Post by likeike on Mar 21, 2024 12:54:13 GMT
LAC Gets $2.2B Loan from Big Brother
Lithium Americas (LAC.TO) announced receipt of a conditional commitment loan of $2.26 billion from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to finance the construction of a processing facility at their Thacker Pass project in Nevada - US government to lend Lithium Americas $2.26 bln for Nevada's Thacker Pass mine.
Geared to reduce dependence on supplies from China, the loan will expedite the buildout of a processing facility adjacent to the Thacker Pass mine—a mine expected to produce an initial 40,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.
Expected to create approximately 1,800 direct jobs during its three-year construction phase (360 anchored jobs over its 40-year mine life), initial construction began last March after the company won a long-running and complex court case against conservationists, ranchers, and Indigenous communities.
Once the loan closes, expected later this year after final environmental reviews, Vancouver-based Lithium Americas said it plans to start major construction, a process that will take three years. The mine's first phase is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year, enough for up to 800,000 EVs.
Lithium Americas aims to extract lithium at Thacker Pass from a large clay deposit, which has never been done commercially. The project is expected to run at full capacity in 2028, targeting 80,000 metric tons per year.
To extract the lithium from that clay, the company will need to import sulfur to make sulfuric acid. As part of the mine construction, Lithium Americas plans to build a rail terminal roughly 60 miles (97 km) from the mine site to import sulfur and other materials.