Sigma Lithium Corporation (NASDAQ: SGML) reported reaching 1,010 days without lost-time workplace accidents and maintained zero fatalities since beginning operations 14 years ago, according to a company statement.

The lithium producer said it completed the ramp-up of mining operations and remains on track to meet its production guidance of 240,000 tonnes per year of lithium oxide concentrate. The company deployed large mining trucks with 60-tonne capacity and excavators with 75-tonne capacity across four shifts, creating approximately 600 new jobs and bringing total direct employment to over 1,000 positions.

Sigma Lithium disputed media reports from May 11 that described its waste piles as "banned" by Brazil's Ministry of Labor and Employment. The company stated these reports were inaccurate and noted that Brazil's mining regulator, Agencia Nacional de Mineracao, issued an official technical statement attesting to the safety of the company's waste rock piles in February.

The company disclosed receiving a fine of R$10,000 (approximately $2,000) from the Ministry of Labor and Employment on May 8 as part of an ongoing administrative inquiry regarding certain waste piles. Sigma Lithium said this inquiry does not materially affect its capacity to continue mining operations.

The company reported unusual trading activity in put options on its shares at $21.50 on May 8, expiring May 15, coinciding with negative media coverage. Sigma Lithium's share price declined 6.5% following the media reports, while other lithium producers saw price increases.

Sigma Lithium operates what it describes as one of the world's largest lithium production sites at its Grota do Cirilo operation in Brazil, with current nameplate capacity of 270,000 tonnes of lithium oxide concentrate annually. The company said it generates approximately 20,000 direct and indirect employment positions in the Vale do Jequitinhonha region.