Rock Tech Lithium Awarded $262,500 from Ontario to Advance Lithium Processing

Rock Tech Lithium has been awarded $262,500 from Ontario's Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF). The funding will be used to evaluate and validate the use of locally sourced crude tall oil, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry, as a potential flotation reagent in lithium processing.

The project aims to connect Ontario's forestry and critical minerals sectors by creating a new market for forest products. The objective is to determine if crude tall oil can support more localized reagent supply, reduce reliance on imported inputs, and advance more sustainable supply chains for battery and critical minerals.

The initiative is being conducted in collaboration with Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper and Queen's University. It supports Rock Tech's broader mine-to-converter strategy in Ontario, including the Georgia Lake Lithium project.

This marks Rock Tech's second CMIF-supported initiative. A previous project focused on ore sorting and indicated potential to reduce crushing and concentrating costs by up to 50%.

Ontario's provincial government prioritizes the development of domestic critical mineral supply chains, and this project contributes to that goal by bringing two key industry sectors together.