General Motors backs biggest US lithium project with US$625 million investment

GENERAL Motors has committed US$625 million towards what will likely be one of the biggest US lithium mines, reinforcing the carmaker’s efforts to secure domestic supply of the battery metal critical for electric vehicles.

The cash-and-credit funding deal with project developer Lithium Americas builds on a US$320 million investment that General Motors made in the Canadian company last year.

It will be crucial towards the miner unlocking a US$2.3 billion funding package the that US Energy Department offered on a conditional basis in March.

The carmaker will support Lithium Americas with an additional US$430 million cash lifeline, as slumping lithium prices put existing producers under pressure and threatens US efforts to shore up future supplies.

The Thacker Pass project in northern Nevada hosts the largest known lithium deposit in North America, and is expected to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes a year, once the site is fully operational.

General Motors will form a joint venture with Lithium Americas and take a 38 per cent direct stake in the mine as part of the deal. The companies described the transaction as the biggest publicly announced investment by a US manufacturer in a lithium carbonate project. BLOOMBERG