Sigma Lithium Corporation said its Co-CEO Ana Cabral-Gardner took part in a panel discussion at the recent Financial Times (FT) Commodities Mining Summit looking at enabling the energy transition, and emphasized the role technology will play in driving greener and less costly lithium production, paving the way for mass electric vehicle (EV) adoption.
During the panel session, Cabral-Gardner also highlighted four major challenges of the lithium mining industry given the commodity's current supply tightness: scaling rapidly and significantly; achieving environmental and social sustainability; producing the highest quality offtake and; delivering at the lowest cost.
“[Sigma] uses quite a lot of [green] technology: we perfected a dense media separation plant, digitally controlled it, avoiding a flotation plant altogether and all the issues that would come with it around wet tailing dams and chemicals,” Cabral-Gardner said in a statement.
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“Technology can be the vector to the spectacular success of the [lithium industry] helping us lower costs and stay greener or it can also undo [the lithium industry] if it is not disciplined enough to work with downstream to enable less costly EVs,” Cabral-Gardner added.
The session was moderated by Financial Times metals and mining correspondent Henry Sanderson and the participants included Rio Tinto PLC (LSE:RIO) Minerals CEO Sinead Kaufman and Ganfeng Lithium Group vice chairman Wang Xiaoshen.
During the last nine years, Sigma Lithium has been developing the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the Americas with an environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-centric strategy, including an environmentally sustainable method designed to produce lithium concentrate with zero use of hazardous chemicals, 100% clean energy, 100% water recirculation and 100% dry stacking of tailings.
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