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Sigma Lithium Corp is preparing to make its first lithium shipment from Brazil, the miner’s CEO Ana Cabral-Gardner told Reuters, with material bound for a processor for South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd.
Sigma started production at the Grota do Cirilo lithium mine in the state of Minas Gerais earlier this week, and 100% of its current output is lined up for export.
“The (customer) name we can disclose is LG and its ecosystem, so today these shipments are going to LG processors and refiners,” the executive said.
Sigma previously said it was aiming to make its first shipment of about 15,000 tonnes of lithium in May.
The sale of the metal to LG will include production tailings, or waste products, for transformation into a value-added product, Cabral-Gardner added.
She said that 300,000 tons of ultrafine tailings from the first phase of operation will be turned into a pre-chemical input for popular car batteries.
Sigma is ramping up capacity at Grota do Cirilo with an aim to produce spodumene concentrate – a lithium source material – at a rate of 277,000 tonnes per year from July onward.
Expansion of the operation in a second and third phase will nearly triple capacity to 766,000 tonnes by the middle of 2024, Cabral-Gardner added.
Earlier this year, media reports suggested Tesla Inc or Chinese lithium rival Ganfeng Lithium Group Co could make a bid for Sigma. Cabral-Gardner declined to comment on the matter.
(By Washington Alves, Marta Nogueira and Peter Frontini; Editing by Brad Haynes and Jan Harvey)
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