Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML, TSXV: SGML) announced on Friday that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of 5.1 million common shares of the company a price of C$11.75 per share to raise gross proceeds of C$60 million (approximately $47.24 million).
It is expected that investors focused on sustainability and ESG will comprise the majority of the investors in the offering, the company says.
Net proceeds of the offering will be used by Sigma for the construction and development of its wholly-owned Grota do Cirilo property in Brazil, host to the largest hard rock lithium spodumene deposits in the Americas.
Since 2018, the company has been producing environmentally sustainable battery-grade lithium concentrate at Grota do Cirilo on a pilot scale. A larger-scale commercial operation is in the works, with first production expected in Q4 2022.
Phase 1 of the production plant has been designed to produce up to 220,000 tonnes of high-purity battery-grade lithium concentrate per year, equal to about 33,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).
The company is currently conducting a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for a prospective second production phase at the Grota do Cirilo project.
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the second deposit, released in June, doubles production capacity of battery-grade lithium concentrate to around 440,000 tonnes per year (66,000 tonnes LCE).
Such capacity, which could be reached before the end of 2023, would make Grota do Cirilo fall just outside the world’s top five lithium producers in terms of output capacity after Albemarle, SQM, Ganfeng, Pilbara Minerals and Galaxy.
Shares of Sigma Lithium rose 4.8% by 12:15 p.m. ET. The lithium developer has a market capitalization of C$1.14 billion.
