Rock Tech starts lithium production in Guben – a milestone for the region!

Rock Tech starts lithium production in Guben – a milestone for the region!

Nowadays, the raw material lithium is becoming increasingly important, especially for electromobility. Rock Tech, an up-and-coming company in lithium production, has now made ambitious plans for its location in Guben (Spree-Neiße). Loud rbb24 Rock Tech receives funding of around 250,000 euros from the federal government. These funds will be used for the “ELiSePro – Efficient Lithium Recovery Using Selective Processes” project, which aims to significantly increase lithium yield at the Guben site.

The start of production in Guben was originally scheduled to begin in early 2025. However, the plans are delayed due to a weak electric car market. Rock Tech is now aiming to have the new production facility operational by 2026. The total investment for the project amounts to an impressive 800 million euros, although financing has not yet been fully secured. We are working on this innovative solution together with RWTH Aachen to optimize the efficiency of lithium recovery.

Strategic funding and international cooperation

But that's not all: Rock Tech also received positive news from EIT RawMaterials. Other partners such as Advanced Minerals and Recycling Industrial Solutions (AdMiRIS) as well as the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Belgian company VITO are on board. The “OLiVer” project – Hard Rock Lithium Extraction and Purified Value Products for Energy Applications – is being developed here. The funding for this project amounts to a total of around 2.5 million euros, of which Rock Tech can receive up to one million euros boerse-frankfurt.de reported.

The core objectives of this project include not only optimizing lithium extraction, but also developing a secondary process to recover lithium sulfate and further improving the production of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, a critical raw material for electric vehicle batteries.

National efforts to promote lithium

However, the strategy for lithium production goes beyond Guben. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) also supports investment projects in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse to improve the supply of raw materials for the German economy. Lithium is a key factor for high-performance batteries, especially in the automotive industry. Vulcan Energy Resources GmbH is investing a total of 690 million euros in projects in these regions, while the federal government is supporting 103.6 million euros, as detailed by bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de is presented.

In short: While Rock Tech in Guben is thinking and planning big, other companies in Germany have also set their course for the future. Lithium is no longer just a raw material, but the key to more sustainable and efficient mobility. The coming years will be exciting as these projects develop and perhaps lay the foundation for a new era in raw material processing.