Lithium Americas - The liming plant at Caucharí Olaroz, Argentina.
The liming plant at Caucharí Olaroz, Argentina.
Source: Lithium Americas.
  • Lithium Americas (LAC) has released a series of updates including a possible spinoff of its U.S. business
  • The company may create a standalone public company focused on its Thacker Pass Lithium Project in Nevada
  • It has submitted a draft application to the U.S. Department of Energy to fund Thacker Pass, whose feasibility study is nearing completion
  • Its Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project in Argentina is slated for completion this year
  • Lithium Americas advances lithium projects in Argentina and the United States
  • Lithium Americas (LAC) closed down by 0.82 per cent trading at $36.20 per share

Lithium Americas’ (LAC) recent updates include a possible spinoff of its U.S. business.

Potential funding

The company has submitted a draft application to the U.S. Department of Energy to fund its Thacker Pass Lithium Project in Humboldt County, Nevada.

The funds would come from the Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program, which helps U.S. companies that manufacture advanced technology vehicles or related components.

U.S. business

The company has received all final key state permits for Thacker Pass and is engaged in funding discussions with a variety of strategic partners.

It is working toward completing the project’s feasibility study incorporating increased scale, additional processing, related infrastructure changes and the results of engineering and testing.

Argentinian business

Its Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project is slated for completion this year. It will be the largest new battery-quality lithium carbonate brine operation to come online in over 20 years.

Potential spinoff

As Lithium Americas advances its projects, it is exploring the separation of its U.S. and Argentinian operations through the creation of a standalone public company focused on Thacker Pass, which is one of the largest-scale and most advanced development-stage lithium projects in the U.S.

The company believes the separation could enable its businesses to maximize objectives with increased financial flexibility.

“Thacker Pass is a unique, large-scale and advanced-stage lithium project representing one of the most significant opportunities to create a truly domestic lithium supply chain to support the production of electric vehicles in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas’ President and CEO.

“We look forward to engaging with the DOE to accelerate the growth of the domestic lithium industry in response to increased demand and interest from U.S.-based consumers,” he added.

Lithium Americas advances lithium projects in Argentina and the United States.

Lithium Americas (LAC) closed down by 0.82 per cent trading at $36.20 per share.

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