Sigma Lithium Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 14, 2023

There are 1 speakers on the call.

Operator

On the first page, I'm starting the disclaimer. We're going to make a number of forward looking statements here. So I encourage you all to read the disclaimer regarding the forward looking statements. Sigma became the 1st global producer of 0 carbon, 0 tailings, 0 chemicals green lithium. In other words, we're enabling a transformation in the electric vehicles industry.

Operator

And that's the excitement of what I'm going to share with you. Ultimately, we achieved the golden crown of sustainability by basically focusing on the impact on land that the Helix dams would have, focusing on mitigating the impact on air by lowering our GHG carbon footprint and on water by not using chemicals in our hazardous not using hazardous chemicals in our production plant. Here's an aerial shot of our plant. You can see the dense media separator and the tailings 3rd module to your right next to the thickener, which is the first of its kind to dry stack ultrafine tailings to 12%. Here is another aerial view of our plant.

Operator

And you can see it from the view of the ROM pad where we feed the first module, the crusher with the spodumene ore to be transformed into battery grade000 lithium concentrate. Here it's the deliveries and on every front we have successfully ramped up. And more importantly, we are on our way to expand this plant to triple production capacity. So there are 5 aspects of the call today and I'm going to try to cover them to some level of depth here. The first, we are confirming guidance, reaffirming guidance of 130,000 tons of concentrate for year end.

Operator

So by December 23, we're going to reach this target. The ramp up has been a success. We have successfully managed the dry stacking module, which was the last module to be fully commissioned to full capacity. We're on our way to get there. So it's now an incredible success of innovation in sustainability and in plant technology and lithium processing technology.

Operator

We also have Conducted our inaugural shipment of the 000 brinlichtumen byproducts at the end of last month. We're now going to be doing them at a cadence. I'll be talking to you more about that. We're also in midst of advanced detailing engineering, Producing CapEx to FEL3 level for the expansion of our production. And at that, We're also expanding our mineral resource.

Operator

We're tapping into Phases 45, testing a few pieces of adjoinment of pegmatites so that we will be able to perhaps ramp up our potential production even further with a potential forward line. More importantly, for all of us here, we have been successfully implementing at a very steady pace All of our landmark social development initiatives, which fills us with pride and delivers on the promise of lifting the community as we achieve our milestones. So I will go through each one of these points and cover then the financial aspects of where we are in our operation. So here is a picture of our This is our picture of our industrial line item, but nothing better than the material to share the benign The crusher, which is module 1, which was the first module to be commissioned. Here is we're going to talk a bit about that plan.

Operator

So the ramp up has been a success. We're reiterating guidance. So we're going to be producing 130,000 tons of this beautiful material that's to your right here. It's very high purity. We've been able to achieve the incredible of concentrating even to higher levels than 6%.

Operator

So 95% of throughput capacity was reached in August. In other words, The plant is being unleashed in all its power to produce what we call to reach what we call nameplate utilization. It's important to remember that the nameplate utilization is 85% and we shouldn't confuse utilization with Capacity utilization is the number of hours the plant stays on is a 200 200 ton an hour of plant, so through utilization, we are able to calculate production. Now the design capacity, in its current design, this plant is supposed produced 270,000 tons of material. And in August, we were actually able to get to that level.

Operator

So We got it. I mean, the plan is there. And it's from now on basically calibration and fine tuning. Hence, we're so confident to deliver the guidance for the year. Another very important point on plant ramp up has been reaching the nameplate Coveries, which has allowed us to produce the beautiful material on your right.

Operator

In other words, we have been now recovering to 65% And we have been sustaining that around several consecutive days, given that we have overcome Our cautious and safe ramp up of the dry stacking module, So we're now consistently producing very high quality and we could produce 6% lithium oxide000. So we are adjusting it between 5.5% to 6% because of the commercial specs prevailing in the market given that most Producers are just at 5%. But it's just it's a testament to the quality of the ore, quality of the material, The ability of the dense media technology to actually beautifully, beautifully separate, purify and concentrate our material, So it's all working as expected. But more importantly, we have actually advanced into innovation territory by doing something that's unique and pioneer in our industry, which is to fully dry stack our tailings. We have then on that same tone achieved daily production records of 800 approximately 850 tons.

Operator

So if you multiply that by 23, 24, 30 days, you can adjust to see the full capacity of this plant. So we are very, very confident that we're going to be probably reaching nameplate capacity in the Q4 as expected. And I think the most important thing on the dry stacking, We were calibrating the moisture. So the point in dry stacking isn't just to dry stack, it's to dry stack with a level of moisture that allows the dry stacking piles to stay intact and therefore consistent for storage. So to your right, I am going to show The circuit, right?

Operator

So this is the end of the circuit for the main product. So here I have this you can see a picture of a 1000 words. This beautiful light green lithium concentrate is granular. So the granularity is getting to about 6.5% on average. So essentially, It's beautiful granular lithium concentrate.

Operator

The next page, again, videos And pictures are a 1,000 words. So we're going to show you the 2 portions of the dry stacking, the 2 key portions of dry stacking. The first is the portion of the industrial circuit that dry stacks the ultra fines. So here it is. And you can see the cake.

Operator

And then it goes through the belt all the way to the pile and you see that the pile Integrity at the very edge of it, which demonstrates the low moisture. So at the very edge of it, you can clearly see the top of the ultra fine tailings pile and the integrity of it, which It's just a visual demonstration of the low moisture and the success of the ramp up of this circuit, right. Here is the rest of the tailings. Here are the rest of the tailings. So you can see the Two kinds of tailings, that's an important point because as we talk 0 tailings, it isn't that we don't produce tailings, we do.

Operator

But because we innovated and took the risk to build a dry stacking circuit for ultrafine And the coarse gravel, we are able to get rid of it. So the byproducts are utilized. The left By product, of course, grades paving roads, paving rural roads for our community. And the product on the right is actually valuable. We've been able to sell it for about $3.50 to $400 FOB, which covers a significant portion of our Cash costs and almost all in sustaining costs.

Operator

So it is fantastic that we've been rewarded for our Pioneer to be by being a pioneer in dry stacking this airline financially. So this is the financial reward of doing what we've done. So on this page, it's again More of the operational success we've achieved this quarter. So we made our inaugural shipment in July. So we shipped 15,000 tons of the triple zero green lithium and 16,500 tons of the Triple 0 grain tailings.

