ARAÇUAI, Brazil, April 20 (Reuters) - 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.
(Reporting by Washington Alves and Marta Nogueira; Writing by
Peter Frontini; Editing by Brad Haynes and Jan Harvey)
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