VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 18,
2022 /CNW/ --
HIGHLIGHTS OF CONSTRUCTION ADVANCEMENT DURING THIRD
QUARTER
- Sigma Lithium construction activities advanced
significantly on multiple fronts during the third quarter of
2022. Construction progress movie can be viewed
here.
- Sigma Lithium remains on track to initiate commissioning of
the crushing plant by year end, planning to commence commercial
production in April 2023:
-
- Expected to generate significant free cash flows in the
second quarter of 2023, as one of the lowest cost producers of
battery grade lithium concentrate.
- Further benefits from extremely robust current lithium
pricing environment throughout 2023.
-
- Most recent BMX auction achieved US$8,575 per tonne of 6.0% lithium
concentrate, equivalent to US$7,805
per tonne of 5.5% lithium concentrate on
November 16.
- Mining activities are ongoing, with the
opening of the Phase 1 mine:
-
- Completed 'pre-stripping' of the mine.
- Ongoing preparation for operational readiness and initiation
of spodumene ore mining this month.
- The Company has practically completed all civil construction
of the Greentech Plant.
-
- Finalized over 99% of concrete works for the crushing
module and 94% for the dense media separation
("DMS") module of the Greentech Plant.
- Finalized 98% of steel rebars for the
Greentech Plant.
- The Company achieved significant progress on each area of
mechanical assembly of the Greentech Plant.
-
- Completed to 76% the assembly of the
steel structure for the crushing module.
- Advanced significantly to 75% the assembly of
the platework for the crushing module.
- Advanced significantly to 75% the
assembly of the conveyor belt of the crushing module, while
advancing as scheduled to 15% the assembly of the conveyor belt
linking the crushing module to the DMS module.
- The Company also made significant progress on the electrical
sub-station, achieving 50% completion.
- The construction of the piping system to bring the water
from the Rio Jequitinhonha is also significantly advanced as
follows:
-
- 97% of pipe distribution completed.
- 75% of welding completed.
- 58% of pipe excavation completed.
- A core element of the environmental sustainability of the
Company is its conservation of drinking water for its
communities.
-
- As such, the Greentech Plant utilizes the "raw sewage
grade water" from Rio Jequitinhonha piped from 5km.
- The Company also utilizes this "raw sewage grade water" in
its current construction activities.
- The Inbound water for the Greentech Plant will be cleaned by
a sewage treatment station to make the "raw sewage grade water"
suitable for industrial utilization
- Increased workforce on site to 750 professionals, as
construction significantly accelerated, entering the ramp up stage
with concurrent areas in execution:
-
- Workforce expected to further increase to >1,000 as
activity continues to accelerate during the balance of
2022.
- Approximately 50% of the workforce will continue to be from
the region, as part of the homecoming program.
AT COP-27, SIGMA LITHIUM
STRENGTHENED ITS LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN
- Sigma Lithium actively participated with its entire ESG
leadership team at COP-27 in
Egypt. The team collectively
participated in over 26 events, panels and workshops.
-
- Ana Cabral-Gardner, Sigma
Lithium's co-CEO was invited by UN-DESA to host at the SDG Pavilion
at COP27 a workshop where it
presented a framework to apply UN-SDGs to mining projects globally,
in order to measure sustainability and overall economic and social
impact.
-
- The workshop applied Sigma Lithium's ESG framework to
demonstrate how SDGs were utilized to assess the effectiveness of
the deployment of equity "impact investment" and debt
funding.
- Ana Cabral-Gardner made the
keynote presentation on "circular economy" at COP Investments
(hosted by the world climate fund), presenting the Sigma Lithium
strategy to become the first "ZERO TAILINGS" lithium producer by
upcycling 100% its "hazardous chemicals free" tailings from the
Greentech Plant
- She also participated at the prestigious "Acceleration to
Net Zero Series" of McKinsey & Co at COP-27 with leading sustainability professionals
across fields
- Sigma Lithium has continued to contribute significantly to
the climate dialogue both in Brazil and globally:
-
- Sigma Lithium's co-CEO, Ana Cabral
Gardner was part of the host leadership of the Climate
Summit at Columbia University;
- Sigma Lithium participated at the United Nations High Level
Energy Dialogue submitting an "SDG7 energy compact"; and
- Sigma Lithium participated at the Future Investment
Initiative both in Riyadh and
in New York
CORPORATE UPDATES
- Sigma Lithium ended the third quarter with C$85 million in cash & cash equivalents as of
September 30, 2022. The current cash
position as of November 18, 2022 is
C$58 million.
