Sigma Lithium Corporation (TSXV:SGML), a leading global lithium producer, announced yesterday that it has increased its Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at its 100% owned Grota do Cirilo operation in Vale do Jequitinhonha, Brazil, by 40%, equivalent to 22.2 million tonnes.

The company’s consolidated Proven and Probable Reserve balance now stands at 77.0 million tonnes at 1.40% lithium oxide (Li2O), up from 54.8 million tonnes at 1.44% prior to the increase. The increase occurs within the combined phases 3 and 4 mines, resulting in an estimated 25-year extension of the company’s integrated mining and beneficiation operations at two lines of processing capacity totaling 520,000 tonnes per annum.

Ana Cabral Co-Chairperson and CEO commented in a press release: “This significant increase in mineral Reserves demonstrates our commitment to continuously invest in Brazil to unlock the full economic potential of our mineral concessions. This includes our commitment to build in the country, in the same region where the lithium is mined, a second state-of the-art large scale lithium processing green Industrial plant. We believe Brazil is poised to become one of the global leaders in Lithium production as a result of its optimum conditions for integrated lithium industrial processing and mining: legal certainty in a consolidated mining code, rule of law, straightforward permitting processes, tropical climate, green and affordable renewable energy and power lines infrastructure.”

The increased mineral Reserve balance provides opportunities for continued low-cost lithium production growth at Sigma Lithium’s Grota do Cirilo operations by supporting a third and potentially fourth processing facility, or a longer operating life at the company’s currently planned lithium throughput. The available balances show consistent minerology and are available through open pit mining operations, allowing the company to maintain its current, Phase 1, low operating cost model as it expands into additional phases.

This increase in mineral Reserves does not represent the full extent of the conversion of mineral Resources as announced by the company on January 31, 2024. Sigma Lithium continues to execute the mineral and geological development work to further convert its Resources into Reserves over time.

Sigma Lithium operates at the forefront of environmental and social sustainability in the EV battery materials supply chain and is currently producing Quintuple Zero Green Lithium concentrate from its Grota do Cirilo Project in Brazil. Phase 1 of the project entered commercial production in the second quarter of 2023 and has an annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes of concentrate (36,700 LCE annually). The company has issued a Final Investment Decision formally approving plans to nearly double capacity to 520,000 tonnes of concentrate through the addition of a Phase 2 concentrate mine and associated mine.

The project produces lithium concentrate at its state-of-the-art Greentech lithium plant that uses 100% renewable energy, 100% recycled water, and 100% dry-stacked tailings. Sigma Lithium began production at the mine in April 2023, generating over 105,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in its first calendar year of operations. For the first quarter of 2024 alone, it produced 52,800 tonnes.

Brazil, which heavily depends on biofuels and potash exports, ships most of the lithium it produces. The country’s mining-rich state of Minas Gerais, where the Grota do Cirilo project is located, is a significant contributor to Brazil’s lithium production.

Reinaldo Brandão, co-general manager and head of mining operations at Sigma Lithium, stated that the mineral reserve update comes as a result of months of detailed specialized geo-statistical technical modeling work to process and optimize mine plans.

The company began a strategic review of its business last year, which has extended into 2024. In April, it announced plans to add a second production line at its Greentech industrial plant in Brazil, aiming to nearly double its lithium output. The new plant will increase Grota do Cirilo’s lithium production to 520,000 tonnes per year by 2025, from the current output of 270,000 tonnes.