Lithium Americas draws first DOE funding for Thacker Pass

Lithium Americas has drawn the first advance under its 2.23 billion dollar US Department of Energy ATVM loan for the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, which targets 40,000 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate in phase one.

Why it matters: Thacker Pass is the flagship of the US onshore lithium strategy; the first federal draw turns a permitted project into a financed construction programme and tests whether Washington's loan book can deliver battery supply at scale.

Data as of Loan draw reported October 2026 (Mining.com; company disclosure coverage). Loan size is the ATVM facility figure; phase one capacity is the company's stated target.

Lithium Americas has taken the first draw under its 2.23 billion dollar loan from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing programme, funding construction at Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada. Phase one of the project is designed to produce 40,000 tonnes a year of battery grade lithium carbonate.

The draw matters because Thacker Pass has been the test case for US critical minerals policy for half a decade: permitted after long litigation, backed by General Motors as an offtake and equity partner, and financed by the federal loan programmes that are supposed to close the gap with Chinese processing capacity. Money moving is a different fact from money announced.

The sector context is unforgiving. The lithium and battery basket in the site tables is down 5.0 percent on the week, and PLS Group’s Pilgangoora expansion, approved today in Australia, makes the same cost curve argument from the other side of the Pacific: in a weak price environment, only the lowest cost tonnes get financed.

Lithium Americas draws first DOE funding for Thacker Pass

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