Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (RCK.V)

VANCOUVER, BC, July 7, 2022 /CNW/ - Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (TSXV: RCK) (OTCQX: RCKTF) (FWB: RJIB) (WKN: A1XF0V) ("Rock Tech" or the "Company") has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU") with materials distributor and service provider thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH ("thyssenkrupp Materials Trading") in relation to establishing a strategic partnership to supply lithium spodumene concentrate. Rock Tech plans to refine the mineral from the end of 2024 at its proposed converter in Guben, Germany, into high-purity lithium hydroxide, a key element in batteries for electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

<img alt="Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (CNW Group/Rock Tech Lithium Inc.)" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/IV2MXCLAapaTtjR1JYyGvQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTE5OQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/4Pu4UvsuexDW6FP2nPae8A--~B/aD0xMjA7dz0zODU7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/cnwgroup.com/61f91098495fa99bd275501ad861d8cc" class="caas-img">
Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (CNW Group/Rock Tech Lithium Inc.)
The MOU between the two companies also includes a framework relating to the purchase of high-purity lithium hydroxide by thyssenkrupp Materials Trading for the battery market, as well as other by-products resulting from the refining process. Thus, the potential partnership is expected to promote a more resilient supply chain for lithium directly out of Germany, from raw material sourcing, to refining, to meeting demand of the automotive industry and growing electromobility demands.

Markus Brügmann, Rock Tech's chief executive officer says: "With thyssenkrupp Materials Trading we have found al global logistics and trading partner that gives us further security in the supply of spodumene. This is expected to give us a broader base for our input stream, which would take us a big step forward on the road to success."
Wolfgang Schnittker, chief executive officer of thyssenkrupp Materials Trading, says: "The potential partnership with Rock Tech underlines the systematic expansion of our global trading activities in the international battery and electric vehicles industry. The trading of lithium products would add another very important raw material to our supply portfolio for the production of long-life batteries."
Spodumene is one of the most important raw materials, amongst others, for the production of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. For this purpose, the spodumene mineral must be refined into lithium hydroxide, which can then be supplied to cathode manufacturers for the battery industry worldwide. Cathodes are essential components of battery cells. The lithium spodumene concentrate will be used in Rock Tech's first converter in Guben, Germany, which is expected to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide from 2024.

ABOUT THYSSENKRUPP MATERIAL SERVICES
thyssenkrupp Materials Services is the largest mill-independent materials distributor and service provider in the Western world, with around 380 locations - including around 260 warehouse sites - in more than 30 countries. The extended range of services offered by the materials experts allows customers to focus even more strongly on their individual core businesses. As part of its strategic development "Materials as a Service", the company is focusing on from high-quality raw and basic materials to technical services and the development of intelligent processes in automation, extended supply chain, and warehouse and inventory management. Digital solutions ensure efficient and resource-saving processes for customers and thus provide the basis for sustainable action. From 2030 Materials Services will operate on a climate-neutral basis.

Rock Tech Lithium
@RockTechLithium
"Guben was like Sleeping Beauty,” and “Rock Tech kissed it awake.” Two statements from Fred Mahro, the mayor of Guben, where we build the first lithium-converter in Europe.
We are proud to become part of the new competence cluster for #electromobility in #Brandenburg.

I just noticed that they've updated their August investor presentation, no doubt because of the announcement of the Brandenburg converter site. I always find it interesting to compare the latest presentation with previous ones because it gives clues as to what management is thinking. This time, I see clues suggesting that they are maturing their presentation as they expect many more people to be viewing it. By maturing I mean stating more realistic dates, and putting a lot of caveats into many proclamations, again making them more realistic.

For those interested, here are my notes on the changes:

Slide 2 - highlights Canada mine as a key component of raw material sourcing as opposed to the only source. Just making it more clear because slide 14 always said they'd have multiple sources

Slide 10 - new slide says four converters to be built in Europe, vs Germany in previous presentation, and the new one says a converter in North America, whereas the last one says Canada. So they might be looking to build in the US? And, they changed the wording of permits from suggesting they were already secured, to having been progressed, so more accurate.

Slide 14 - they took the word "virgin" out of description of freshly mined raw material. Suggests to me a more mature editing of the presentation knowing it was going to get more widely read

Slide 15 - they carry over their replacement of "virgin" mining with "conventional raw material mining"

Slide 16 - they caveat the date their proprietary conversion process will be ready by saying "targeting 2025" whereas they used to say it would be ready in 2025, and they soften the reference to a zero-waste route by saying it has the potential, not that it does. Also they changed the date for the material passport to 2030 from 2025, and they take out the part that this would enable a price premium, probably because everyone will have it by then. And, on the bottom of the slide they amend their ambitious targets as follows: 1. change target date for Canada mine to be best-in-class in Canada from 2025 to 2030, 2. they caveat the carbon-neutrality objective by saying they "aim" to achieve it by 2023, as opposed to "will", and 3. they change the date that their converter sites will be 100% powered by renewable energy from 2025 to 2030. 

Slide 17 - they clarify the carbon footprint declaration by saying it will be an approved CO2-footprint (LCA analysis) as opposed to just "an approved material passport"

Slide 18 - totally new and replaces a slide in the previous presentation on the economics of their first converter. New slide reflects recent announcement of Brandenburg for their first converter plant, and first mention of how much of their spodumene they plan to source from their Canadian mine (54%)

Slide 20 - new slide with Georgia Lake mine overview. If the mine is producing 93k tpa, then they plan ultimately to process about 170k tpa in total, using other sources

Slide 24 - more granularity on important milestones, such as DFS for Converter 1 in Noc 2021, PFS for Georgia Lake Dec 2021, and dates for construction of the mine and the first two converters

Slide 26 - New, showing share structure

Yesterday RCK announced a proposed private placement of 9.5M shares at $5.42 CAD per share. With each common share there is also a warrant, which can be exercised in the next 30 months at $6.77 CAD. This will result in an immediate infusion of just over $50M CAD in cash and if warrants are exercised another $64M CAD. $31.5M of the initial offering will be directed to the construction of the converter and refinery facility in Guben, Germany and $5.8M toward the Georgia Lake Mine project in Canada. If approved, the private placement is forecasted to take affect 30 Dec 21. IMO, this is a positive development and it is likely that $ 5.42 now represents a floor from which the SP can advance.

I don't know if you guys followed the recent news, but this seems to be very big:

- They acquired over 20 hectares in Saxony-Anhalt

- This land is positioned very strategically between Tesla's Gigafactory and BASF's cathode factory.

- Tesla's Gigafactory is located in Grünheide (distance 160km)

- BASF's cathode factory is located in Schwarzheide (distance of 130km)

Note: BASF is one of the largest petrochemical producer worldwide with a market cap. of more than $60bn USD.

Furthermore: We have a big investor Peter Thiel (was an early investor in Facebook) on board that acquired 5% shares of Rock Tech Lithium with an option of another +5%.