The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is in talks with Lithium Americas LAC-T to lend $1-billion for the Canadian miner’s Nevada project, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The Biden administration is negotiating terms of an agreement that would fund more than half of the cost of the Thacker Pass project, the report said.
Lithium Americas and the DOE did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The mine has the potential to be North America’s largest source of lithium for electric vehicle batteries and would bolster U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies for the metal.
Shares of the company rose 3.9 per cent in afternoon trade.
The Vancouver, Canada-based company, which is developing the Nevada project with General Motors, had said in February it received a letter of substantial completion from the DOE regarding the company’s application for funding.
The loan could provide up to 75 per cent of the project’s costs, the company had then said.