Sigma Lithium delays 12-month guidance after Minas Gerais temporary production halt

Sigma Lithium said Oct. 1 it has postponed by three months its current 12-month production guidance of 240,000 metric tons of lithium products after all its mining and industrial production in Brazil's Minas Gerais state was temporarily suspended on legal rulings.

Sigma, Brazil's biggest lithium producer, made its statement after Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) on Sept. 30 temporarily banned mining activities at the company's Cava Norte mine pit with immediate effect on the grounds of "imminent risk", following safety inspections.

The company "confirms that it remains focused on advancing its expansion plans, expecting to deliver 330,000 mt of lithium oxide concentrate in FY 27," it said in a statement.

ANM has ordered Sigma to take various corrective measures at the mine pit within 40 days. Sigma confirmed Oct. 1 that all its operations are now at a standstill, and that "the temporary suspension will generate significant negative economic impact across 12 municipalities in the Vale do Jequitinhonha."

Also, on Sept. 30, the public prosecutor's office in Minas Gerais state issued a legal ruling upholding daily fines of 500,000 real ($95,635 ) on Sigma for non-compliance with previous court rulings regarding community safety and demands for payment for relocation of four families who live within the mine site.

Sigma Lithium said it will maintain the commercial and recycling operations that ensure the circularity of 100% of its dry-stacked tailings, selling high-purity lithium fines, generating cash flow and expecting to continue to self-fund the company during the temporary suspension.

The company denied in its statement that it has caused any negative impact to a protected community of descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves in the vicinity.

On Sept. 24 the environmental foundation of Brazil's Minas Gerais state had ordered the immediate suspension of lithium producer Sigma Lithium Corp's five main environmental licenses, legally halting virtually all operations at Brazil's largest lithium producer, a Feam spokesperson told S&P Global Energy Sept. 25.

Sigma claims that the suspension of the licenses breaches an environmental agreement previously struck between the company and the state authorities.

Sigma Lithium currently has a nameplate capacity to industrialize 330,000 mt/year of lithium oxide concentrate. The company added Oct. 1 that it plans to resume in 2027 a Phase 2 expansion designed to nearly double annual production capacity to 580,000 mt/year and also plans a Phase 3 expansion to increase this further to 830,000 mt/year. Its current clients are mainly in the battery materials area in Asia.