General Motors plans to invest $650 million in Lithium Americas’ proposed lithium mine in northern Nevada — funding that depends on the resolution of a lawsuit environmentalists filed against the project.
GM and Lithium Americas announced the deal on Tuesday, calling it the largest-ever investment by an automaker to produce raw materials for batteries.
Thacker Pass, in Humboldt County, Nevada, is thought to be the largest lithium resource in the U.S. Lithium from the mine could be enough to produce up to 1 million electric vehicles per year, Lithium Americas said.
“It’s a landmark transaction, and it certainly won’t be the last major supply chain announcement for GM,” CEO Mary Barra said during an earnings call Tuesday.
But environmental groups are challenging the Thacker Pass project in court, saying the Bureau of Land Management broke federal law in approving an operations plan for the mine in January 2021. Plaintiffs include Western Watersheds Project, Wildlands Defense, Great Basin Resource Watch, and Basin and Range Watch, as well as tribes and a Thacker Pass area rancher.
The environmental groups said in a statement that environmental review of the project was fast-tracked under the Trump Administration “despite the enormous environmental impact to the nearly 18,000 acres of public land that would be affected by the operation.”
“The reckless permitting of the Thacker Pass lithium mine sets a bad precedent for the energy transition,” said John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch.
BLM has denied the suit’s allegations. Lithium Americas said the project has been designed to avoid environmentally sensitive terrain.
The parties presented oral arguments in U.S. District Court in Nevada on Jan. 5. They’re now awaiting a decision from Judge Miranda Du.
Two Funding Phases
Under GM’s agreement with Lithium Americas, funding from the automaker will be split into two phases. An initial $320 million investment is conditioned on a federal court ruling that does not overturn the BLM’s record of decision approving the plan. GM expects to release the first phase of funding by the end of this year.
In a second funding phase, GM will provide $330 million after Lithium Americas splits its U.S. and Argentine businesses into separate companies.
Through the agreement, GM would become a Lithium Americas shareholder and have exclusive access to Phase 1 lithium production at Thacker Pass.
Construction at Thacker Pass is scheduled to start later this year, with lithium production expected in the second half of 2026.
Other Lithium Sources
GM said it would use lithium carbonate from Thacker Pass in its Ultium battery cells. The automaker is launching a broad portfolio of vehicles using the Ultium platform, including the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV, Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Silverado EV.
But General Motors isn’t focusing solely on Thacker Pass for a domestic lithium supply.
The automaker is also a strategic investor in Controlled Thermal Resources, a company working on extracting lithium from geothermal brine near the Salton Sea in Southern California. In 2021, GM announced a multi-million investment in CTR that will give the automaker first rights to lithium from the first stage of CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen lithium and power project. (See GM Invests Big in Calif. ‘Near Zero’ Lithium Project.)
Last year, GM and CTR expanded their collaboration to extend delivery of lithium hydroxide beyond 10 years. CTR is now recovering lithium from its Hell’s Kitchen optimization plant, the company announced last month.
Other lithium projects are making progress in Nevada.
Last month, the Department of Energy announced a $700 million conditional loan offer to Ioneer for the company’s proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Esmeralda County. Funding would be through DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program. (See Nev. Lithium Project Close to Securing $700M DOE Loan.)
The Rhyolite Ridge project is still in the permitting process; lithium production is expected to start in 2026.
Lithium Americas has applied to DOE for funding under the ATVM program for its Thacker Pass project. The loan would provide “a significant portion” of initial capital costs for the first phase of Thacker Pass, the company said.