SIGMA LITHIUM ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON CONSTRUCTION, COMPLETING 94% OF CONCRETE AND 76% OF STEEL FOR GREENTECH PLANT, COMMISSIONING TO BE INITIATING DECEMBER 2022 – QNT Press Release

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VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —

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-27SIGMA 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-GardnerSigma 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”;
    • 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:SGMLTSXV: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 2022says Ana Cabral-GardnerCo-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-GardnerCo-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.”

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Sigma Lithium continues to rapidly advance construction of the Greentech Plant, achieving the highest monthly progress to date…

Full story available on Benzinga.com

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