Lithium Americas Shares Rally After Favorable Court Ruling for Thacker Pass
February 07 2023 - 10:48AM
Dow Jones News
By Robb M. Stewart
Lithium Americas Corp.'s shares jumped Tuesday after a federal
court affirmed a permit for the company's Thacker Pass lithium
project in Nevada, freeing it to begin construction.
In morning trading, the shares were 9.1% higher at C$34.40,
extending the run higher so far this year to 34%.
Lithium Americas said the U.S. District Court for the District
of Nevada declined to vacate the federal decision to approve the
Thacker Pass project, and rejected claims the project would cause
unnecessary harm to the environment or wildlife.
Still, the court ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to
consider one issue under mining law relating to the area designated
for waste storage and tailings, though the company said the court
didn't impose any restrictions that are expected to affect the
construction timeline.
The court ruling recognizes the Bureau of Land Management's
decision to issue a federal permit, leaving place the final
regulatory approval needed to move Thacker Pass into construction,
President and Chief Executive Jonathan Evans said.
The court rejected arguments that the project will cause
unnecessary and undue degradation to the local sage grouse
population and habitat, groundwater aquifers and air quality, that
the land management bureau failed to adequately consider the
project's impacts to culturally or religiously significant areas,
and that the bureau acted unreasonably or in bad faith in
identifying tribes for consultation before approving the project,
the company said.
The project in Humbolt County, Nevada, would see the
construction of an open-pit mine that the company projects will
initially produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality lithium
carbonate annually, ramping up to 80,000 tons a year.
Late last month, General Motors Co. agreed to make a $650
million investment in Lithium Americas in an effort to secure
supplies of lithium, a vital commodity used for batteries that
power electric cars. Lithium Americas said the funds will help
support the development of Thacker Pass and the company's plans to
separate by creating the foundation for an independent U.S.
business.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 07, 2023 10:33 ET (15:33 GMT)
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