HIGHLIGHTS
- Delivers pivotal milestone: Greentech plant sustains
production at design capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year for the
month of December.
- Sigma Lithium has commenced loading its next 22,000 tonne
shipment of its unique, sustainable, lithium concentrate to
Glencore at the Port of Vitoria.
- Glencore to prepay 50% for the shipment at a provisional
premium price.
- Company fully achieves the mission of its Impact Investors
at IPO: Produce lithium materials aligned with the ethos of the
environmentally conscious consumer of the electric
vehicle.
- Sigma Lithium has managed to industrialize a unique
Quintuple Zero Green Lithium concentrate ("Quintuple Zero
Lithium"), recognized at COP28
as the most sustainable lithium in the world.
-
- ZERO Net Carbon: First large-scale producer in the lithium
industry to achieve carbon neutrality.
- ZERO Coal Power at Greentech Plant: 100% renewable
power.
- ZERO Tailings Dams: 100% dry stacked tailings, 100%
reused.
- ZERO Utilization of Potable Water: Sewage treatment for
solid fecal residues for Greentech plant inbound
water.
- ZERO Use of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing process of
lithium concentrate.
- Continues to advance its growth plans, leveraging its
competitive advantages as a low-cost producer of a technically
superior coarse granulated Quintuple Zero Lithium
- Exploration updates expected to expand mineral resource
on Grota do Cirilo Property
- Phase 4: approximately increases Sigma Lithium total M
& I & I to 110Mt.
- Phase 5: approximately increases M & I & I an
additional 20Mt.
- Planned initiation of earthworks for Greentech Plant
expansion.
SÃO PAULO, Dec. 27,
2023 /CNW/ -- Sigma Lithium Corporation
("Sigma Lithium" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SGML,
BVMF: S2GM34, TSXV: SGML), a leading lithium producer
dedicated to powering the next generation of electric vehicles with
carbon neutral, Quintuple Zero Green Lithium concentrate, is proud
to cap off an incredible year for the Company by loading one last
shipment of 22,000 tonnes of concentrate to Glencore at the Port of
Vitoria. Sigma Lithium's fifth shipment is expected to leave port
by year-end.
Glencore will prepay 50% of the fifth shipment's value upon
completion of loading. The 50% prepayment reflects a provisional
premium price for the Company's unique Quintuple Zero Green Lithium
concentrate.
Sigma Lithium has completed an incredible journey over the past
twelve months, having gone from commissioning the crushing unit in
December of 2022 on schedule and on budget, to sustaining nameplate
production levels at its Greentech lithium concentrate plant in
December 2023. Operating rates at
these levels would support a monthly shipment cadence of roughly
22,000 tonnes through the course of 2024, annualizing approximately
270,000 tonnes of Quintuple Zero Green Lithium concentrate.
Sigma Lithium CEO, Ana
Cabral-Gardner commented, "We have a relentless,
resilient team who has been working for years on a mission that has
become our collective legacy: supporting the electric vehicle
revolution by delivering the most sustainable lithium material in
the world. In the process we became a better version of ourselves,
transforming the lives of the people around us by providing
economic empowerment, inclusion, citizenship. We are laying the
foundation for common prosperity where metals, mining and
metallurgical industries are fully embraced by communities as the
drivers of technological and environmental innovation as well as
positive social change. Our team has rarely set a foot wrong, nor
missed our operational deadlines. We delivered on our promises,
including those that seemed impossible at the time, such as
achieving Carbon Neutrality / Net Zero 27 years ahead of the metal
and mining industry."
Ligia Seca, Director of
Institutional Relations: "We carry an enormous sense of mission
and purpose on our shoulders: There are over 13,000 people in our
communities who are benefitting from Sigma Lithium's investments
and growth. We continue to invest heavily in technology to be able
to beneficiate our lithium concentrate in harmony with nature:
Producing what has now become the most sustainable lithium in the
world, honoring all the high expectations placed upon us by our
country and our people. As a result, we have opened a whole new set
of opportunities for Brazil to
become a key participant in the most coveted global sustainable
supply chains for battery materials."
