U.S. Department of Energy to Acquire 5% Stake in Largest U.S. Lithium Mine

Securing Key Mineral Supply Chain After Rare Earths

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced that the government will acquire a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in the Thacker Pass mining project.

AP Yonhap News

In a Bloomberg TV interview on September 30 (local time), Secretary Wright stated, "Building the mine is in the best interest of the United States," adding, "Within a few years, it will replace a significant portion of imported lithium."

Canadian company Lithium Americas and U.S. automaker General Motors are jointly developing the largest lithium mine in the United States at Thacker Pass, Nevada, through a joint venture. The two companies hold a 62% to 38% stake, respectively. General Motors has invested $625 million in the project and has secured the right to purchase all of the phase one output and a portion of the phase two output over the next 20 years.

Previously, Bloomberg News reported that in October last year, during the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Energy agreed to provide a $2.2 billion loan for the Thacker Pass project. However, Lithium Americas and General Motors failed to meet the initial conditions for the loan disbursement and requested a loan restructuring from the Department of Energy. During the initial discussions, administration officials demanded that General Motors guarantee lithium purchases regardless of market conditions, but General Motors refused, which reportedly led to the equity request.

This transaction marks another example of the Trump administration directly acquiring stakes in companies to secure critical minerals weaponized by China, citing national security concerns. Previously, the U.S. Department of Defense invested $400 million in MP Materials, the operator of the only rare earth mine in the United States, becoming its largest shareholder. In addition, the Trump administration, under the CHIPS Act, invested $8.9 billion in subsidies and other support, acquiring a 9.9% stake in Intel, which has been struggling financially.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.