Sigma Lithium sells 150,000 tonnes of Li fines
Sigma Lithium Secures Vital $96 Million in Liquidity and Confirms Demand for By-Product, But Debt-Laden Balance Sheet Casts a Long Shadow.
The most recent news release, dated February 13, 2026, announces two material items: 1) A sale of 150,000 tonnes of low-grade lithium fines at US$140/tonne, with an option for the buyer to purchase an additional 350,000 tonnes at market prices. 2) A new production-backed revolving credit facility of US$96 million, provided by a major client, for working capital and to support the production and delivery of high-grade lithium concentrate.
This news is materially positive and represents a critical step forward for the company, which has been navigating a severe lithium price downturn and operational restructuring. The $96 million revolver directly addresses the acute liquidity crisis revealed in the Q3 2025 financials (cash: $6.1M). It enables the recently resumed mining operations (announced Feb 2, 2026) to continue and should fund the working capital needs for producing and selling the primary high-grade concentrate. The concurrent sale of low-grade fines validates a key secondary revenue stream management has been promoting. However, this is not a "game changer." It is a necessary survival and stabilization move that adds more debt to an already highly leveraged balance sheet (~$162M total debt as of Q3 2025). The news confirms progress on the path laid out in prior releases (mining restart, fines sales) but does not alter the fundamental challenge: generating sustainable operating cash flow at current or improved lithium prices to service and reduce debt.
Sigma Lithium is a lithium producer operating the Grota do Cirilo project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Its flagship asset is the Phase 1 "Greentech" plant, with a nameplate capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year of lithium oxide concentrate (approximately 39,000 t LCE). The company promotes a "Quintuple Zero" sustainable production model (zero tailings dams, etc.). A Phase 2 expansion to 520,000 tpy was announced in April 2024 but its timeline is uncertain given market conditions and the company's financial stress.