Rock Tech, Siemens Canada partner to develop lithium conversion capacity

Rock Tech Lithium and Siemens Canada announced Monday that they have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) laying the foundation for a long-term, multi-phase partnership to develop state-of-the-art lithium conversion capacity.  

The signing took place at the Canadian Critical Minerals Forum hosted by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) during Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Trade Show and Convention (PDAC) in Toronto.  

At the core of the partnership is the application of Siemens’ digitalization technology – Digital Twin solutions – for the development, construction, and operation of Rock Tech’s planned lithium converter in Red Rock, Ontario. 

The partnership translates the strategic critical raw material cooperation between Canada and Germany into concrete, on-the-ground collaboration, the companies said in a news release.  Siemens brings German industrial and digitalization expertise to a Canadian flagship project built on the blueprint of the fully permitted, shovel-ready Guben converter in Germany.  

The public signing underscores the strategic importance of Red Rock for Canada’s efforts to build resilient and sovereign midstream capacity for critical minerals – and reinforces broader Canada-Germany cooperation aligned within the G7 critical minerals supply chain priorities, they said, adding that they intend to explore available funding opportunities to support deployment of Digital-Twin technology. 

The Red Rock converter will be developed based on the fully permitted and engineered facility in Germany. By transferring this blueprint to Canada, development timelines can be shortened, technical risks minimized, and capital efficiency increased, the companies said.  

The planned production capacity of up to 32,000 tonnes of LCE per year would be sufficient to supply up to 900,000 electric vehicles annually. The planned production capacity of up to 32,000 tonnes of LCE per year would be sufficient to supply up to 900,000 electric vehicles annually. 

“Red Rock will be Ontario’s first lithium conversion facility and is a key project in Canada’s efforts to rapidly establish domestic critical minerals processing capacity,” Rock Tech Lithium CEO Mirco Wojnarowicz said.  

“Together with our Georgia Lake mining project, we are creating a fully vertically integrated supply chain from rock to battery-grade lithium. A critical minerals corridor, entirely in Ontario.” 

“The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy strongly welcomes the deepening of business relations between Rock Tech Lithium and Siemens Canada,” Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Rouenhoff said. 

“At a time when secure and sustainable supply chains for critical raw materials are of strategic importance, this partnership sends a powerful signal for the continued expansion of German-Canadian cooperation.”