GM delays additional $330 million investment in Thacker Pass, Lithium Americas says

(Reuters) – Lithium Americas said on Friday automaker General Motors has delayed the second tranche of investment, worth $330 million, in the miner until the end of the year.

GM had announced an investment of $650 million, in two tranches, in Lithium Americas last year to help it develop the Thacker Pass lithium mining project in Nevada, which holds enough of the battery metal to build 1 million electric vehicles annually.

The lithium miner said it is exploring alternative structures for the investment and extended the date for deal closure to Dec. 20. In case, the deal is not closed on their end by that date, Lithium Americas will have to grant additional rights to the automaker.

GM did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The investment conditions for the second tranche included the successful execution of a $2.26 billion loan agreement with the U.S. Energy Department, which the company is rushing to finish by the end of the year amid uncertainties regarding the results of the U.S. presidential election.

Given Donald Trump’s pledge to “end the electric vehicle mandate” and plans laid out by former Trump administration officials in the Project 2025 document to shutter the Loans Program Office, mining companies and others are rushing to close loan agreements before Joe Biden leaves office in five months.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)