Operator

So now we have the cadence, we have monthly shipments planned. Again, just recapping why Triple 0? The plant does not use chemicals. We are using very successfully Dense medium separation instead of chemical flotation. We've got 0 tailings because as I said, we actually Getting rid of these byproducts, so we're monetizing these green byproducts.

Operator

We are now following this incredible success in mitigating the aspect of a tailing dam on land. I mean, remember, not much has been talked about tailing dams in the lithium industry, but it's just as hazardous as tailing dams in iron ore. That's Basically, it's a dam full of chemicals that over time is perpetual. So 100 years from now, These chemicals, they are trapped in that tailing dam. We'll go somewhere.

Operator

And where is that? In the water basins of the surrounding areas. So it's a similar It's back on biodiversity and ecosystems that detailing that to have in iron ore. As we mitigated that and got rid of the byproducts, We are at we were able to 0 the carbon. So we were able to offset the remaining carbon in the operation, which was very small.

Operator

It was 0.26 tons of carbon, a ton of lithium, which is a fraction of the industry. So in any part of a source, both in Salars, brine and in hard rock, We were a very small fraction of the industry already in great part because of this plot. So we were able to purchase Carbon credits to just offset and go to 0 because 0 is a number that's very easily understood better than low green 0. 0 is 0. As a result of the quality of the material and all of these attributes, we have been enjoying phenomenal commercial success.

Operator

I mean, We've been building a stellar book of customers, customers that basically are Far reaching downstream, automakers, battery makers, the lot. So we have a very strong and stellar book of customers because it's a combination of the environmental sustainability and basically unquestionable credentials of the project, but with the premium pricing where we with the premiumization of the product because of the superiority of the product on technical merit alone. In other words, the product is granular. Average grain size is 6.5 millimeters. It's going up to 9 millimeters.

Operator

So it's granular cost, which increases productivity to downstream to our clients. There's Significant levels of purity here is very high purity. So very low potassium, very low sodium. Alkaline potassium and sodium together are well below 1%. So potassium below 0.5%, sodium around 0.5%.

Operator

Then there's iron oxide where we're sitting well below 1% again, 0.7%, 0.77%, 0.8%. So Very high purity from the standpoint of these 2 key impurities, which lower productivity downstream. So the premium pricing of 9% means the following. We are grabbing 9% top line value from refining, which is an incredible achievement. In other words, Refining is a business that relies on our product to deliver their product and we are grabbing top line a 9% value.

Operator

That's what premium pricing means. The index is an average of Korea, Japan and China Lithium hydroxide pricing, but nevertheless, we are price setters at this point because of these characteristics, High purity, high quality, coarse granularity and the free attribute, which is the most sustainable product in the industry. Here is again pictures a 1000 words. We showed you how these tailings are made, how beautifully that 3rd, the dry stacking surface is working. And here you can see the product from up close.

Operator

Even the tailings are grainy. They're not milked, they're not talc, they're not micronized. So they're not at a micron level. So even the tailings Are incredibly efficient in the flotation where they are utilized to become more lithium concentrate by our Clients of these byproducts. The green lithium is beautiful is on your left.

Operator

And then to the right, the use of these tailings that we've been discussing here. I'm going to talk a bit more about Phase 1 and the main milestones and where we're trying to get with the product. So you can clearly see how we've been delivering on every promise, delivering on everything we said we would. So we commissioned the crushing on time. We commissioned the DMS on time.

Operator

We started production on time. We're ramping up to nameplate capacity Well on time, even though we did something no one else has done, which was drive stacking tailings, which was A source of basically conservatism here, we had to commission Slowly, we had to ramp up slowly because we needed to test that circuit to see if it worked, and it worked. But it was an exercise of conservatism and patience, especially throughout the month of June July as we got to that circuit. So we went to circuit 1, which is here, which is the crusher, then circuit 2, which is a dense media separator, which works beautifully. But the dense media separator is connected to circuit 3, which happens after the thickener, which is this dry packing circuit.

Operator

So these 2 circuits, they are symbiotically connected. So the performance of 1 circuit It was connected to the performance of another, what we call the wet circuit. So we wouldn't be able to see the dense media separation plant in all its might if we hadn't successfully commissioned the dry stacking circuit because we made that environmental choice from the get go. So here it is, right. So we got there and roof is in the pudding.

Operator

We're reaching shipment cadence. So we're going to go to a third 2nd shipment, 3rd shipment with a monthly cadence. So we're on track to hit our guidance numbers. Here is us sharing everything. So transparency as always.

Operator

So you can see we've been tracking data As we got into the dry stacking circuit commission, so that you can see the importance of understanding how these two circuits were connected. The main plant and the dry stacking were working together. Here's the beauty of this. We were achieving operational consistency and successful plant recoveries, period, right? So even in a period where the dry stacking was being Slowly ramped up, far from its full capacity.

Operator

The DMF, the main plant was working fantastically. In other words, What you can see here is us hitting 6% lithium octane very consistently For almost 2 months, we're now and we are now in the beginning of August. So if you can see here, like From the 13th June to 12th August, 2 months of data and you can see the consistency. To the right, you see the head grade. So blue had great, orange concentrate.

Operator

So beautiful consistency on getting the product right. So again, Dance Media separation was a go. Now how does the magic works Again, how do the processes work together? Because they are like Siamese twins, and that's the right word. We can't dissociate.

Operator

Why can't we dissociate? Well, the thickener is basically mud. We don't have a tailings dam. If the drive stacking circuit wasn't working, We wouldn't have a place to put the mud. So we would have to commission the dry stacking circuit slowly so that we could actually have the DMS unleash It's power, it's full capacity towards that dry stacking circuit.

Operator

And it was a combination of a number of fronts, Filters, membranes, filtration, adjusting the thickener, and we got this. And here is the data. And you can clearly see How we've been now right there. So we've been getting to so in the period where That plant was ramping up. We were recovering at lower levels because the whole plant wasn't fully at capacity.

Operator

So as we got to the capacity, you can clearly see how we just shut up dry stacking works, Plant on leash, so as we increase capacity, the entire circuit started to work beautifully. So that's here, recovery and yield, And that gave us the confidence to basically just smooth sailing from now. And it's an enormous source of pride. On the mine, also, same thing. We've been executing according to plan.

Operator

I mean, again, the mine feeds the industry. So it's a fully integrated operation. So we've been reaching consistently the mining costs in the technical report. So no news there. And then as we have gotten this under our belt, we will talk about expansion.

