Lithium Americas Shares Jump Amid Report of Possible U.S. Government Stake

By Adriano Marchese

Lithium Americas shares soared Wednesday morning after a Reuters report said the U.S. government is in talks to take a stake as big as 10% in the Canadian mining company.

Shares trading in Toronto rose over 81% to 7.65 Canadian dollars ($5.53).

The move by the Trump administration would be its latest effort to leverage loans made under the Biden administration into a stake in a company, like it did with tech giant Intel, as it looks to encourage U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Reuters reported the news late Tuesday.

Lithium Americas is developing a Nevada lithium mine called Thacker Pass along with General Motors, backed by a $2.26 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department.

The company was awarded the loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program to help build out the processing facilities at Thacker Pass, which is among the largest known lithium deposits in the U.S.

But the project has come under scrutiny over its viability and U.S. administration officials have raised concerns about the company's ability to repay the loan given sluggish lithium prices.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lithium Americas said it was in talks with the Department of Energy and its partner General Motors over the terms of its $2.26 billion government loan for the project.

The talks are meant to cover requirements that must be met before the financing can be used, details of the loan itself, as well as new requests from the DOE that could add conditions or alter its terms, the Canadian miner said. GM, a partner in the project, is participating in the discussions.

Lithium is a critical mineral used in electric vehicle batteries, smartphones and renewable energy storage. In recent years it has become a priority for the U.S. as it seeks to cut reliance on foreign suppliers.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2025 10:12 ET (14:12 GMT)