Rock Tech Lithium Inc.’s (RCK-X) new CEO Mirco Wojnarowicz is tasked with bringing the Toronto company’s plans for lithium converter facilities in Canada and Germany to life — vital elements for the battery supply chain.

Rock Tech's former vice-president of business development, who joined the company in 2022, Wojnarowicz will lead a company that is proceeding on a hard-rock lithium mine and conversion site in Northern Ontario, and a converter planned for Guben, a German city on the border with Poland.

Founded as a lithium exploration company, Rock Tech’s leadership pivoted to address the industry bottleneck that is lithium conversion: turning raw lithium materials into a battery-grade state. The output would be sold to companies such as automakers needing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) or battery cathode makers.

“We are still convinced North America and Europe have to have local supply chains in order to continue their economic growth on the battery side,” Wojnarowicz said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

A 'highly intriguing' company

As vice president of business development, Wojnarowicz said he negotiated offtake agreements, secured supplies of a raw lithium mineral called spodumene concentrate, and established a raw materials sourcing joint venture in Geneva, Switzerland.

Prior to joining Rock Tech, he held commercial management roles at the Germany-based subsidiaries of Hitachi and Mitsubishi from 2009 to 2022.

“I find the story highly intriguing,” Wojnarowicz said, when asked why he joined Rock Tech. He was interested in “building local supply chains in order to enable a greener future or the electric vehicle transformation,” for North America and Europe.

He took over from interim CEO Dirk Harbecke, who has been at the helm since 2022, in May.

As chief executive, he will be carrying over his ideas to improve projects, which he said is already taking place with the continuing effort to refine the project economics of the German converter facility. Wojnarowicz also built lithium industry relationships as vice president of business development which he said will help get Rock Tech’s projects off the ground.

Rock Tech's project portolio

Rock Tech is furthest along on its plans for a 1.3-million-square-foot lithium conversion facility in Germany expected to produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year – enough for approximately 500,000 EVs.

It is fully permitted and has been named a strategic project under the European Critical Raw Materials Act. Securing the equity financing is Rock Tech’s priority as of late.

Estimated to cost about $1 billion, Rock Tech has so far received letters of support for over $200 million in government-backed funding from the export credit agencies of the U.K. and Finland.

In Canada, Rock Tech has plans for a spodumene hard-rock mine in Georgia Lake and a nearby converter in Red Rock township. 

Activities at Georgia Lake are expected to generate 100,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate or more per year, Wojnarowicz said.

The Red Rock converter as planned would be larger than its Guben counterpart, with a production capacity of 36,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year. At such volume, it would supply up to 900,000 EVs per year.

Production at Georgia Lake is expected to start in 2028, followed by Red Rock in 2029.

Rock Tech, Wojnarowicz said, is in discussions with neighbouring project owners to cooperate in building a larger resource base. Once a feedstock base is secured for Red Rock, Rock Tech can move into project development, he added.

Rock Tech's offtake outline

It is critical that Rock Tech is competitive in the global market, particularly against Asian counterparts, Wojnarowicz said. The company aims to achieve this by transforming over 90 per cent of the waste from its operations into by-products that can be sold to the cement industry. A deal with a German cement manufacturer has been signed for this purpose.

Under this strategy, he expects Rock Tech can be close to the operating costs of Chinese lithium converters, while being better for the environment.

Rock Tech inked a five-year supply agreement with Mercedes-Benz for 40 per cent of the capacity of the Guben facility, carrying an estimated sales volume of approximately $2 billion. It is also negotiating with cathode producers for another 40 per cent.

While there are no such industry commitments in Canada yet, the company is in talks with Ontario's auto and cathode industries, Wojnarowicz said. The Ontario government announced today it has awarded $388,074 to Rock Tech to advance lithium ore sorting technologies through the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund.

Though a slowdown in Canadian EV sales and stalled battery manufacturing projects in Ontario could present complications for Rock Tech, Wojnarowicz is optimistic in the future of the battery sector.

“The long-term trend is much more important than the current low lithium market,” he said. A slowdown in the market was an opportunity, as it gave Rock Tech time to solidify its projects.

“It’s never nice to be slowed down, but then the projects are getting better and better with every day that we work on them. For us, it’s highly important that we build a robust, long-term business.”