Lithium Americas Jump as U.S. Government Takes Minority Stake

By Adriano Marchese

Lithium Americas shares jumped Wednesday morning after the U.S. government said it would take 5% stake in the mining company as well as 5% stake in its Nevada mining project.

Shares in Toronto traded 17% higher at 9.32 Canadian dollars ($6.69).

The Energy Department reached a deal with Lithium Americas, it said Tuesday evening, which will restructure the Vancouver, British Columbia-based miner's $2.26 billion U.S. government loan agreement from 2024.

As part of the agreement, $182 million of debt service will be deferred over the first five years of the loan, and in exchange, the DOE will get the right to own 5% of Lithium Americas as a whole, and the right to a 5% share of the profits from the Thacker Pass mining project. Specifically, this will be in the form of warrants to purchase common shares of the company at an exercise price of 1 cent a share and 5% economic stake in the Thacker Pass joint venture with General Motors.

Last week, Lithium Americas said it was in talks to cover requirements that must be met before the government financing could be used, which included details of the loan itself, as well as new requests from the DOE that could add conditions or alter its terms.

Lithium Americas was first 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.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 01, 2025 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT)