Lithium Americas Secures $2.26 Billion DOE ATVM Loan to Advance Thacker Pass Project, Nevada
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Lithium Americas has closed on a $2.26 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program for financing the construction of the processing facilities at Thacker Pass, located in Humboldt County, Nevada.
“We’re pleased to have the Department of Energy’s support to advance Thacker Pass to production and significantly improve domestic output of critical lithium supply to meet the growing domestic need. This essential loan helps us reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and secure America’s energy future,” said Jonathan Evans, president and chief executive officer of Lithium Americas.
“We have substantially de-risked project financing for phase 1 and continue to work closely with General Motors on the asset-level joint venture. We deeply appreciate the U.S. government’s support as we develop Thacker Pass to become North America’s largest lithium operator and continue collaborating with all our stakeholders to bring shared success for our company, local communities and our country,” added Evans.
The closing of the DOE loan follows receipt of a conditional commitment in March 2024. Over the past several months, the DOE confirmed the company satisfied all technical, legal, and financial conditions to close the DOE loan.
The company expects to make the first draw on the DOE loan sometime in the middle of 2025. Conditions precedent to first draw include closing the GM JV transaction, funding DOE loan reserve accounts through the GM facility, securing additional corporate working capital, and project finance model bring down.
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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