river – a mining company created in Canada, but commissioned by Brazilians, will definitely put Brazil on the map for the coveted electric car battery segment. In April, the Sigma-Lithium begins commercially producing high-purity lithium in Minas Gerais, a crucial input for battery production. Currently, only four other companies in the world produce this mineral.

Installed in Jequitinhonha Valleyin northern Minas Gerais, Sigma Lithium counts among its directors co-president Ana Cabral-Gardner – who became known as the “hippie CEO” for championing, at the start of the project seven years ago, a more sustainable production, respecting environmental parameters, which has brought successive gains to the company.

Strong global demand for high-purity lithium has put Sigma in the spotlight, sparking the interest of billionaire Tesla. Elon Musk. According to international news agencies, the company is considering making a proposal for the mining company.

The favorable scenario also led the mining company to take the top spot in the Venture 50 ranking on the Toronto Stock Exchange earlier this year.

The Canadian project is located between the municipalities of Araçuaí and Itinga, in the Jequitinhonha Valley, north of Minas Gerais. The biggest investor in the mining company is a Brazilian private equity fund called A10 Investimentos, which owns 46% of the company.

At the end of last year, Ana Cabral-Gardner informed the Stadium/Broadcast that the company has already sold part of its production and is preparing for an expansion that will triple the value of the investment started seven years ago. In mid-February, Sigma announced the approval of an increase from the current 270,000 tons to 766,000 tons per year.

The executive added that one of the contracts is with one of the world’s largest producers of advanced batteries, LG, which will manufacture its products in two units in the northern hemisphere: a joint venture with GM called Ultium and another with Stellantis/Fiat. LG also supplies batteries to electric car makers Tesla, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche.

Sigma currently holds 27 mineral rights in Brazil, on four properties spread over 19,000 hectares. The focus is currently on Grota do Cirilo, adjacent to the Jequitinhonha River, from where the water is drawn, and 50 kilometers from the Irapé hydroelectric plant, which supplies the project’s energy. The project has access to the port of Ilhéus, Bahia, facilitating the shipment of lithium to Asia, Europe and North America.

A total of R$1.2 billion was invested in building the unit, including R$715 million to sustain the process.

Ana Cabral-Gardner’s nickname “hippie CEO” came early in the company’s founding. The reason for this was the fact that the executive gave up the equivalent of 3 billion reais by failing to explore 25% of a lithium mine to preserve water for neighboring communities, which use the Ribeirão Piauí River. The company chose to use water from the Jequitinhonha River, which reaches the heavily polluted region. To operate, the company’s unit has a wastewater treatment system and piping that reuses the treated water until it evaporates.

Another guideline of the project was not to use chemical agents in the process, which allows mining waste to be sold to produce less noble batteries, such as electronics and ceramics, thus optimizing the income of the business.

In addition to the treatment of polluted water from the Jequitinhonha, which also benefits the community surrounding the project, Sigma is developing social initiatives in the region, such as Volta ao Lar, which has guaranteed the return to northern Minas Gerais of parents of families from the region that had left the place for lack of work.

Today, according to the executive, these men already represent 60% of the project’s workforce. It is also investing 4.5 million reais in the construction of two thousand cisterns for small farmers against drought. They are reservoirs of water that will help contain flooding, prevent erosion and promote sustainable agriculture.