DOE Restructures Lithium Americas Deal to Finance Construction of Manufacturing Facility
The new terms of the deal will help finance construction of facilities for manufacturing lithium carbonate at Thacker Pass.
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U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright today said the loan programs office has restructured its deal with Lithium Americas with support from General Motors (GM) to further protect taxpayers and solidify the launch of the only domestic source of lithium carbonate here in America.
The new terms provide the U.S. Government with 5 percent equity ownership in the form of Lithium Americas warrants as well as an additional 5 percent ownership in the form of warrants in the Lithium Americas/General Motors joint venture.
The loan programs office utilizes warrants as part of the overall collateral package on a loan, helping to reduce repayment risk for taxpayers. DOE was able to work with both parties to ensure greater loan resilience. The revised agreement includes robust loan amendments as well as more than $100 million of new equity.
The U.S. Government’s stake in the project delivers on President Trump’s agenda to better steward taxpayer dollars, and ensures the project will go forward, spurring the creation of manufacturing jobs and securing our nation’s access to the largest confirmed lithium deposit in North America.
“Despite having some of the largest deposits, the United States produces less than 1 percent of the global supply of lithium. Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, American lithium production is going to skyrocket,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
“Today’s announcement helps reduce our dependence on foreign adversaries for critical minerals by strengthening domestic supply chains and ensures better stewardship of American taxpayer dollars. President Trump promised to do both and he is delivering,” added Wright.
The loan programs office and Lithium Americas entered into a financial loan agreement in October 2024. The new terms of the deal will help finance the construction of facilities for manufacturing lithium carbonate at Thacker Pass.
Once fully operational, the facility is expected to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate for use in lithium-ion batteries, helping ensure the Trump Administration’s priority of onshoring U.S. supply chains will be realized.
Lithium Americas is committed to responsibly developing the Thacker Pass project located in Humboldt County in northern Nevada. The company is focused on advancing Thacker Pass phase 1 toward production, targeting nameplate capacity of 40,000 tpa of battery-quality lithium carbonate. The company and its engineering, procurement, and construction management contractor, Bechtel, entered into a national construction agreement (project labor agreement) with North America’s Building Trades Unions for construction of Thacker Pass. The three-year construction build is expected to create approximately 1,800 direct jobs.
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