Name of the Project
Thacker Pass lithium project.

Location
Humboldt County, Nevada, in the US.

Project Owner/s
Lithium Americas.

Project Description
Lithium Americas aims to extract lithium at Thacker Pass from a large clay deposit, something that has never been done before at commercial scale.

The project is targeting 80 000 t/y of battery-quality lithium carbonate production capacity in two phases of 40 000 t/y each.

Thacker Pass will have a mine life of 40 years.

The mine is slated to be a key supplier to General Motors.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to create 1 000 jobs during construction and 500 jobs during operations.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $4.95-billion and an internal rate of return of 21.2%.

Capital Expenditure
The mine's cost had been increased from a previous estimate of $2.27-billion to nearly $2.93-billion, as a result of higher engineering costs, an agreement to use union labour and the company's decision to build a housing facility for workers and their families in the remote region.

Planned Start/End Date
Mechanical completion of Thacker Pass Phase 1 is targeted for 2027, following a three-year construction period. The company expects a commissioning and ramp-up period of six to 12 months, targeting full capacity production in 2028.

Latest Developments
The US Department of Energy has finalised a $2.26-billion loan for Lithium Americas to build the Thacker Pass mine.

The loan, provisionally approved in March, is a key part of US President Joe Biden's efforts to reduce dependence on lithium supplies from China, the world's largest processor of the electric vehicle battery metal. 

The Thacker Pass project is slated to open later this decade and be a key supplier to General Motors, which boosted its investment in the mine to nearly $1-billion in September.

Initial construction at the site started in 2023 after the company won a long-running and complex court case brought by conservationists, ranchers and Indigenous communities.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Aquatech International (magnesium sulphate and lithium carbonate chemical plants); Bechtel Corporation (engineering, procurement and construction management); EXP Global Inc (engineering, procurement, construction support, commissioning and startup services for the sulphuric acid plant).

Contact Details for Project Information
Lithium Americas, email info@lithiumamericas.com.