(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, BC, Canada - TheNewswire - November 16, 2020 - Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (the"Company" or "Rock Tech") (TSXV:RCK ) ( Frankfurt:RJIB) is pleased to announce that it hasentered into a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with Avalon AdvancedMaterials Inc. ("Avalon") (TSX: AVL) to assess the technicaland economic feasibility of a jointly operated lithium sulphateprocessing facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This facility would bedesigned to accept lithium mineral concentrates from both Rock Tech'sand Avalon's 100% owned hard rock lithium deposits and convert theminto Lithium Sulphate, a precursor chemical for Lithium Hydroxide.
Under the LOI the parties agreed to assess the following areas:
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- Design a process flowsheet that allows the treatment of petalite andspodumene concentrates. The product of the flowsheet will be LithiumSulphate.
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- Conduct a piloting campaign on the process flowsheet to provescalability of the process to industrial scale and Feasibilitylevel.
- Identify alternative applications for the high purity aluminumsilicate process by-product in other industries, such as the cement orceramics industry.
"In our recently published PEA for a fully integrated lithiumhydroxide producer we have shown that we can greatly improve economicsby scaling up the size of the lithium converter to its technicallimits. Last week we announced a capital raise to fund apre-feasibility study with exactly that aim - building a converterwith an annual output of 24,000 tonnes. As Georgia Lake may notprovide sufficient feedstock for a converter with such a largenameplate capacity, we are assessing third party concentrate sources.Avalon's Separation Rapids Lithium Project may qualify as one of themproviding we can successfully develop a flowsheet that allows us totreat the petalite ore together with our spodumene ore from GeorgiaLake and other sources. We are very happy to join forces with Avalonto assess this potential value-add opportunity," said SimonBodensteiner, the Company's Chief Executive Officer.
The co-operation will only focus on the front-end of the lithiumconversion process up to the precursor chemical Lithium Sulphate sinceboth companies pursue different conversion technology concepts fromSulphate to Hydroxide. As part of the Lithium Sulphate productionaluminum silicates will be generated as a by-product. In the view ofRock Tech and Avalon, this high purity product may be suitable forapplications in the cement or ceramics industry. Both companies aim todevelop an offtake strategy for those alumino-silicates.
"The LOI with Avalon is in line with our strategy to build andoperate a converter facility in Canada and Europe. As pointed out inour shareholder letter last week, we see benefits in producing LithiumSulphate in Canada and converting it to Lithium Hydroxide in Europe.Therefore, the cooperation with Avalon complements thisstrategy," said Dirk Harbecke, the Company's Chairman.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"SimonBodensteiner"
Simon Bodensteiner
Director, Chief Executive Officer
For further information, pleasecontact:
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 RegulationServices Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXVenture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracyof this release.
Statements included in this announcement, includingstatements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, whichare not historical in nature are intended to be, and are herebyidentified as, "forward - looking statements". Forward - looking statements may be identifiedby words including "anticipates", "believes","intends", "estimates", "expects" andsimilar expressions. The Company cautions readers thatforward - lookingstatements, including without limitation those relating to theCompany's future operations and business prospects, are subject tocertain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results todiffer materially from those indicated in the forward - looking statements.
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