General Motors Commits $625 Million to Develop Largest Lithium Mine in the US

GMC Hummer EVs at General Motors' Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit on Nov. 17, 2021. Nic Antaya/Getty Images

General Motors has committed $625 million to what is set to become the largest lithium mine in the United States, marking the automaker’s latest effort to secure a domestic supply of raw materials critical for electric vehicles (EVs).

The cash-and-credit funding was announced on Oct. 16 as part of GM’s joint venture with Lithium Americas, a Canadian mining company. Their deal is centered on the development, construction, and operation of a lithium mine on Thacker Pass, a slice of federal land in northern Nevada near the Oregon border.

Thacker Pass sits atop the largest known lithium deposit in North America. Once fully operational in 2027, the mine is projected to produce 40,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate each year—enough to supply batteries for approximately 800,000 EVs. Lithium Americas aims to eventually double production, to 80,000 metric tons per year, with plans to operate the mine for at least 40 years.

Securing raw materials like lithium domestically is crucial to GM’s strategy for expanding its EV business and qualifying for federal incentives, which increasingly emphasize a domestic supply chain for battery production.

“We’re pleased with the significant progress Lithium Americas is making to help GM achieve our goal to develop a resilient EV material supply chain,” Jeff Morrison, GM senior vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, said in a press release. “Sourcing critical EV raw materials, like lithium, from suppliers in the U.S., is expected to help us manage battery cell costs, deliver value to our customers and investors, and create jobs.”

The success of the Thacker Pass project may hinge on the mining company’s access to a $2.3 billion loan the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offered in March. If granted, it would be the largest loan ever awarded for a domestic lithium mining project.

According to the release, the $625 million investment will include $330 million cash to be contributed at closing; $100 million cash to be contributed upon a final investment decision for Phase 1 of the project; and a $195 million letter of credit prior to drawing on the $2.3 billion DOE loan. Altogether, that will grant GM ownership of 38 percent of assets in Thacker Pass.

The investment was announced amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with the latter being accused of flooding the global lithium market and triggering a “predatory” price drop that has forced producers in other countries to scale back production and cut jobs.

China accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s lithium output. The past year saw prices of lithium falling more than 80 percent, largely due to Chinese overproduction and a slowdown in EV demand.

Exploration drilling continues for Permitting Lithium Nevada Corp.'s Thacker Pass Project on the site between Orovada and Kings Valley, in Humboldt County, Nev., shown beyond a driller's shovels in the distance, on Sept. 13, 2018. Suzanne Featherston/The Daily Free Press via AP

Jose Fernandez, undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at the U.S. Department of State, said last week during a visit to Portugal that China was producing much more lithium “than the world needs today, by far.”

“They engage in predatory pricing,” Fernandez said. “[They] lower the price until competition disappears. That is what is happening.”

The Biden administration, which aims for 50 percent of all new car sales to be electric by 2030, is working to reduce reliance on imports from China and other countries of lithium and other materials essential to the transition. The White House projects that by 2030, the United States will be capable of supplying more than 20 percent of global lithium demand outside of China.