Brazil’s Gerdau buys out Sumitomo Corp and JSW in Gerdau Summit
The transaction is expected to close in early 2025.
Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML; TSXV: SGML) announced on Monday that it will add a second production line at its Greentech industrial plant in Brazil, aiming to nearly double its lithium output.
The new plant will increase the lithium production at its Grota do Cirilo project in Minas Gerais state to 520,000 tonnes per year by 2025 from the current output of 270,000 tonnes, the company said.
Sigma said the capital expenditure for Phase 2 is expected to be $100 million. It expects to commission the plant by year-end, with first production expected in the first quarter of 2025.
Sigma obtained an environmental licence from the state government at the end of January to install and operate the new plant. In February, Sigma received a letter of intention from the Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES) for additional funding for its Grota do Cirilo project.
The company is currently the world’s sixth-largest global integrated producer of lithium concentrate.
Sigma’s mine produced over 105,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in its first calendar year of operations. For first quarter 2024 alone, it produced 52,800 tonnes.
In 2023, Sigma reported full-year revenue of $135.1 million. The miner ended the fourth quarter with $48.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. This represents a build from the $28 million cash it had at the end of the September quarter.
“Customer demand has been beyond the quantities produced by Phase 1, as indicated by the premiumization of our lithium. The high quality of our lithium products offers great commercial advantages due to their high purity, low levels of iron and alkalines, and coarse particle size,” Sigma CEO Ana Cabral said in a news release.
Sigma shares were up 7.6% to $13.94 apiece at mid-day in New York on Monday, capitalizing the company at $1.4 billion.