Operator

So we've been tinkering over a few ideas around expansion as demand for this material is just It's skyrocketing because of its sustainability, because of its quality, because of electric vehicles ramp up in demand. And again, we are the lowest cost producer. So Price is a secondary consideration for us to the extent that we are going to generate robust cash flows, irrespectively of pricing environment. So for us, it's always a matter of how quickly can we get more, more, more material to the market, right? So we have, as you know, a significant reserve base.

Operator

We have 86,000,000 tons of resource And we have about 54,000,000 tons of reserve, which means we can actually increase production throughput, production yield by putting in more production lines. And then we will work on our 9 former mines to build up longevity of the project. So again, this company, the resources are so vast That is a matter of being able to or deciding to build this line train and what's the throughput capacity we believe we can actually place in the industry. So right now, we're just done Phase 1. So we're going to reach EUR 270,000,000 annualized within a year's time.

Operator

So essentially, on an annualized basis, we got this. So we understand this circuit. We understand dense media separation circuit and how it behaves As per our mineralogy, our material, we're about to build 2 more lines and that will triple our capacity. And then we are tinkering with a 4th line. So perhaps we would build 3 more lines.

Operator

So by 2025, 2026, We are going to be a higher capacity. So that's the exercise we're doing here as far as Phases 4 and 5. And here, you can see the modification of a slide we've been showing you for quite some time. The FEL3 detailed engineering is ongoing. We're fully funded.

Operator

We got a shareholder loan and now we're in full Cash flow generation mode, companies' costs, as you can see, are being significantly covered with the sale of byproducts. So this has become An incredibly cash accretive at your size, producing and selling main product, by products. And therefore, you can see The analysis that's being conducted in the context of detailed engineering about 2 more line trains, perhaps 3 more line trains, Where can you put that in light of the elevation of the terrain? You can see the ramp pad here. So that's the elevated portion.

Operator

So We can probably we could build them in perpendicular to the current circuit. Most likely that will be the case because we have a bigger area there with the right elevation for the wrong path. So these are the conversations and analysis that are taking place right now. They're being led by our Chief Operating Officer, which as you can see, It's been incredibly busy. So here is the view of it, right?

Operator

So this is the other I think of a Brian is taking Brian Talbot is looking into, meaning how do we think about elevation area so that we can actually throw in 2 line trains and then pass a third more once we build those Or build them 2 now and then a third immediately thereafter. And again, the demand for the product has proven to be Fully supportive of us putting in that throughput, again, 000 ultrahighquality. The pairing of these two Characteristics in the market is unique. We're the only ones that have that basically. So this is a visual.

Operator

And you can see here where my arrow is, I'm not sure if you can see that, this is faster. So this is also what our environmental team loves to see. In other words, we'll jump over this area here because we've got vegetation. We don't like to cut vegetation unless it's on the pit. We typically don't do it.

Operator

So we will go straight into what we call anthroposized vegetation area where there's no trees to cut, so pasture areas And we will build our 3 line trains there. In the very back, you can see this was already a patio for truck maintenance for the mine. So it's actually an area that already has industrial capabilities. We had our gas station there. We had our industrial setup there.

Operator

So this is an area that's been considered for expansion. So we probably do perpendicular. And here is a bit more of that timetable. So I think what matters here is we're doing all these trade offs now, right? So two lines, three lines, how do we go about this construction.

Operator

We've been deploying cash. We've been deploying costs for this construction, detail engineering And others, so it's FEL3 detail engineering who bloom, that's costly. So we're very we're able to cover that with our with the shareholder loan we received And we're able to cover that with our own cash flow generation. So we're about to continue to generate a significant amount of cash going forward. So the plan here is to expect it here, we're ordering long lead items in the Q4.

Operator

Once we get our arms around 2 plants, 3 plants, This is an 8 month build, so it's actually quite fast now that we're pretty done with all the infrastructure, including the substation. So it's going to be a different build in Phase 1 where we have to prepare the site and prepare everything. So we're just literally going to deploy 3 line trains and that's the plan here. Essentially, we're expecting to initiate production and delivery We're expected to initiate the commissioning of this plant in September of next year and we expect to start receiving equipment at the beginning of Summer June, July. So it's all sort of going according to plan.

Operator

Here is further growth, further additional growth, More, more, more. As you can see, just to recap, we got 9 former lithium mines. This is one of the richest lithium properties In the Quichinoina Valley, the Lithium Valley in Brazil, we started with Grata dosirilo, which names our studies because it was where there were more former mines and more large pegmatite formations. As you can see, Dussa, which is Phase 1, is tested in North. At the bottom, we have Phase 2.

Operator

It's all interconnected. So when you can see, there's a String of ore bodies and pegmatites that are not linked necessarily to each other, but they Adjoining or they are adjacent, like they're just very close by to each other. So here we have Phase 3 sorry, here we have Phase 3. And then we have another ore body between Phase 3 and what we call Phase 5, which is called Tambourio. And then we have LABRE, which is in our current mineral resource and is being drilled to the level of its potential now.

Operator

And then we have Muriela, which has been drilled. So all of this adjoined. So we are basically planning to publicize that when we actually concrete Finalize our thoughts around a 4th line train. So this will be the and again, the 4th line train Irrespective of Phase 4, it's very important to say that. The Fort Line train is how we are going to contribute to deliver the lithium that will actually support this very rapid pace of growth of Electric vehicle demand in the Western markets as a result of this incentive plan.

Operator

So now In addition to China, which was the only market, now we have Europe going full speed and then the U. S. Emerged as the fastest growing EV market as a result of President Biden's green plan. So now we have 3 markets to support as an industry And here's our contribution. We're going to put a 4th line train to actually deliver more material in the market.

Operator

And again, we'll see it later. For us, lithium prices are secondary consideration to demand, right, in terms of making decisions around construction and throughput because we are the lowest cost producer. So we don't depend on high prices to do anything here. Lastly, I think I'll go in. One of the key sources of pride for this company, in addition to the technical prowess of our incredible, incredible technical team, I mean, we are delivering on every front, on every promise in terms of lifting this community with us.

Operator

So we are enjoying Shareholders, all of us are enjoying the prosperity of the lithium, but the communities are enjoying that. So we are renovating the schools. The cost per school, we did this as a test pilot school. It's $70,000 per school. We're probably going to be Doing 10 of those schools next year, it's a whole new ballgame for that school.

Operator

This used to be a rural school with 2 classrooms where children from 3 to 10 cramp up in 2 classrooms. It was a source of shame for all of us Brazilians to have next door pools like that where kids had their learning capabilities significantly hindered by the facilities. So what we're doing is building them proper facilities with libraries, with classrooms, with more classrooms. We're putting a bridge to improve Accessibility of the rural communities around it to get to the school, to get to the asphalt. So we're planning to make this a model school, a pilot with not just the installation in the facility, but also a robust after school program because A lot of the parents on that community, which is the community that sits right in the middle of our areas Work at Sigma.

