US takes a stake in another company, this one is operating a massive
lithium mine in Nevada
[October 02, 2025] By
MICHELLE CHAPMAN
The U.S. government is taking a minority stake in Lithium Americas, a
company that is developing one of the world’s largest lithium mines in
northern Nevada.
The Department of Energy will take a 5% equity stake in the miner, which
is based in Vancouver. It will also take a 5% stake in the Thacker Pass
lithium mining project, a joint venture with General Motors.
Thacker Pass is considered crucial in reducing U.S. reliance on China
for lithium, a critical material used to produce the high tech batteries
used in cell phones, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Both
Republicans and Democrats support the project and narrowing the
production gap. China is the world’s largest lithium processor.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement that the deal
with Lithium Americas “helps reduce our dependence on foreign
adversaries for critical minerals by strengthening domestic supply
chains and ensures better stewardship of American taxpayer dollars.”
Thacker Pass is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of
battery-quality lithium carbonate per year in its first phase, enough to
help power 800,000 EVs.
The equity stake in Lithium Americas is the latest example of the direct
intervention by the Trump administration with private companies. The
government is getting a 10% stake in Intel through the conversion of
billions in previously granted government funds and pledges. The
administration spent $400 million of taxpayer money in July on MP
Materials stock to make the U.S government the biggest owner in the Las
Vegas rare earths miner. Trump also made a deal with Nvidia and AMD to
give the U.S. government a 15% cut of revenue from selling certain chips
to China.
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Construction continues at the Lithium Nevada Corp. mine site Thacker
Pass project, April 24, 2023, near Orovada, Nev. (AP Photo/Rick
Bowmer, File)
 Lithium Americas said Wednesday that
it reached a non-binding agreement in principle with the DOE to
advance the first draw of $435 million on the federal loan. The DOE
has agreed to defer $182 million of debt service over the first five
years of the loan.
The White House and Canada's Lithium Americas seemed to be moving
forward with the deal late last month, as both parties agreed on
changes to an approximately $2.3 billion federal loan that could
allow the project to move forward to extract the silver-white metal
used in electric vehicle batteries. GM has pledged more than $900
million to help develop Thacker Pass, which holds enough lithium to
build 1 million electric vehicles annually.
Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush, called Thacker Pass is a “massive
opportunity” for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on China and other
foreign adversaries for lithium.
“Despite having some of the largest deposits, the U.S. produced less
than 1% of the global lithium supply but this deal helps reduce
dependence on foreign adversaries for critical minerals
strengthening domestic supply chains and ensuring better stewardship
of American taxpayer dollars with lithium production set to grow
exponentially over the coming years,” he wrote.
Shares of Lithium Americas spiked more than 30% Wednesday.
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