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Sigma Lithium Shares Rise After Hours as Court Reinstates Licences

Sigma Lithium shares rose more than 4% after the US close today, after a Brazilian federal appeals court overturned the suspension of its environmental licences and cleared the way for mining and processing to resume.

Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML) shares rose more than 4% in after-hours trading today after a Brazilian appeals court upheld the company’s environmental licences. The ruling reverses the suspension of the lithium producer’s licences for mining and industrial operations.

The after-hours gain is the only reaction so far, and it is not a settled price. The regular session closed at 9.71 today, against 9.56 yesterday. The next US open is 14:30 UK time tomorrow, when the market can reprice the stock on the ruling.

The licences were suspended on the 8th of September, when a local federal judge in Teofilo Otoni issued an emergency ruling. The case came from a lawsuit by Ngolo, an association acting for local Quilombola communities.

Sigma closed at 10.43 that day, about 15.8% below its 12.39 close on the 4th of September.

The appeals decision undoes that ruling. Senior Federal Judge Mônica Sifuentes granted the company’s emergency motion for suspensive relief, a court order that pauses a ruling while the dispute continues.

Sifuentes cited the economic harm a prolonged stoppage would cause in the Vale do Jequitinhonha region. The court recognised about 19,000 direct and indirect jobs tied to the operation, and around 80,000 family members across 12 municipalities.

Sigma also reaffirmed its guidance to scale annualised production of lithium oxide concentrate to 330,000 tonnes by the end of 2027. It says it needs no additional capacity to get there, pointing to its Mine 1 South Pit and its Cleantech Industrial Plant.

For comparison, the shares closed at 8.335 on Thursday.

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