Lithium Americas, a US lithium miner, said on December 23 that it has completed a joint venture with US automaker General Motors to develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine joint venture project in Nevada.
Jonathan Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas, said the company expects to make a final investment decision on the project in early 2025.
“Lithium Americas and GM are working together to bring Thacker Pass into production to significantly increase production of critical lithium supplies in the United States, reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, and begin to create new jobs and economic activity in northern Nevada,” Evans said. “Our goal is to announce a final investment decision in early 2025. Our engineering, procurement and construction management contractor Bechtel and other major contractors have been on site to de-risk the construction schedule, and our goal is to complete the project by the end of 2027.”
Under the joint venture agreement first announced by the two parties in October this year, GM will invest $625 million in cash and credit facilities for a 38% stake in the Thacker Pass project.
A few months ago, the US government finalized a $2.26 billion loan for the project. Now, the completion of the Lithium Americas and GM transaction has once again promoted the progress of this giant lithium mine project.
Although the loan was approved during the Biden administration, US President-elect Donald Trump had approved the mining of the mine during his previous term.
Thacker Pass is scheduled to be in production by 2030, with the first phase expected to produce 40,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year, enough for up to 800,000 electric vehicles.