- As result of the extremely robust current lithium pricing
environment Sigma Lithium decided to preserve maximum commercial
flexibility for the commercialization of its Battery Grade
Sustainable Lithium.
-
- Therefore, obligations under the heads of agreements
entered into with Mitsui in March
2019 (the "Mitsui HOA") were terminated, and
the Company decided to repay C$4.0
million drawn under the Mitsui HOA.
- Board of Directors and management team further strengthened
with the appointment of Dana M.
Perlman as an independent director and the appointment of
Brian Talbot as Chief Operating
Officer.
INVESTOR VIDEO CONFERENCE
CALL
November 21, 2022 at
10:00 AM (ET)
Registration Link for Zoom video call below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81639641671
Zoom Meeting ID: 816 3964 1671
SIGMA Lithium Corporation ("Sigma Lithium" or the
"Company") (NASDAQ: SGML, TSXV: SGML), dedicated
to powering the next generation of electric vehicles with
environmentally sustainable and high-purity lithium, is pleased to
provide an update on the construction activity at its wholly owned
Grota do Cirilo project (the "Project" or "Grota do
Cirilo"), with activity accelerating and the Company completing
the run of mine wall and structural steel for all four areas of the
crushing plant. The financial statements and management's
discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three and
nine-month periods ending September 30,
2022 are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.ca), EDGAR
(www.sec.gov) and the Company's corporate website.
"The operational team led by the co-CEO and the COO achieved
exceptional construction progress this quarter, concluding several
key milestones and remaining on track to initiate commissioning of
the Greentech Plant by December
2022", says Ana
Cabral-Gardner, Co-CEO and Co-Chairperson of Sigma
Lithium.
"Equipment deliveries are arriving at a substantial pace and
activity further accelerates into Q4-2022. As our construction is
taking place in Brazil and over
70% of the equipment is sourced in country and was secured with
financial deposits at the commencement of construction as either
long lead items or as medium lead items, Sigma Lithium was less
affected by the equipment shortages and inflation and lack of
qualified labor that have become common in the industry. We expect
the number of workers at site to increase to over 1,000 this
quarter, further accelerating construction speed and bringing
significant economic opportunities to the Jequitinhonha Valley
region where we operate."
"Our operating team continues to work tirelessly to establish
Sigma Lithium as one of the world's largest lithium producers next
year, benefiting from one of the most robust lithium markets of all
time, enabling the Company to generate revenues by the second
quarter of 2023, and enjoy substantial cash flows from operations
on the same quarter. The Greentech Plant construction remains on
track for commissioning to commence by the end of this
year."
Ana Cabral-Gardner, Co-CEO and
Co-Chairperson of Sigma Lithium added, "Additionally, we remain
focused on unlocking significant organic growth beyond Phase 1
production and expect to announce the results of our combined Phase
2 & 3 expansion in the coming months, which could potentially
triple production by 2024, if warranted by a feasibility
study."
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Sigma Lithium continues to rapidly advance construction of the
Greentech Plant, achieving the highest monthly progress to date in
September and reaching the following significant milestones:
- Construction of the run of mine wall and structural steel for
all four areas of the crushing plant completed (total construction
of the crushing and run of mine pad areas expected to be completed
in early to mid-November);
- 99% and 94% of the concrete works completed for the crushing
and dense media separation areas, respectively;
- 76% of the steel structure assembly for the crushing area
completed, with assembly work expected to be rapidly advanced in
November at the dense media separation plant area;
-
- Assembly is planned to continues to advance in November at the
DMS plant area;
- 99% of the detailed engineering for the Greentech Plant
construction completed; and
- Phase 1 North Pit opened, as Sigma Lithium completes pit
pre-stripping and prepares for operational readiness.
Significant progress in electromechanical assembly and civil
construction was made during September, as shown in Figure 2 below.
Additionally, Sigma Lithium continues to pre-assemble prefabricated
Greentech Plant parts as they arrive at site in order to increase
the efficiency of construction and assembly.
Detailed engineering work for the Greentech Plant build
continues to be concurrently advanced by Primero Group Ltd and
Promon Engenharia Ltda, providing Sigma Lithium with strong
confidence related to timing and capital expenditures remaining for
construction completion.
Refer to Table 1 for an overview of the significant progress
completed broken down by area and Table 2 for a summary of detailed
engineering completion levels.