Operator

The women work at Sigma. Lots of women working at Sigma. So we're putting an after school program as well. So again, it's a pilot program from an academic standpoint, It's a pilot program from an installation standpoint in terms of doing fast, building fast, building cheap, which is the same mindset we have for everything we do. So we're probably going to be doing 10 of those, which is again a first in terms of speed and comprehension of the program, right?

Operator

So financial numbers, where are we? Well, we're well on our way, right? We're joining the ranks of the super majors. As you can see, We have the mineral resource and the ore bodies to support it. Now we can say we have an amazing sustainable plant to support it.

Operator

We are the only company doing triple 0 lithium, 0 carbon, 0 chemicals and 0 tailings. So we believe that now, again, we have the right circuits to grow, which means we're going to grow without leaving a legacy of harming the environment. And that's how the clients downstream, automakers, battery makers So they gave us this enormous competitive advantage as far as this material is concerned because it's a sustainable way to grow and to cater to this industry, which is building the green cars. So it's green lithium for green cars. We're planning to put our 2 more line trains.

Operator

So we're getting to the full 37,000 ton LCE Annualized capacity, which is the 270,000 ton of lithium concentrate. And then we're going to get with 2 more line trains to we Expect to get to 100,000 tons of LCE, which is approximately 760,000 tons of concentrates. And then we are tinkering with the idea of a 4th line train again to be supported by our 53,000,000 ton of reserve because of the current moment in time of the industry. Payback for Align Train here is in months, So 2 months, 2.5 months depending on the price of the material. So very short, very efficient.

Operator

So why not? And then you can see also that there's a disconnect. I mean, as we are able to establish this cadence, we are hoping to be rewarded by all of you With that, with the producer recognition, Given that we're just coming out of ramp up and we're going to be start shipping this with a cadence and we're moving into the producer universe where We are set to enjoy producer valuations, right? Here is why prices matter very little for Sigma because we are one of the lowest cost producers in the world. And more importantly, as we sell our byproducts, our cost becomes AIGA, a significant portion of our cash cost is actually covered by the sale of byproducts.

Operator

I mean, we're achieving $3.50 to $400 a ton for this material. And just as a refresh, our cash cost is $2.90 as per feasibility And the all in sustaining cost is $530 per feasibility. Obviously, the numbers The ramp up will be different. We'll show that in next quarter. But essentially, that is not the focus.

Operator

The focus is What happens to demand? Because we can deliver this low cost, high quality, triple green lithium in any market in any point of the cycle. And we have this built in competitive advantage of sustainability. We're just putting scenarios with different prices, but you can throw in the Prices, so we did per unit and we did full in using the 3 combined phases. This is just an illustration.

Operator

The chart on the right is the most important, which shows in the red the Forecasted prices. And if you go all the way down, even at $2,000 a ton of material, you see the difference between that and the dollar line, this is our cash flow. So we enjoy robust cash flows no matter what basically. And that's the beauty of being the low cost producers. And keeping The process in dense media separation was a key element to that.

Operator

Our processing cost is our greatest competitive advantage. Mining costs are kind of similar, but processing costs are the difference. Our processing costs are significantly lower than our peers. Just To illustrate, on electricity alone, we pay $0.02 per kilowatt hour of green renewable power. So that alone is a fraction of renewable power or any power, dirty power, clean power anywhere in the world.

Operator

And here is an important point. I mean, there's a disconnect. We are now earning credibility into building closing the gap towards closing the disconnect. So as you can see, as we get to 270,000 tons, We're going to reach the 37%, which is the colored yellow ball. And we're moving steadily as we're building Phase 2 and 3 into the expansion.

Operator

And then perhaps Phase 4, we're going to hit 104,000 tons of LCE, which is again in line with our 3 peers. So it's pretty clear where we're going as we get to our as we move through our construction. But what's most important here is that we have a very innovative circuit that we've been Calibrating, adjusting, perfecting, as far as the innovation, which is the dry stacking. And even during the dense media separation process, our Chief Operating Officer has been Brian has been perfecting a number of aspects on that circuit. So now We have a tailor made sustainable circuit that's just essentially a replicable unit for our mineralogy.

Operator

Again, Every mineralogy is different. Our mineralogy, of course, crystals is it, right, because it's the combination of the quality of the material of what we have. Large crystal mineralization, which lends itself to this dense media separation process extremely well And the perfectioning of the circuit, which is dry stacking even ultrafine, right? Here is more numbers, the busy page, but I just want to Maybe with the main message, which is the Phase 4 4th line train, which was initially planned to the back, we're now probably putting it at the front because It is at the front of the life of the project where we have the biggest pressure from our clients on demand. We're living through full ramp up of EV demand by consumers.

Operator

And not all of the projects that were promises to come on stream have come on stream. So The producers and that stigma included, the producers are doing everything they can to basically cater to this industry given that the commissioning and the ramping up of the new projects, it's It's lower than everyone thinks, it's delayed. And so we are basically trying to fill that gap with as much material as we can possibly can, Sustainable material at that. And as you can see, using the price assumptions that we had in the study originally, which we will adjust, the payback was 1 month. So I mean really, right.

Operator

So now what we're basically going to do, we're going to adjust the prices, but what you will do, well, if price is cutting half, So we're talking $2,000 payback would be like 2 months. So it's a decision to be irrespective of pricing. That's what we're trying to show you here. As a low cost producer, a seller of byproduct, I mean, for us, putting more material in the market is just a matter of Is there demand out there for this material? And the answer is a resounding yes, right?

Operator

And so here is the closing. I mean, we delivered on every thought. There's a degree of consistency here and focus that's really unmatched. I mean, we run this business like a technology company. It's very taxing on all of us executives.

Operator

I mean, we feel the pressure, we feel the daily pressure, but it's just a consistent delivery of milestone. I mean, this being an industrial operation, you can only imagine how taxing it is on people. So that's why we're constantly building up our human capital We're constantly building our teams. We're bringing in more and more incredible people like the 2 gentlemen that just Our now leading together the financial officers, Rafael and Caio. Rafael came from a long lineage of Tradition of companies operating in Brazil, listing in the United States, including CSN, which is a known steelmaker here, He's been listed in the U.

