How has the construction of Thacker Pass progressed, and how will the DOE’s loan contribute?

It’s an exciting time at Thacker Pass. Throughout 2024 we have continued to increase the level of detailed engineering to support strategic construction execution. To date, we have completed major earthworks to clear the foundation site of the future processing plant, commissioned a water supply system, and made improvements to roads to and from future primary facilities. Significant advancements are in progress, but the project is just getting started and a lot of hard work lies ahead to advance Thacker Pass into major construction. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Loan and General Motors (GM) investment and joint venture moved Thacker Pass into major construction at the end of 2024.

To prepare Thacker Pass for the next phase of major construction and to de-risk project execution, contracts for long-lead equipment and key construction materials and services have been awarded. Within this, we installed and operate the Workforce Hub, a dedicated workforce accommodation facility that will provide housing and freshly prepared full meal service for up to 2,000 construction workers and staff during project construction and a transportation and bussing contract to safely transport workers to and from the construction site, service contracts for medical and emergency services, waste management, janitorial services and site laboratory services, procurement of an on-site steam turbine generator that will produce nearly half of the plant’s electricity using excess heat from the sulfuric acid plant, and materials and supplies such as scaffolding, underground ducts and utilities, and tanks for the lithium plant. Can you describe the geological uniqueness of Thacker Pass?

Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass project is the largest known Measured and Indicated (M&I) resource for lithium in North America and is the most significant opportunity to create a North American lithium battery supply chain for electric vehicles. What extraction process will the firm deploy?

The sedimentary-clay deposit will be mined in blocks. Once one block is mined to the bottom, mining operations will move to the next block, while backfilling begins in the previously mined area. The backfilled pits will then be capped with topsoil and revegetated with native species. This continuous reclamation mining minimizes the impact and cost of mining.

Ore from the mine will be slurried in water where the lithium-bearing solution easily separates from the course gauge. The clay will then enter the leaching circuit where sulfuric acid will be added to liberate the lithium from the clay. A solution from countercurrent decantation will be concentrated with Mechanical Vapor Recompression evaporators, which are the lowest energy demand technology available for this process step. The solution will be purified with ion exchange and soda ash is added to the lithium bearing solution which will produce battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li2CO3).

Thacker Pass will utilize dry stack neutralized tailings, whereby excess fluids are filtered out of the tailings in high pressure filter presses, compacted into filter cakes. How will Thacker Pass improve the US’s supply chain resilience in the lithium space?

Thacker Pass will dramatically change that by initially increasing US output of lithium by up to eight times. General Motors (GM) has the right to purchase 100% of the production volumes for 20 years from the first phase of Thacker Pass, which is enough to produce roughly 800,000 electric vehicle batteries per year. This arrangement with GM ensures that Thacker Pass material will be mined, processed and placed in EV batteries, all in the US. What socioeconomic benefits will Thacker Pass contribute to Nevada?

Construction of Thacker Pass will take approximately three years. Peak construction is anticipated to employ approximately 1,800 skilled workers.

Lithium Americas, the Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada (BCTNN) and the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council (NNCLC) are working together to train the future workforce through their robust apprenticeship programs to build the skilled labor workforce we'll need for the construction of Thacker Pass. LAC is also partnering with Great Basin College on a Workforce Development Training program that will be offered to the local community, including the local Tribe and the town of Orovada. LAC is committed to hiring locally, to the greatest extent possible.

We expect to have more than 300 full-time employees once Thacker Pass is fully operational.