Sigma Lithium Resumes Operations After Brazil Appeals Ruling

Sigma Lithium (ASX:SAU) announced it is resuming mining-industrial operations in Brazil after a Federal Court of Appeals decision maintained its environmental licenses, which a local federal judge in Teofilo Otoni had suspended on September 8, 2026.

The appeals decision by Senior Federal Judge Mônica Sifuentes granted the company an Emergency Motion for Suspensive Relief against that ruling. The original ruling was issued in connection with a lawsuit filed by Ngolo, an association that states it acts on behalf of local Quilombola communities. Sigma Lithium states its Grota do Cirilo operations are not located within the new perimeter on which the lawsuit relies. The company maintains its guidance to scale annualized lithium oxide concentrate production to 330,000t by year-end 2027 and says it does not need to add capacity to meet it, citing existing Mine 1 capacity in the South Pit and its Cleantech Industrial Plant, which previously demonstrated production above 950 tonnes per day. Sigma Lithium also denies media reports that a notification for mitigation works on the North Pit caused the stoppage, stating it does not operate the North Pit.

The decision is suspensive relief. The release does not state the status of the underlying Ngolo lawsuit, when production will return to prior rates, or the cost of the stoppage.