Lithium Miner’s German Smelter Plan Draws Billionaires

  • Peter Thiel, Alan Howard have taken stakes in Rock Tech
  • Planned lithium smelter would be one of the first in Europe
Peter ThielPhotographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
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Rock Tech Lithium Inc. plans to raise $400 million to build a lithium refinery in Germany and has attracted support from billionaires including Peter Thiel investing in Europe’s push to create a local electric-vehicle battery industry.

The Canadian miner is in advanced talks with investors and sees the Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt regions as possible locations for the smelter, Chairman Dirk Harbecke said by phone.