Operator

S. For almost 25 years. Then Rafael comes from Cargill. He's going to lead The controls areas is Chief Control Officer, leading soft implementation, improving internal controls. So Cargi was a North American company, Soft commodities, commodities businesses, so again, top team.

Operator

And again, we delivered on every front. Lastly, 1st shipment, 0 carbon, dry Stacking 0 tailings, got rid of the tailings, selling by products, I mean, the lot, right? So what's next? Well, Complete ramping up this month. So when we get to nameplate capacity, we've been hitting Now we're going into 10 days of that, but we're going to probably hit that in the Q3 consistently and then steadily And second shipment, 3rd shipment, 4th shipment, and then we're done.

Operator

And then it's on to Phase 2 and Phase 3. So here is Q and A. So I'll stop sharing and we go straight to Q and A. So another question. So can we talk about the decision to use trucks versus heavier mining equipment for pit work and hauling ore.

Operator

Should we assume higher maintenance downtime or OPEC? Is it worth the ESG specifications if you don't get compensated for that with the product price? Well, look, the cost of mining here is negligible compared to the overall cost. I mean, as you could see, it's $2 a ton to mine this and you saw the slide. So it's an important point here.

Operator

We're talking about negligible cost elements, negligible, dollars 2 a ton. The product is $3,500 a ton Final. Even with the bear market projections, the $2,000 ton product. So it's important to understand that mining is a feedstock to the industrial operation. And where do we really manage cost in the industrial operation?

Operator

So our processing costs are the key. By choosing Densemedia separation, we put ourselves way out there, way ahead in terms of advancing In terms of advancing, just keeping those costs low because dense media separation is a relatively simpler process than flotation. And therefore, inherently, intrinsically, it has lower costs. So as a result, when you compare mining with plant, I mean, The decision to add trust was a social decision. And you can see how bad the social license of the industry in Brazil is And how much resistance even Sigma encountered this perfect company environmentally and socially as it initiated operations.

Operator

What was the resistance? We never had the benefit of the doubt. Here it is in Brazil, you start a mining operation, you presume guilty. And we proved everyone wrong within 2 months of operation, but it was tough calling. So what we had going for us, The significant number of members of the community that were employed by this company.

Operator

Also, well, fewer trucks, More people and easier to redeploy drivers that were driving trucks in other applications towards driving off towards driving off pit trucks. This is key to understanding our unique, incredible social license With this community, with the Littum Valley region, with the country, with federal, with state, I mean, we become an engine of Positive change is a force for good and that is connected to this decision. So Answering your questions, it is well worth it. It's well worth it. And I'm just talking about the social.

Operator

Now I'm going to get to the environmental. Biofuels, the smaller trucks are made for biofuels used. So We are 15%. We could easily get to 50%. We're 0 the carbon anyway now so that this is done.

Operator

But The main consideration here was social because instead of using 100 ton trucks, we're using 40 ton trucks, we employ 2 and have more people, number 1. And that means the members of the community around us are employed. The mine is the largest employer. 95% of the personnel in the mine is from the towns, born, bred, raised, From there, 95,000,000,000, these are astounding numbers. How did we do this?

Operator

We brought these people back. We brought the community back. We trained them. We were able to quickly redeploy their skill set towards driving trucks on pits. Basically, somebody wants See the head grade concentrate grade mining cost progression slide again, we'll put this on the website.

Operator

So essentially, What we've done, as you can see, let me just go back to this, if I can do that, but let me see if I can keep on sharing this. Okay. Here we go. Just to the question. Here it is.

Operator

So just to see the consistency, right? Here it is. Okay. Concentrate and head grade. So you can see us concentrate.

Operator

I mean, basically, we need to we struggle to bring it down to 5.5%. So it's sort of this blanket left to its own devices, we'll be doing 6.4% material. So now so we basically have to Tone it down in terms of just sort of adjust it down to 5.5%, because obviously the spec being 5.5%, Our pricing formula in contract has been set 5.5%. We want to deliver market spec. Our peers are delivering below, So we're delivering market spec, but if we left the plant unleashed, you'll be doing 6.3%, 6.4%, 6.plus Material.

Operator

So again, this is obviously a function of the quality of what we got and the quality of the process. So it's the combination. The process preserves the integrity of the particle size. So the product becomes More valuable because it's large particles, 6.5 millimeters, and therefore, It is more efficient. It's about 30% more efficient downstream than our competitors because Purity and particle size, especially in the first phase of chemical refining.

Operator

So the other mining the other slide we would like See is mining cost progression, you can clearly see here. There we go. Here it is. Here's the consistency. And it kind of goes back to answering the previous question.

Operator

I mean, it's counterintuitive, and I completely understand your question. It's counterintuitive. But remember, and this is kind of what my job here is, is to show how Counterintuitive this is, mining isn't the focus. The focus is the plant, right? And there's been incredible consistency achieving the feasibility level mining costs, right?

Operator

And so that's kind of what gave us the latitude to think, well, We really have room to maneuver here. We can do differently, right, on environmental sustainability, More biofuels and on people, we can employ more people by decreasing the number of trucks and absorb all that labor that All those individuals, all the valued members of the community, they actually were gone, were driving trucks elsewhere in other applications that can be redeployed here. Deep fried cost to China, well, we're not paying for fried. This is FOB prices. So we are publishing FOB prices, right?

Operator

So I would say today, the price cost is sitting between 65 And $75 a ton, so they've gone down quite a lot, but we don't pay for them. The customers send the ship And we actually cash the LC upon loading the ship at the port in Victoria in Brazil. So our published prices, all of them are FOB Brazil prices. So more color on sales and marketing operation. What would be tentative monthly sales volume going forward?

Operator

And how's the demand side within the spot market at the moment? I mean, let me be very clear. Even though we sell spot, we're not hostages to the spot Protagonist here, I mean, we're selling spot into very well known downstream supply chains. So the spot aspect of it is basically the pricing and the sale mechanism. In other words, We are selling into very, very well known end users and the end users are starting to pop up As clients of our clients, so we announced the name of our clients and their clients, the automakers that are their clients Appeared because ultimately there's green lithium, triple 0 green lithium coming into that line.

Operator

So it's actually a source of pride for us to see Our clients' clients appearing. We're now looking into doing 3 months contracts. So again, the mindset here is to preserve the unit, to give us flexibility, strategic, downstream, Planning to build a, we call the basic chemistry potential technical grade carbon at Oleithium Sulfate. So As we look into all these things, we want to keep our units very close to us because they have massive strategic value. So the concept of spot is essentially how we transacted.

