Sigma Lithium Corporation has restarted mining activities at its Mine 1 facility in Vale do Jequitinhonha, Brazil, completing an operational restructuring initiative. The company’s technical leadership now directly manages all mining activities and planning, supported by subcontractors and regional staff. Over 600 people are working on site as the operation ramps up following a period of adjustments designed to strengthen safety and efficiency.
The operational restructuring, completed in the fourth quarter of 2025, aimed to enhance safety protocols and operational efficiency. A key component involved expanding earth-moving capacity through acquisition and deployment of a larger fleet of off-road equipment. This expansion was necessary to align mining operations with the increased production capacity of the Greentech Industrial Plant and ensure consistent ore supply at the required pace. The restart has proceeded through phased equipment deployment—beginning with third-party equipment and progressing to leased equipment—aligned with mine sequencing and site safety protocols. Throughout the first quarter of 2026, ore volumes will gradually increase as they are delivered to the Greentech Industrial Plant, which has continued operations by processing strategic stockpiles of dry-stacked tailings and previously extracted ore mixed with host rock.
The Greentech Industrial Plant has a nameplate capacity to produce 270,000 tonnes of lithium oxide concentrate annually, equivalent to approximately 38,000 to 40,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. The company will issue full-year 2026 production guidance once mining operations reach steady-state conditions in the first quarter of 2026, following full equipment mobilization and peak mining capacity achievement.
The restructuring was partly financed by commercial success of Sigma Lithium’s high-purity, low-grade lithium oxide concentrate fines, produced at the Greentech Industrial Plant using dry-stacking technology. Based on a price of US$140 per tonne applied to year-end inventory of 950,000 tonnes, this production stream could yield proceeds equivalent to selling approximately 70,000 tonnes of the company’s high-grade lithium oxide concentrate at US$1,800 per tonne—roughly three months of the Greentech Industrial Plant’s primary product output.
Additional financial support came from Sigma Lithium’s major global clients and financiers, who provided contractual collateral and working capital lines against future production of 70.5 kilotonnes, as previously disclosed. This arrangement reduced the need for additional third-party capital.
The restructured mining operations are designed to fully support planned production increases over the next twelve months, including resumption of construction and commissioning of the Phase 2 Greentech Industrial Plant.
Illustrative cash flow guidance has been developed using two historical production scenarios for Phase 1 (220,000 and 270,000 tonnes per year) and Phase 2 (520,000 tonnes per year). These projections indicate the company’s capacity to generate strong cash flows across various production levels and lithium price environments. At Phase 1 production levels of 220,000 tonnes annually, projected cash flows range from US$78 million at a lithium price of US$1,000 per tonne to US$233 million at US$1,800 per tonne. The all-in sustaining cost structure for Phase 1 operations—encompassing cash costs, maintenance capital expenditures, environmental and governance expenses, and interest expenses—is US$599 per tonne.
The mining restart involves more than 600 personnel on site. Sigma Lithium emphasizes its commitment to environmental and social sustainability through its “Quintuple Zero Green Lithium” initiative, which targets zero coal power usage, zero tailings dams, zero potable water utilization, zero hazardous chemicals, and zero accidents.
The Grota do Cirilo operation is recognized as one of the world’s largest lithium production sites and ranks as the fifth-largest industrial-mineral complex for lithium oxide concentrate globally. This announcement corrects and replaces a previous version of the press release issued on February 2, 2026.
Sources
- https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/282379/CORRECTION-FROM-SOURCE-Sigma-Lithium-Announces-the-Resumption-of-Mining-Activities-at-Mine-1-with-over-600-People-Working-on-Site