Table 1: Greentech Plant Construction Progress Broken Down by
Area
|
Category
|
Specific
Area
|
Progress
|
Civil
|
Concrete
Works
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
99 %
|
DMS Plant
|
94 %
|
Electrical
Substation
|
50 %
|
Steel
Reinforcement
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
98 %
|
DMS Plant
|
98 %
|
Mechanical
|
Steel Structure
Assembly
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
76 %
|
DMS Plant
|
9 %
|
Platework
Assembly
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
75 %
|
Conveyor
Assembly
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
75 %
|
DMS Plant
|
15 %
|
Equipment
Assembly
|
Dry Plant
(Crusher)
|
52 %
|
|
Water Intake (Pipe)
Construction
|
General
Infrastructure
|
53 %
|
Table 2: Detailed Engineering
Progress Summary
Discipline
|
Progress
|
Structural
|
100 %
|
Concrete
|
100 %
|
Mechanical
|
100 %
|
Platework
|
100 %
|
Procurement
|
100 %
|
Safety
|
100 %
|
Planning
|
100 %
|
Process
Design
|
100 %
|
Piping
|
100 %
|
Civil
|
100 %
|
Controls
|
99 %
|
General
Engineering
|
98 %
|
Electrical &
Instruments
|
98 %
|
Total
|
99 %
|
Additionally, Sigma Lithium completed pre-stripping of the Phase
1 North Pit in October (progress to date shown in Figure 3 below).
Pre-stripping will commence for the Phase 1 South Pit now that the
Company has exposed sufficient ore in the North Pit. The Phase 1
North Pit ore will be stockpiled until initial production, which is
expected to start by the end of March
2023.
Going forward, as activity continues to accelerate, the
operating team is focused on completing the following key
workstreams:
- Finalizing the construction of the crushing area and
fast-tracking progress of the DMS concentration plant
construction;
- Installation of the equipment components of the Greentech Plant
(crushing plant area, dense media separation plant);
- Construction of the Company's own high voltage substation on
site; and
- Electromechanical assembly of raw water supply piping and
installation of equipment, including water tanks.
Note: The Phase 1 North Pit is on the left and a waste pile is
in the central area.
SIGMA LITHIUM CLIMATE ACTION AND
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP IN BATTERY MATERIALS
Sigma Lithium actively participated with its entire ESG
leadership team at COP-27 in
Egypt.
Ana Cabral-Gardner, Sigma
Lithium's co-CEO was invited by UN-DESA to host at the SDG Pavilion
at COP-27 a workshop where it
presented a framework to apply UN-SDGs to mining projects globally,
in order to measure sustainability and overall economic and social
impact.
- The workshop applied Sigma Lithium's ESG framework to
demonstrate how SDGs were utilized to assess the effectiveness of
the deployment of equity "impact investment" and debt funding.
The SDG Pavilion at COP-27 is
hosted by the United Nations DESA (Department of Economic and
Social Affairs) and provides a platform for all stakeholders to
strengthen synergies between climate action and all the Sustainable
Development Goals.
The Company repeated the initiative started at COP26 in Glasgow, and hosted at COP27 in its delegation two representatives of
the towns in Vale do Jequitinhonha (Itinga and Aracuai) in order to
share knowledge and experiences and jointly develop new regional
economic development initiatives for 2023 with maximum impact to
lift the community.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Cash and Cash
Equivalents
Sigma Lithium ended the third quarter with C$85.2 million in cash and cash equivalents as of
September 30, 2022. During the
quarter, the Company continued to focus spending on advancing the
Greentech Plant construction and repaid the C$4.0 million deposit that Mitsui made under the
Mitsui HOA, in order to preserve maximum commercial optionality for
sales of the Project's Battery Grade Sustainable Lithium.
Restatement of Prior 2022 Interim
Financial Statements to Include of Stock-Based Compensation, in
Prior Periods
The Company reports that as a result of a recalculation of the
Company's non-cash stock-based compensation ("SBC")
expenses, awarded during the periods (most of which were recently
granted), under the Equity Incentive Plan of the Company (the
"EIP") it has restated its financial statements and MD&A
for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2022 as well as the three-month period
ended March 31, 2022. Such
restatements became necessary as a result of the substantial
increase in the share price of the Company during the periods,
therefore increasing the materiality of the non-cash stock-based
compensation during the periods.
The identification of the need for the restatement arose out of
the Company's normal quarterly close and review procedures for the
quarter ended September 30, 2022.
Pursuant to these procedures, management of the Company, in
consultation with the Company's external auditors, assessed the
Company's accounting policies, as well as the presentation and
accounting for the non-cash stock-based compensation expenses
incurred by the Company.