Operator

We got clients here that would do 3 months, 4 months option out a year. So we have that safety of demand to rely upon. Again, this product sells itself essentially, right? Another question is in terms of market, you mentioned huge demand versus current capacity In near, mid term, how about other technologies, sodium based batteries for the future attract to lithium based technologies? Well, I've seen in China CATL sodium cars, a feat of engineering, but remember they were developed when the prices were on the way to hit $100,000 per ton of lithium hydroxide, which was unsustainable for the growth of the industry.

Operator

And I've been one of the Sigma has been one of the Few companies, therefore, 2 years now, have been saying exactly that. This industry needs to have discipline to deliver low cost volumes so that we don't hinder ourselves obsolete, right? And we have no qualms in saying that. So It's the technology client that's at the very end. If lithium industry loses discipline on delivering supply, pricing, Making fair pricing for everyone in the supply chain and so on and so forth, we will render ourselves obsolete.

Operator

And for sure, our End user will innovate somehow. The history of this industry, I've been here like for 10 years, right? I've seen a lot of these battery materials literally rendering themselves obsolete for lack of sustainability, Lack of availability, concentrated output, concentrated production locations in All the classic mistakes, the energy transition is not going to happen to deliver the same situation we had before with fossil fuels. So The purpose of this is actually to have it widely abundant, low cost and sustainable. And this is kind of why We do believe we are forced for good.

Operator

We enable that low cost, abundant, sustainable. We're putting Brazil on the map, another geography. So here's another competitive advantage when it comes to our clients. It's another country, new place, geographic diversification. We are there.

Operator

So it's kind of logic for our clients to purchase this material from us. So I do not see sodium sulfate as a trap. I see it as a message. The message downstream sends the industry to be disciplined, to be sustainable, to behave. And the message, I think, was taken by most of the industry.

Operator

So we see the producers doing just that. And it was a good message for the new companies to kind of become producers with that mindset, right? The sodium sulfur car is a very, very low Autonomy. And again, I see them having been developed for purpose, right, to basically show the lithium industry that we are not Mighty and alone, we have innovation right at our doorstep also. Even though lithium It's critical.

Operator

It is fantastic. It's the 3rd light is metal in the periodic table. Technology is technology. And We have incredible clients and they can do incredible things, right? So can you please comment on recent price For Gilead, among the materials space, is it a sign of demand weakness or Chinese destocking?

Operator

Well, we need to look at supply very clinically to understand what's going on. The very high end of supply is this unknown element called epidolite, which is horrible from a sustainability standpoint. I mean, talk about pre stripping. For every ton of lithium, it's 35 tons to 40 tons of waste In the region, where it rains a lot, so that way it goes one place and one place only to the river. So that is a temporary remedy until the players at the middle of the supply cost can actually deliver more material, which is starting to happen.

Operator

So we see the price receding. Now it's around 35 to 30 towards gravitating towards Middle to high, it's not on the ultra high to make anything feasible, but it's getting to a place where it allows for the middle cost producers to be very profitable, but also eliminate The ultra high cost unsustainable player. So what we're watching in the industry now is that movement of back to normality where The mid cost producers, the newer companies, everyone is kind of coming to the table with more material. And you have the very high end of the cost curve being purged out because they're going to be priced out of it. But to be frank, at 35,000 tons, quite a lot of Environmentally unsustainable lithium is still feasible, which is a sign of demand robustness on its own.

Operator

I mean, lithium now is priced to perfection to make pretty much most operations out there profitable, not with the kinds of profits we enjoy Sitting at the low end of the cost curve but profitable to the point of let's deliver this. As time goes on and more and more of the middle To low end of the cost curve companies like Sigma sitting right at the low end of the cost curve continue to deliver, we're going to see the prices slowly pulling it back. And that we think is our mission, to deliver this low cost, sustainable lithium, which gives resilience to the industry From to the previous question, rendering itself obsolete, right? So it has to be fair pricing. It has to be a level where there are margins across the board.

Operator

And that's also a message for downstream. I mean, in the previous cycle, we Downstream capturing all the value and that wasn't very sustainable for the industry. 4 large companies Upstream went bankrupt in 2019, 2020. So what we're seeing now is kind of this new cycle coming off cycle, We think in a more responsible way and in a hopefully lessons learned way, right? So I don't see demand weakness at all, quite the contrary.

Operator

I mean, I see actually critical materials being a hindrance, being sort of the bottleneck for demand completely unlisting as far as EVs goes and government incentives goes. How about new mining frontiers? Well, I can't speak of new mining frontiers. I just can't speak about the Lithium Valley. And what I see here in Brazil is just phenomenal.

Operator

There are 3 listed companies already prospecting materials here. So there's an enormous level of excitement with the region. Again, There's very cheap and abundant renewable green power, it's $0.02 per kilowatt hour. So the focus of the company should be only on scope 1. And there are different companies doing different things.

Operator

But so for investors, the region is fantastic, it's mining friendly, it's there. The region is mining friendly, which is what matters, right? The country is learning to be mining friendly, but the region is. And that's a big thing because you're basically delivering to a region that embraces it. Is there chance to come out of Horrible levels of poverty.

Operator

It's a chance in a lifetime and they fully embrace it. They welcome everyone. There are companies from Australia, Canada, the United States, Lots of foreigners, everyone is a foreigner basically and they feel incredibly welcome, community embraces them. It's amazing. It's just amazing what's happening there and All of you should come visit Ichin Guayana Soai.

Operator

So I think Brazil is the mining frontier of the moment. So next question, any ideas how we're going to be funding Phase 4 Extension, offtake, equity debt financing, the lot well, look, I mean, we produce quite a lot of cash flow, right? So it's essentially more of the same. And if you look at the levels of cash Let me put a slide back here to refresh on cash generation. I mean, I get questions like what are you going to do so much cash essentially, right?

Operator

And so after tax earnings margin, 75%, that's a lot of cash flow, a lot of cash flow. So these line trains here, these are the dense media separation line trains. The initial the feasibility study indicated that it could Costs around $80,000,000 each. So it's just math, right? It's internal cash generation and we can leverage.

Operator

We can leverage anytime. It's interesting because we got quite a lot of financial institutions that want to lend to us because obviously we're generating quite a lot of cash. So we have very robust credit. So there's no shortage of lenders. We feel very comfortable, very, very comfortable about cash generation position essentially.

Operator

So basically here, Could you please provide an update on Sigma's strategic and well, look, We are a financial sponsor led business. So this is something that can't be forgotten. On the other hand, we understand the value of this company. And I think There's a question here about unlocking shareholder value. Unlocking shareholder value just happens by one means and one means only.

