.rocktechlithium.com | [email protected]
TSXV: RCK | Frankfurt: RJIB
producing Lithium Sulphate in Canada and converting it to Lithium Hydroxide in Europe.
Therefore, the cooperation with Avalon complements this strategy,” said Dirk Harbecke, the
Company’s Chairman.
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: [email protected]
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.