In mid-June major earthwork construction began at the Thacker Pass lithium mine site north of Winnemucca, Lithium Americas said in its second quarter report. The company is targeting the second half of 2026 for initial production at the mine.
On Feb. 6 of this year the U.S. District Court in Nevada ruled favorably for Lithium Americas on an appeal filed against the Bureau of Land Management by declining to vacate the Record of Decision for the mine. Conservation and tribal groups which have been fighting the mine in federal court for around two years appealed that decision, and on July 17 the three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision, saying the BLM’s approval of the mine “was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with” the National Environmental Policy Act.
In its quarterly report Lithium Americas said it has approved a 2023 construction budget of $125 million. The company spent $48 million in the second quarter of the year for construction of water pipelines and ponds, infrastructure improvements and the start of major earthworks.
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Lithium Americas said it is continuing to work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy Loans Program Office to advance confirmatory due diligence and term sheet negotiations for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, following the receipt of a Letter of Substantial Completion on Feb. 22 of this year.
The company expects the DOE ATVM Loan Program conditional approval process to be completed in 2023. If approved, the loan program will fund up to 75% of the capital costs for phase 1 construction at Thacker Pass. The project’s development costs may qualify as eligible costs under the ATVM Loan Program as of Jan. 31 of this year.
As of June 30, Lithium Americas had $502 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits, and an additional $75 million in available credit.
The company also announced that progress is being made toward separating into two companies – Lithium Americas (NewCo), which will continue as the 100% owner of Thacker Pass, and Lithium Argentina, which will continue to develop Lithium Americas’ projects in Argentina.
On July 31 at the annual, general and special meeting of Lithium Americas shareholders, 98.85% of the votes cast by shareholders were in favor of the separation. The separation is targeted to become effective in early October of this year.
“We are delighted to see our shareholders’ overwhelming support for the separation,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas’ president and CEO. “Following the separation, the Lithium Americas (NewCo) team is committed to advancing the Thacker Pass project toward production to support the critical North American lithium supply chain. Meanwhile, the Lithium Argentina team will advance Caucharí-Olaroz toward full commercial production and pursue development opportunities in its significant growth pipeline in Argentina.”
Also at the shareholders’ meeting, in connection with the second tranche of the previously announced $650 million investment by General Motors Holdings, the shareholders passed a resolution approving: the ownership by GM and its affiliates of more than 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of Lithium Americas, and of Lithium Americas (NewCo) following the separation.
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