China controls 90% of global lithium conversion - the critical step that turns raw ore into battery-grade material. That means even if you mine lithium in Canada or Australia, someone else captures most of the value. Rock Tech Lithium is building a direct counter: an integrated mine-to-converter strategy spanning both sides of the Atlantic. In this episode, Lyndsay Malchuk sits down with Dirk Harbecke, Executive Chairman of Rock Tech Lithium, to discuss why the company moved its focus from Germany to Canada, how it plans to reduce capex by 50% at Georgia Lake, and why becoming one of the first lithium producers in Ontario could reshape the economics of North American battery supply chains. Harbecke explains why Europe is now looking to Canada for critical raw materials, how sovereign wealth funds are entering the picture, and what investors are missing about the coming lithium demand from EVs, grid storage, and data center backup systems.
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