The restatement has the following effects on the Company's
financial statements:
|
Periods ending June
30, 2022
|
Period ending March
31, 2022
|
|
As Previously
Reported
|
Restatement
Impacts
|
As
Restated
|
As Previously
Reported
|
Restatement
Impacts
|
As
Restated
|
(in C$
million)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SBC for the 3-Month
Period
|
($10.7)
|
($1.3)
|
($12.0)
|
($10.7)
|
($2.0)
|
($12.6)
|
Net Loss for the
3-Month Period
|
($20.2)
|
($1.3)
|
($21.5)
|
($10.2)
|
($2.0)
|
($12.2)
|
Loss Per Common Share
for the 3-Month Period
|
($0.20)
|
($0.01)
|
($0.21)
|
($0.10
|
($0.02)
|
($0.12)
|
SBC for the 6-Month
Period
|
($21.3)
|
($3.3)
|
($24.6)
|
|
|
|
Net Loss for the
6-Month Period
|
($30.4)
|
($3.3)
|
($33.7)
|
|
|
|
Loss Per Common Share
for the 6-Month Period
|
($0.30)
|
($0.04)
|
($0.34)
|
|
|
|
Property, Plant &
Equipment
|
$52.8
|
$1.4
|
$54.2
|
|
|
|
Other
Liabilities
|
$0.01
|
$0.3
|
$0.4
|
|
|
|
Contributed
Surplus
|
$48.1
|
$4.4
|
$52.5
|
$39.0
|
$2.0
|
$41.0
|
Accumulated
Deficit
|
($97.5)
|
($3.3)
|
($100.8)
|
($77.3)
|
($2.0)
|
($79.3)
|
Note: For further details see Note 2 in the restated financial
statements for the quarters ended June 30,
2022 and March 31, 2022.
Restricted Share Units Grant
Sigma Lithium is pleased to announce the granting of restricted
share units ("RSUs") to certain officers and directors
pursuant to the EIP.
A total of 5,739,000 RSUs were granted as follows:
- 5,000,000 RSUs were granted to the senior management of the
Company; and
- 739,000 RSUs were granted to the directors of the Company.
The grants of RSUs to senior management and the directors
described above, while recently granted, were RSU entitlements
included in agreements entered into previously, and which have been
previously announced and reflected in previously filed MD&A and
shareholder meeting materials.
The EIP was amended on May 31,
2022 to increase the maximum number of Common Shares that
are issuable to participants and that may be subject to awards
under the EIP from 13,393,499 to 18,120,878 (being 18% of the
issued and outstanding Common Shares at the time of approval of the
amended EIP), and certain other housekeeping amendments. The
shareholders of the company approved such amendments to the EIP at
the annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 30, 2022.
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Mr. Wes Roberts, P.Eng., a member
of the technical committee of the Company, is the "qualified
person" under NI 43-101 who reviewed and approved the other
technical information included in this news release.
ABOUT SIGMA LITHIUM
Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML, TSXV: SGML) is a Canadian company
dedicated to powering the next generation of electric vehicle
batteries with environmentally sustainable and high-purity
lithium.
Sigma Lithium is currently in construction at its wholly owned
Grota do Cirilo Project in Brazil,
which includes a state-of-the-art, green-tech processing plant that
uses 100% renewable energy, 100% recycled water and 100% dry-stack
tailings. The project also represents one of the largest and
highest-grade hard rock lithium spodumene deposits in the
Americas. Sigma Lithium has been at the forefront of
environmental and social sustainability in the EV battery materials
supply chain. For more information about Sigma Lithium, visit
https://www.sigmalithiumresources.com/
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE
CONTACT
Jamie Flegg, Chief
Development Officer
(Toronto) +1 (604) 706-1087
jamie.flegg@sigmaca.com
James Neal-Ellis, Manager,
Corporate Development & Investor Relations
james.nealellis@sigmaca.com
Sigma Lithium
Sigma Lithium
@sigmalithium
@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 of the commencement of Greentech Plant commissioning; timing
related to other construction related initiatives at the Project;
the general business and operational outlook of the Company; 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 (including but not limited to the impact of the
continuance or escalation of the military conflict between
Russia and Ukraine, and economic sanctions in relation
thereto); the stable and supportive legislative, regulatory and
community environment in the jurisdictions where the Company
operates; the ability to obtain required financing on acceptable
terms; anticipated trends and effects in respect of the COVID-19
pandemic and post-pandemic; 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
develop and achieve production at its mineral projects. 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 Company may not develop its mineral projects into a
commercial mining operation; 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