Lithium Americas announced a US$650 equity investment by General Motors (GM) to jointly develop the Thacker Pass lithium clay project in Nevada, USA

On January 31st, General Motors announced a US$650M equity investment in Lithium Americas, which will target the development of the Thacker Pass Lithium Project in Nevada, USA. The investment will be split into two tranches. The first, a US$320M equity purchase in Lithium Americas, and the second a US$330M investment in the US-based business, post the planned separation of Lithium Americas’ Argentine and US businesses.  The first tranche of investment will entitle GM to receive exclusive rights to phase 1 production at the Thacker Pass project, scheduled to be 40,000tpy LCE with first production occurring in H2 2026, and first right of refusal for production from phase 2 production, scheduled to be a further 40,000tpy LCE. 

The agreement between GM and Lithium Americas represents one of a series of cooperative agreements between major automotive companies and lithium developers in the USA, and the second by GM.  GM’s previous strategic investment and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources at the Salton Sea geothermal lithium project, aims to source lithium from stage one production at the facility, scheduled for commissioning in 2024.  Tesla’s Deal with Piedmont Lithium in North Carolina, and Ford’s offtake agreement with Ioneer in Nevada, both highlight the increasing activity of automakers to secure battery raw materials for their future electric and hybrid vehicle models.  The influence of the US Inflation Reduction Act on investments from automotive manufacturers in the US-based battery raw materials supply chain is likely significant, with potential for tax credits on US-sourced production being a large incentive in an increasingly competitive EV market.