Operator

What we've been doing since day 1, defying expectations and delivering, delivering, delivering consistently. We have never missed a milestone. So that's it, right. And in our industry, there's a graveyard of companies that missed milestones and missed everything, overpromise, underdelivered. We tend to underpromise.

Operator

We tend to underpromise and that sometimes a sin, but we like underpromise and overdeliver, So we never miss a milestone. And we've been consistently doing it, but not just on one front. We do that in All fronts on environmental sustainability, on social sustainability, I mean, the company has been overly scrutinized And here we are delivering on every front. So it's essentially how we see strategic value and in strategy, right? So it's a company that's owned by a financial sponsor, but the main focus here is to create value.

Operator

And the only sustainable source of value is just people, people, like we're filling the ranks of incredible people, which drives execution. Because as I said, it's very taxing on people to execute consistently at the speed of what we do. So these are the building blocks of value. And everything else happens as a derivative of it, as the ability that we have to continuously deliver on our promises, right? So this is my answer for strategic.

Operator

And then someone talked about M and A interest. Well, look, we're the most talked about company in this industry. But I would say because we don't promote, because we deliver, I think because we've been delivering I mean, look guys, 0 carbon lithium, 0 carbon lithium. It's in every PowerPoint I've seen. We are the ones doing it.

Operator

That's it, it's 0. Think about the strategic value of that for this industry, right? So we have talked about because we deliver. And what we're going to do, we're going to continue to deliver. And in our view, that makes us more and more and more valuable on a fundamental basis because this is a solid business.

Operator

And generating cash, solid business that's going to take us where our willingness to deliver takes us, right? So trucking cost per mine support is $40 So that's our cost. So very good question, very important point. We're not shipping, so we're trucking. So as we truck, it's $40 a ton.

Operator

And so that goes towards when we talk about the tailings, right? So when you think about the net net on the tailings, it sits between $310 a ton $3.50 a ton depending on the contract because there's that $40 of cost. It weighs more heavily on the tailings than on the Because the concentrate sells for $3,500, right? But that's the only transport cost we have. Clients send the ships, right, which shows how valuable this is.

Operator

They come to pick it up essentially. So the question is, why do you believe market continues not to value the company properly? Well, I agree with you. I think part of it is we've been inward focused, focusing on delivery. So now we got this Plant shipshape, delivering dry stacking, delivering on every front, we're going to go out and communicate that More often, more frequently, it's August in the Northern Hemisphere, everybody's on vacation.

Operator

But September comes, we're just going to go up and about communicating this left and right. We're preparing a number of important things. One of those was to lift in the Brazilian Stock Exchange. In this country, we are darling of The industry would become the new paradigm. So we were able to unite federal and state governments because we renewed The social license of an entire sector, 2 entire sectors.

Operator

So we do believe the Pension funds, the large institutions in Brazil that were not eligible to purchase Sigma will be a very interesting source of demand, the same way Our neighbors in Chile enjoyed that kind of baseline investor. August is not summer here. So We're planning quite a number of Investor Relations initiatives to kind of go out and communicate it, because we were inwards focused delivering, delivering, delivering. As we go out, it's just wow, right? We did it.

Operator

We did it. Because there will be no point for us, no point for us to adjust the plan and putting a tailings pond somewhere. That is not the reason why we made this investment. That's not the reason why we're here. So For us, delivery has to be a holistic delivery on every front, social, environmental and technical.

Operator

This is why we made this investment. This is why we to the full cycle. So but I do agree with your question completely, right? We don't think the company is valued properly. Now impacting the future decisions of the asset, well, people can do math.

Operator

I think, as I said, the greatest value of this company is its resilience. We're very large. We have an incredible product and we're going to continue to deliver. So this is the value. This is the intrinsic value and people can do that.

Operator

So if I everyone carmakers talk about verticalization. Do you see the supply chain Shorten, no, I don't. But I think we see let me yes, I do and I don't. Let me put it that way. What you see is a greater level of integration and it's happening.

Operator

You see GM taking stakes of companies in North America, Car makers taking stakes for company upstream, it's fantastic for the industry, especially projects that rely on their credibility to raise further capital to deliver. So we do believe in that. We do believe that there's a level of integration that's going to be unique to lithium because of a whole number of factors that all of you know. So we see downstream, very interested in upstream And that's not just refining, it's the entire chain. Why?

Operator

And that goes back to the demand question. What we know about demand today, It just makes us worry 0 about it. I mean, governments have significant firepower to deploy towards In Centene EV Demand, why is the quick path to meet carbon targets, Paris Agreement carbon targets for Northern Hemisphere Nations? It's a lot slower to upgrade a coal fossil fuels based electricity transmission grids, Electricity generation grid, it takes a lot longer. It's a lot quicker to turn the car CapEx and hit targets on mobility.

Operator

Given the mobility Digital power in the Northern Hemisphere, it's quite obvious where the sustainability, where the climate action dollars of these green plans are going is just to try to catch the low hanging fruit of transforming mobility into low carbon green cars, 0 emissions mobility, because those are the easy targets. So that way the companies can show progress towards contributing to climate action. So demand isn't the issue. The issue is, is the industry ready to bear the demand? And without this $100,000 ton crazy price spikes on lithium.

Operator

So this industry was not ready, that's why we had the price spike. So what we're seeing now is a level of resilience built on upstream, built on midstream that actually prepares itself for what's coming this decade. I mean, you see the intake the kind of uptake on EV demand. I mean, When we talk to our clients in China, they talk about 50% uptake for new car sales by 2025, 'twenty six. These are very high numbers.

Operator

These are like mind boggling numbers, right? And that's one market. We got 2 more markets going. So these are levels of demand that in 2018 at the depth of the Bayer market when we were here Working on this project, doing feasibility and a lot were unthinkable, unthinkable. If someone had told anyone in the industry in 2018 that we would have 50 An uptake in EVs for new car sales in China by 2025, 26, it would have been, no way, you're crazy.

Operator

That's what we're seeing today. That's what the clients tell us will look like it will look like in China. So Europe is coming Very rapidly along, you see 1 in every 4 cars now in Europe. There are very strict government targets hitting in 2025. By 2,030, a lot of a number of nations in Europe have very strict common bans and common emission levels.

Operator

So The only way for this to happen is through demand. So it's there. We see the supply chain not shortened, but integrated with cross participations with the launch, right? And that's what we see, it's already happening left and right. Lipidolite has been working as a marginal producer at this moment.

