Wave will work with Rock Tech on process design, plant configuration and help finalise site selection for the converters, which will refine Lithium Oxide (Li2O) from hard rock spodumene deposits into lithium chemicals.

The companies will also partner on pilot programmes that will assess Rock Tech's patent-pending nitrate conversion process, alongside the traditional sulphate route. Rook Tech aims to produce lithium hydroxide from these programmes during the second quarter of 2021.

Rock Tech in January signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement (FCA) with German construction company Papenburg covering construction, logistics and recycling for a  lithium hydroxide converter plant in the German state Saxony-Anhalt.

The company has said it aims to establish a network of such converters, which refine Lithium Oxide (Li2O) from hard rock spodumene deposits into lithium chemicals, across Europe and North America - the feed for which will come from its 100%-owned Georgia Lake spodumene project in Ontario.