General Motors will invest $625 million in what is likely to be the largest lithium mine in the United States, increasing the company’s efforts to secure supplies of the battery metal essential for electric vehicles.
The cash and credit financing agreement announced Wednesday builds on GM’s $320 million investment in Lithium Americas last year. This will be critical to allowing miners to take advantage of a $2.3 billion financing package offered by the U.S. Department of Energy in March with conditions.
GM plans to back Lithium Americas with an additional $430 million cash injection as low lithium prices increase pressure on producers and threaten U.S. efforts to shore up domestic supply. The Tucker Pass project in northern Nevada contains the largest known lithium deposit in North America and is expected to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes per year once fully operational.
Lithium Americas shares rose as much as 25% to $3.34 before the start of regular trading in New York. GM stock rose as much as 0.8%.
The investment shows GM is moving ahead with electric vehicle development even as sales growth slows. GM plans to launch more than 10 electric models in the U.S. by the end of next year, including the revived Chevrolet Volt, while competitors such as Ford Motor Co. have postponed or canceled some EV releases altogether.
GM will form a joint venture with Lithium Americas and will directly acquire a 38% stake in Tucker Pass as part of the deal. The companies described the deal as the largest publicly announced investment in a lithium carbonate project by a U.S. manufacturer.
The company is also making other investments to secure lithium supplies for EVs. In 2021, GM partnered with Controlled Thermal Resources to extract lithium from the Hell’s Kitchen project in California’s Salton Sea geothermal field. Last year, the Detroit-based company’s GM Ventures Fund invested $50 million in Energy Exploration Technologies, a U.S. startup developing a process to extract lithium from salt water.