Operator

Do you believe is that the more constructive scenario Where Alta Industries doesn't need to secure material anymore, I mean, no, not at all. It's a survival industry for the Alta And this is a very important point. That client buying that green card doesn't want to know that every ton of the lithium generates 35 tons of waste, which are permanently destroying land ecosystems and rivers and causing Horrific environmental damage. These things are incoherent with the industry. So lepidolite is a temporary gap.

Operator

And let's just be very clear on that, at least as far as Western markets goes. So it's not sustainable for the Western market TV adoption to reach The 50% levels that we see in China, it looks like is the answer. It won't happen because the environmental groups And Cobalt is a witness to it. We all watch what happened to Cobalt. So It's not about the product only.

Operator

It's about delivering the product with the same ethos of the car. So and this is key and the industry is all geared up that way now, which is fantastic, right? So you see a level of concern around sustainability today that 6 years ago perhaps wasn't as heightened as today, because it's the very existence, the very competitiveness of this car that's at stake. When we go to climate conferences around the world, some of the first slides, The opposition to EVs or people who don't think EVs to be even here still are how many years these cars need to drive To clean up the carbon, the extra carbon in the battery because they make it look like the only difference between ICE cars and EV cars are the 40% of the car in the battery, which it's not really, but this is as likely show, but there's clearly a battery here and not a battery there. And the Carbon in that battery is being scrutinized by the very people that do not want EVs to become 100% of the fleet.

Operator

So it's on us to make sure that we break the resistance path to EV and show that EV is sustainable across the board. On us, The industry, the critical materials industry, all of us, nickel, manganese, cobalt, copper, lithium, the lot, right? And this is the important thing. So Lipidolite is just not the answer. If the industry is relying on Lipidolite to deliver, it will render itself Obsolete, essentially, right?

Operator

Do you plan on paying dividends to your investor? There you go. That's the cash question. I get that too. No, not yet.

Operator

We got a lot to do. We got a lot of growth to do. So we do not plan to pay dividends until we have full visibility of strategically where we're going, especially when it comes to what we call basic chemistry downstream. We do not and have not Ever said we are going to build specialty chemicals downstream, even at the time, this entire industry was just Veritin, that way, there are very good people doing this, who are better at this than anyone, their years, decades of experience. What we can do and we're going to we're looking into very actively, very attentively is first basic blocks chemistry, which is calcination litiguation.

Operator

And that makes sense environmentally. We probably will do 0 carbon, but basic blocks chemicals because calcination can be done in natural gas and powered by all of it can be powered by clean energy. The waste, I mean, there's a ton of Every ton of specialty chemicals generates 12 tons of waste. Every ton of basic chemicals generates 12 tons of waste, toxic waste. We have a plan for the waste.

Operator

These byproducts go to the cleaning products industry, to the cement construction binding industry, both of which are very big and very vibrant in Brazil. So we will do it 0 rate, we will do it probably 0.5%. So we can do better. So We would only enter a business where we can compete to be the best in the world, to beat the incumbents on sustainability. And this is something we Seriously consider on basic chemistry, but never not on specialty chemicals, but that all costs money.

Operator

So this is the long answer to your dividend question. I mean, there's quite a lot that we're hedging up here. And therefore, we until we have full clarity of What the picture looks like with all the line trains, with Phase 4, with perhaps basic chemistry, We don't plan to pay dividends. So dividends will be something for 2026, maybe 2025, 2026, but 2026 for sure, right? Do you perceive nearshore in this business?

Operator

Absolutely. Is it a next year issue or next decade? How the industry will deal with China's dominance? Totally. Well, look, we think there's industry everywhere.

Operator

I mean, China is a huge market. They need to supply themselves. So that's a big thing there too. So let's not forget, the EV market was 1st and foremost China, right? Everyone else came later.

Operator

Now everyone else All right, huge too. So you have this giant Western European market and the giant North American market, which is just starting. North America is going to blow it away. So the question is how do we get there sustainably, because there are different concerns from the customers in these markets. And that goes back to my point about lipids, it's just not the answer, just forget it, right?

Operator

So that is the biggest challenge in this How do we do more, more and more of it, more lithium, sustainable, low carbon, 0 carbon, no tailings? I mean, All these variables matter for these 2 giant markets that emerged, I mean, Western Europe and in the U. S. So And that goes across the supply chain. In other words, the supply chain has to adjust and that means refining.

Operator

What refining will look like? I don't know. I don't know. But what do I know? We're going to do our part here at Sigma.

Operator

Our plan is to eventually deliver the 0 carbon basic chemicals building block to refining elsewhere to perhaps get to 0 carbon too. And so that Together with the other critical materials, we can get to the 0 common battery because that's the Holy Grail of this industry, to deliver a battery that's 0 carbon because that goes into the 0 carbon emissions cost. So then mobility is reality, right? Electric mobility is Holistic reality. So we're getting there.

Operator

We're doing our part. And I can't answer your question because I don't have the answer, but I tell you the answers I have, which is we're doing what we can here to go as far as we can prudently and responsibly in a manner that builds an intrinsic competitive advantage, because that's what we got. In any price environment, we're low cost. Our product is Technically better, it's sustainably unique. There's nothing like this in the market.

Operator

So that's a competitive advantage, meaning we branded a Canogneby on sustainability reality, 0, these are numbers, these are pages on the book, right? So we're very excited about the future here essentially. Did I answer everything? Well, look, gentlemen, I think I answered All of your questions and there are also tricky questions around strategic movements and strategic And I'll tell you what I can say. I mean, and what I always say, I control what I can control.

Operator

We are a company led by a financial sponsor. What people what others do what all these Interested parties that go to press to talk about being interested do, I don't control, I don't sit in their boardrooms. I sit on this boardroom And my role here and the technical team, Brian, Kai, Rafael, our amazing team, Our job here is to deliver and continue to deliver. And that way, we build value that we control. This is fundamental solid value.

Operator

And this is a company like no other as we building a product that quantifiably doesn't have a competitor essentially, which is A huge surprise for all of us because it took us 6 years of incredible hard work. So I want to thank you for your patience. I want to thank you for listening. I want to thank you for being here until the end. And please send your questions to Jamie, our Chief Development Officer in Canada.

Operator

We're open to having conference calls, to meeting you 1 on 1. We're now going to go out to our focus and talk about all these amazing things our team did. And it's a team. It's a team effort. It's every one of us here has a key piece of contribution to build this company.

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Earnings Conference Call
Sigma Lithium Q1 2023
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