A Brazilian mining company has for the second time in fifteen months sent a legal warning to an investigative newsroom that covers the country’s extractive industry. On 6 July 2026, Sigma Mineração S.A., known commercially as Sigma Lithium, acting through its legal representatives, sent an extrajudicial notification to Observatório da Mineração over an article the outlet had published on 27 June 2026.
Extrajudicial notifications are a common first step in Brazilian civil practice: a formal demand served on the other party outside court proceedings, often signalling that litigation may follow. Observatório da Mineração, founded in 2015, has become an international reference point for investigative coverage of mining, particularly the environmental and human rights impacts of extractive projects.
What the article said — and did not say
The contested piece dealt with charges brought by Brazil’s Federal Police against business figures and against the director-general and senior officials of the National Mining Agency, including criminal organisation. It did not state that Sigma Lithium was under investigation or had been charged in the criminal proceedings arising from Operations Rejeito and Parcours.
What it did say was that the company is among the lithium miners that could benefit from a reduction of the Chapada do Lagoão Environmental Protection Area in the Jequitinhonha Valley, drawing on material the outlet had documented in an investigation published in September 2025.
The company also objected to the article’s reference to its relationship with an environmental and cultural association that had commissioned a technical study supporting the reduction of the protected area. The outlet responded by recalling that Sigma publicly announced in November 2023 that it had received an award for environmental management from that same association, and marked the recognition on its official social media accounts. The article did not claim that the company financed or commissioned the technical study; it noted the company’s interest in the region.
A repeat of April 2025
In April 2025 the company sent an extrajudicial notification threatening legal measures if the outlet went ahead with an article describing a technical note prepared by researchers from several Brazilian and international universities, which documented alleged human rights and environmental violations linked to the company’s mining activities. The outlet published. The episode drew responses from Brazilian press freedom organisations and prompted submissions to several public institutions, including the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Minas Gerais and the Federal Public Defender’s Office.
The wider pattern
Repeated demands for the removal of published material fall within what is commonly described as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs — actions directed at journalists and rights defenders over reporting on matters of public interest. Brazil is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whose Article 19 protects freedom of expression. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights place a responsibility on companies to respect human rights across their operations.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
