Sigma Lithium gets Brazil approval on waste pile safety

Executive Summary

• Sigma Lithium received an official technical statement from Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) confirming the safety of its waste piles and stating that no legal prerequisites exist for precautionary closure measures.
• The company asserts that the ongoing administrative enquiry by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment has no material effect on its ability to continue mining operations, citing an impeccable safety record with over two years without lost-time accidents.
• Sigma Lithium attributes recent share price volatility to a "defamatory campaign" involving disinformation and falsified government communications, and states it is in contact with the SEC regarding these events.

Key Details

• Regulatory Statement: ANM issued a statement on Feb. 2 confirming that inspections (drone overflight and visual assessment) did not identify geotechnical anomalies or imminent risk of global instability in the waste piles.
• No Closure Measures: The regulator explicitly stated there is no evidence of serious technical risk and no legal prerequisites for adopting precautionary measures of closure for Sigma Lithium's operations or waste piles.
• Inspection Context: The statement followed inspections conducted by ANM on Jan. 20, following an administrative enquiry opened by the Ministry of Labour and Employment after a regular safety inspection in December 2025.
• Safety Record: The Ministry verified Sigma Lithium's safety record during the inspection, noting over two years without labour accidents with lost time.
• Waste Pile Clarification: The company clarified that the piles in question are hard schist rock mined from pits, not tailings piles of lithium fines. This distinction is due to Sigma Lithium's "green technology" for dry stacking, which does not utilize dams.
• Financial Impact of Waste: The company notes that it sells dry stacked lithium fines, generating substantial demand and proceeds that are reinvested into operations.
• Market Volatility: Management attributes significant share price volatility to a "well-orchestrated and well-financed defamatory campaign" involving falsified government domains and phishing, affecting investors and analysts (specifically mentioning Bank of America).
• Regulatory Contact: Sigma Lithium is in close contact with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the disinformation campaign.
• Operational Capacity: The company has a nameplate capacity to produce 270,000 tonnes of lithium oxide concentrate annually (approx. 38,000–40,000 tonnes LCE) and is constructing a second plant to double capacity.

Notable Quotes

• "The inspections, which were carried out through drone overflight and visual assessment by walking, did not identify geotechnical anomalies indicative of an imminent risk of global instability in the inspected structures." — ANM Statement
• "Considering the absence of evidence of serious and imminent risk, it is concluded that, at present, the legal prerequisites for adopting precautionary measures of closure have not been met." — ANM Statement
• "The overall disinformation in the marketplace about the enquiry and company's piles has created significant volatility in Sigma Lithium's share price and, in the company's opinion, it is very clearly the result of a continuing well-orchestrated and well-financed defamatory campaign to confuse market participants..." — Sigma Lithium Management