Lithium Americas Provides Thacker Pass Update with Q3 2023 Carve-Out Financials and MD&A

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) (“Lithium Americas” or the “Company”) filed carve-out interim financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) (unaudited) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 (“Q3 2023”), and provides a project update on the Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt Country, Nevada (“Thacker Pass” or the “Project”).

HIGHLIGHTS

Thacker Pass

• Major earthworks and detailed engineering continue to advance in preparation for major construction to commence in 2024.
  
  
  • The Company acquired repurposed temporary housing and kitchen facilities for the workforce hub, to provide housing for construction workers in the town of Winnemucca. The units are being shipped and delivered to the site in preparation for peak construction. Earthworks to prepare the workforce hub facility in Winnemucca are ongoing and progressing well.
    
    
• The Company continues to work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) Loan Programs Office to advance confirmatory due diligence and term sheet negotiations for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (“ATVM Loan Program”), following the receipt of a Letter of Substantial Completion on February 22, 2023.
  
  
  • The Company expects the DOE ATVM Loan Program conditional approval process to be completed in late-2023-early-2024, and if approved, to fund up to 75% of capital costs for construction of Phase 1. Development costs incurred by the project may qualify as eligible costs under the ATVM Loan Program as of January 31, 2023.
  • The construction budget for the second half of 2023 is $145 million (cash based), of which $51.1 million was spent in Q3 2023 primarily on advancing engineering, earthworks and the workforce hub.
    
    
• The Department of Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno completed an Economic Impact Assessment of Thacker Pass, Phase 1 and 2 construction and operations over the 40-year life of mine for Humboldt Country and the State of Nevada, based on the Thacker Pass Feasibility Study, effective November 2, 2022. Based on this assessment:
  
  
  • Thacker Pass is expected to generate over 1,500 construction jobs.
  • In Humboldt County, Phase 1 and 2 construction activities are estimated to generate approximately $725 million of economic activity annually, and operations after project completion are estimated to generate economic impact of approximately $2 billion annually.
  • In the State of Nevada, it is expected that every $1 the Company invests on Phase 1 and 2 capital construction will generate an additional $0.76 of spending, and that every direct job created during construction will generate an additional six jobs.

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