Sigma raises US$100mn to finance Brazil lithium project

Canada’s Sigma Lithium signed an agreement to obtain US$100mn in financing to reinforce its cash position as it plans to expand production at its Grota do Cirilo project in Brazil.

The agreement is with UAE-based Synergy Capital, one of the company’s shareholders, for pre-export financing.

"The debt financing will fully fund the company until August 2023, including the initiation of detailed engineering and the initiation of construction of the [Grota do Cirilo] project expansion," Sigma said in a statement. 

The financing has a four-year maturity and an interest rate of BSBY [Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index] plus 6.95% a year.

Sigma said production of lithium concentrate will increase from 270,000t/y (equivalent to 36,700t of lithium carbonate) starting in 2023, to 768,000t or 104,200t of lithium carbonate in the second year of the Grota do Cirilo mine.

The 100%-owned project is in the final implementation phase.

Sigma also reported the results of technical studies for the expansion. 

“More importantly, we shall be able to remain at the low end of the cost curve," co-CEO and co-chairperson Ana Cabral-Gardner said.