Rock Tech Lithium has been awarded funding from the Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt (Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space) for the project "ELiSePro – Efficient Lithium Recovery Using Selective Processes". This initiative aims to further increase lithium yield in its converter process at the Guben site, making a significant contribution to Germany's raw material independence.

The project will be implemented in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University, highlighting the strong partnership between industry and leading academic research in Germany. The total funding amount is approximately 250,000 Euros. As part of the project, various state-of-the-art ion separation methods (including nanofiltration, capacitive deionization, and lithium-ion sieves) will be systematically compared to minimize lithium losses in the process. The results will be evaluated based on economic and technological criteria and are intended for direct industrial application in our Guben converter in order to increase our recovery. Innovative findings will also be published in scientific journals and be patented. 

"This funding supports the technological advancement of the German and European battery industry – and even it's a relatively small amount, it's an important step towards building additional know-how for strengthening security of supply for critical raw materials and building sustainable value chains in Europe," says Mirco Wojnarowicz, CEO of Rock Tech.

In the past few months, Rock Tech has received funding from several public sources to become a technological leader in lithium processing. This new funding underlines the strategic relevance of Rock Tech and its projects in Canada and Germany, the latter of which was selected as a strategic project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). After having granted funding from EIT RawMaterials under the prestigious KAVA (Knowledge and Innovation Activities) grant program (800,000 Euros) as well as from Ontario's Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF) to advance lithium ore sorting technologies (388,000 CAD), this new funding is the third program to position Rock Tech as strategic relevant player in the lithium industry.

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