General Motors has announced on Tuesday some total investments of 650 million dollars for the exploitation of the largest known lithium deposit in the US, which It is an essential metal for the production of electric batteries. These operations will be carried out together with the Canadian company Lithium Americas.
GM CEO, Mary Barradescribed the investment in the mine in Nevada (USA) as a milestone, la major made by a car manufacturer to extract raw materials with which to produce batteries. Barra said during a conference call with analysts and the media today that the Thacker Pass mine will start producing ore in the second half of 2026.
GM’s investment depends on several conditions: The first is that the courts of the United States approve in the coming months the authorization granted in 2021 by the then US president, Donald Trump, to the exploitation of the Thacker Pass mine.
Another condition is that Lithium Americas separates its operations in the United States and Argentina, where it has the Caucharí-Olaroz and Pastos Grandes lithium mines. GM said that the mineral extracted from the US mine, the third in lithium reserves in the world, will allow the production of up to 1 million electric vehicles per year.
Thacker Pass’s lithium will be used to build the Ultium battery cells with which the manufacturer equips such vehicles. The President and CEO of Lithium Americas, Jonathan Evanssaid in a statement that the agreement with GM will be the basis for the separation of the mining company’s operations in the United States and Argentina.
Barra explained in a statement that directly obtaining raw materials and components for electric vehicles from suppliers in North America and countries with free trade agreements helps to GM’s supply chain “more secure” and its more manageable costs. In addition, he added that the agreements already signed for the construction and operation of three joint ventures for the production of batteries in the United States will create 11,000 jobs.
