07:50 AM EDT, 10/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Sigma Lithium ( SGML ) , a global lithium producer, earlier Monday said it is upgrading its mining operations "to increase its efficiency and competitiveness."

The company said that the upgrade is part of a comprehensive review of mining operations that began after "significant improvements" were executed in the Greentech industrial plant in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The company said that the execution of the upgrade, which will include a change in suppliers, was initially planned for phase 2, but it decided that it should be started earlier, during the third quarter of 2025. This was in response to the decline in lithium prices from April to August 2025 and to extend Sigma Lithium's ( SGML ) "stellar health and safety standards" to the mining operations, said the company.

Sigma Lithium ( SGML ) said it will be replacing its mining equipment as part of the upgrade. It said that a demobilization was started last week, and a re-mobilization is planned to commence this week, when the new supplier is expected to promptly restart activities.

It added that the amount of downtime required for the switch and the resulting loss of production is being kept to a minimum.

Sigma Lithium ( SGML ) said that the targeted efficiency gains are on track to being achieved, adding that the mining equipment is being modernized with an increase in the size of mining trucks, which will enable a decline in the size of the overall fleet and a reduction of traffic at the mine, enhancing mine safety.

"In addition to raising production capacity, the upgrade should prepare Sigma Lithium's ( SGML ) mine to feed a second Greentech plant more rapidly by improving mine geometry, which will help the company deliver its planned capacity expansion scheduled to come onstream in 2026," the company said.