U.S. Department of Energy buys 5% of Lithium Americas

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The Center Square) - The U.S. Department of Energy settled government takeover reports of Lithium Americas Corp., announcing a 5% ownership of the $1.5 billion mining company.

Reports of the deal have caused Lithium Americas stocks to skyrocket over 130% in the past week. The deal follows a recent trend of investments by the Trump administration into industries it has called essential to national security.

“We greatly appreciate the support of the Administration, General Motors and our partners in advancing this vital world-class project,” said Lithium Americas President and CEO Jonathan Evans in a press release.

Lithium Americas, founded 2023 in Canada, owns the permit to develop the Thacker Pass grounds in Humboldt County, Nevada for lithium mining. The area, an extinct supervolcano, is considered the largest known lithium deposit in the world, according to a group of researchers with the Science Advances journal. 

The permit is part of a joint venture with General Motors.

“We’re confident in the Thacker Pass project, which will reduce U.S. dependence on imported lithium and can support domestic manufacturing across many industries, such as aerospace, defense and electrical grid resiliency, in addition to automotive,” said Shilpan Amin, senior vice president of global chief procurement and supply chain officer of General Motors. “We are pleased to see it move forward and appreciate the Administration’s support as GM continues to build a secure, resilient supply chain.”

The agreement is still in principle and not yet fully settled. It centers around a $2.26 billion loan previously given by the Department of Energy. The DOE’s 5% stake in Lithium Americas, and 5% stake in the joint venture with GM, sees them advance the first draw on the loan – amounting to $435 million.

Partial federal ownership of publicly traded companies has become a theme of President Donald Trump’s second term. In August, the government invested in Intel, and earlier this year it bought a portion of MP Materials.

The Trump administration has said the moves are important for national security and the reduction of the U.S. dependence on Chinese raw and manufactured materials. MP Materials mines rare earth minerals, which are used in a wide variety of electronics, including high tech weapons.

Lithium has quickly grown in demand for its use in batteries, including those in electric cars. 

Lithium Americas did not respond to a request for comment by The Center Square. Multiple mining-related organizations operating in Nevada, including the Nevada Mining Association, denied requests for interviews.