Sigma Lithium sells first “green tailings” to China’s Yahua

Sigma Lithium (TSX-V; Nasdaq: SGML) has received payment on its first shipment under a three-year environmental offtake agreement for its green tailings to China’s Yahua International Investment and Development.

Yahua will turn Sigma’s green tailings into battery-grade lithium concentrate for use in electric vehicle (EV) battery production by top industry actors, including South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and LG Gem.

Green tailings are high-purity, zero chemicals, 1.3% lithium oxide, and ultra-fine tailings generated by the Canadian miner’s Greentech processing plant.

Sigma said the plant’s product is 5.5% battery-grade lithium, which comes from its 100%-owned Grota do Cirilo lithium complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

“Achieving zero tailings marks a major milestone for Sigma Lithium and for the battery materials industry, demonstrating that lithium battery materials can be produced in harmony with the environment and without hazardous tailings dams,” chief executive Ana Cabral-Gardner said.

Sigma inked the offtake deal with Yahua earlier this month. The Vancouver-based miner received a 50% prepayment, including a 9% pricing premium. This shipment of 30,000 tonnes is scheduled to depart in early June.

Sigma began spodumene production at Grota do Cirilo in April, and the Greentech plant is expected to reach full capacity by July. 

The company expects to initiate an expansion project mid-year, which will triple nameplate capacity from the initial rate of 270,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year to 766,000 tonnes of the product per year by mid-2024. 

Sigma has been producing environmentally sustainable battery-grade lithium concentrate on a pilot scale since 2018. It uses 100% renewable energy, 100% recycled water and 100% dry-stacked tailings at its Greentech plant.