Matthew DeYoe, EVP of Corporate
Affairs & Strategic Development: "Sustaining production at
nameplate capacity was the final step in gaining confidence that
Sigma's operations have completed the ramp process. Our team
overcame incredible challenges to deliver something that has never
been done before, a dry-stack tailing process with zero net carbon
and 100% water reuse in the production circuit. I am incredibly
proud of the work the site-team has done over the past year and I
look forward to keeping the momentum going into
2024."
ABOUT SIGMA LITHIUM
Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML, BVMF:
S2GM34, TSXV: SGML) is a leading global lithium producer dedicated
to powering the next generation of electric vehicle batteries with
carbon neutral, socially and environmentally sustainable
chemical-grade lithium concentrate.
Sigma Lithium has been at the forefront of environmental and
social sustainability in the EV battery materials supply chain for
six years and it is currently producing Quintuple Zero Green
Lithium from its Grota do Cirilo Project in Brazil. Phase 1 of the project is expected to
produce 270,000 tonnes of Quintuple Zero Green Lithium annually
(36,700 LCE annually). If it determines to proceed after completion
of the detailed engineering study, Phase 2 & 3 of the project
are expected to increase production to 766,000 tonnes annually (or
104,200 LCE annually). The project produces Quintuple Zero Green
Lithium in its state-of-the-art Greentech lithium plant that uses
100% renewable energy, 100% recycled water and 100% dry-stacked
tailings.
Please refer to the Company's National Instrument 43-101
technical report titled "Grota do Cirilo Lithium Project Araçuaí
and Itinga Regions, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Amended and Restated Technical Report"
issued June 12, 2023, which was
prepared for Sigma Lithium by Homero
Delboni Jr., MAusIMM, Promon Engenharia; Marc-Antoine Laporte, P.Geo, SGS Canada Inc;
Jarrett Quinn, P.Eng., Primero Group
Americas; Porfirio Cabaleiro
Rodriguez, (MEng), FAIG, GE21 Consultoria Mineral; and
Noel O'Brien, B.E., MBA, F AusIMM
(the "Updated Technical Report"). The Updated Technical Report is
filed on SEDAR and is also available on the Company's website.
For more information about Sigma Lithium,
visit https://www.sigmalithiumresources.com/
Sigma Lithium
LinkedIn: Sigma Lithium
Instagram: @sigmalithium
Twitter: @SigmaLithium
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes certain "forward-looking
information" under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities
legislation, including but not limited to statements relating to
timing and costs related to the general business and operational
outlook of the Company, the environmental footprint of tailings and
positive ecosystem impact relating thereto, donation and upcycling
of tailings, timing and quantities relating to tailings and Green
Lithium, achievements and projections relating to the Zero Tailings
strategy, achievement of ramp-up volumes, production estimates and
the operational status of the Groto do Cirilo Project, and other
forward-looking information. All statements that address future
plans, activities, events, estimates, expectations or developments
that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur
is forward-looking information, including statements regarding the
potential development of mineral resources and mineral reserves
which may or may not occur. Forward-looking information contained
herein is based on certain assumptions regarding, among other
things: general economic and political conditions; the stable and
supportive legislative, regulatory and community environment in
Brazil; demand for lithium,
including that such demand is supported by growth in the electric
vehicle market; the Company's market position and future financial
and operating performance; the Company's estimates of mineral
resources and mineral reserves, including whether mineral resources
will ever be developed into mineral reserves; and the Company's
ability to operate its mineral projects including that the Company
will not experience any materials or equipment shortages, any
labour or service provider outages or delays or any technical
issues. Although management believes that the assumptions and
expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are
reasonable, there can be no assurance that these assumptions and
expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information
inherently involves and is subject to risks and uncertainties,
including but not limited to that the market prices for lithium may
not remain at current levels; and the market for electric vehicles
and other large format batteries currently has limited market share
and no assurances can be given for the rate at which this market
will develop, if at all, which could affect the success of the
Company and its ability to develop lithium operations. There can be
no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking information, whether because of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For more
information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could
cause our actual results to differ from current expectations,
please refer to the current annual information form of the Company
and other public filings available under the Company's profile
at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release.
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SOURCE Sigma Lithium
