Rock Tech Lithium Inc. and Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper have jointly received the 2026 Northern Innovators Award at the Cen-Can Expo Gala Dinner in Thunder Bay. The award recognizes cross-sector collaboration evaluating crude tall oil, a by-product of Ontario’s pulp and paper industry, as a locally sourced flotation reagent for lithium processing.

Supported by the Province of Ontario through the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund, the initiative brings together Rock Tech, Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper and research expertise from Queen’s University. If successfully validated, crude tall oil could provide a more localized source of flotation reagents, create a new application for an Ontario forestry by-product and inform future technical and economic optimization of Rock Tech's Georgia Lake mining project located in Ontario, Canada, categorized at the advanced exploration stage.

"This award recognizes how bringing Northern Ontario industries together can solve practical challenges and create new opportunities," said Mirco Wojnarowicz, CEO of Rock Tech . "Our collaboration with Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper and Queen's University shows the potential for Ontario's strengths in forestry, critical minerals and research to be combined to advance locally developed solutions. We thank Mining Life & Exploration News for this recognition and the Province of Ontario for supporting the project through CMIF."

— Mirco Wojnarowicz, CEO of Rock Tech

Read the full announcement: Rock Tech Lithium and Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper Receive 2026 Northern Innovators Award