The US Department of Energy has announced that the Loan Programs Office, an entity within the department that provides loans and loan guarantees to help deploy innovative clean energy and transportation technologies, has restructured the department’s deal with Lithium Americas with support from General Motors.
The department cited the need to “further protect taxpayers and solidify the launch of the only domestic source of lithium carbonate here in America” as the justification for the restructuring.
As part of the restructuring, the US government will take a 5% equity ownership stake, which is in addition to a 5% stake in the company’s joint venture with GM in Nevada. The equity is in exchange for releasing the initial $435 million of a $2.23-billion loan intended to accelerate development of the mine.
Once it opens in 2028, the mine at Thacker Pass is expected to become the largest producer of lithium in the Western Hemisphere.
“The revised agreement includes robust loan amendments as well as more than $100 million of new equity,” the Department of Energy said.
Lithium Americas secured a $2.26-billion loan from the Biden administration in October 2024.
Currently, China, which is the world’s third-largest producer of lithium after Australia and Chile, produces 40,000 metric tons on an annual basis, while US production is under 5,000 metric tons. Once fully operational, the Thacker Pass mine will dramatically change that equation, bringing US production to approximately 40,000 metric tons.
The Thacker Mine has not been without controversy, however—it has faced significant opposition from nearby Native American tribes. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union found that the federal government’s permitting of the mine violated the rights of Indigenous people, detailing the violations in a February 2025 report wherein it alleged that the government failed to “obtain free, prior and informed consent” from tribes that were impacted by its construction. Ranchers and environmental groups have voiced concerns over the mine’s potential impact on local water sources, and endangered species advocacy groups have also opposed the mine’s construction.
Source: US Department of Energy
