A new era for Lithium clay deposits. A 3 year Build from Commencement to first Lithium Production
With General Motors behind this project as #1 shareholder, all eyes are definitely on this development in the United States of America------Nevada. It is a long build timeline. I am familiar with less than 2 years build time from commencemenmt to production. Nonetheless, it is important to get a project's Construction started.
And that is exactly what Jonathan Evans has got underway in a very "short" time span since notified of the Lithium project "green light".
With Lithium operations start-up planned in Argentina and construction commencement in Nevada, what is next for Lithium America's???
Very likely, soon Canada, lithium enriched Northern Ontario in the vicinity of Frontier's Pennock Lithium discovery deposit.
With the backing of General Motors and two Lithium operations in construction, Lithium Americas is ideally positioned to acquire high quality, high grade Lithium projects and Lithium developers over the next few years as LAC grows its contained Lithium resource inventory. Lithium Americas begins Thacker Pass construction
2023-03-02 - News Release
Mr. Jonathan Evans reports
LITHIUM AMERICAS COMMENCES CONSTRUCTION AT THACKER PASS
Lithium Americas Corp. has begun construction at its 100-per-cent-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt county, Nevada, following the receipt of notice to proceed from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
"Starting construction is a momentous milestone for Thacker Pass and one we have been working towards for over a decade," said Jonathan Evans, president and chief executive officer. "We are excited about the prospect of generating economic growth in northern Nevada and playing a major role in the domestic lithium supply chain for electric vehicles."
Thacker Pass is targeting 80,000 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate production capacity in two phases of 40,000 tonnes per year, respectively. Phase 1 production is expected to commence in the second half of 2026. The project is expected to create 1,000 jobs during construction and 500 jobs during operations. Further information can be found in the technical report titled "Feasibility Study, National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report for the Thacker Pass Project Humboldt County, Nevada, USA," with an effective date of Nov. 2, 2022, filed on SEDAR under the company's profile on Jan. 31, 2023.
Construction update:
- Construction, including site preparation, geotechnical drilling, water pipeline development and associated infrastructure, has commenced.
- Contracts for major earthworks have been awarded, with activities expected to commence in the second half of 2023.
- In the fourth quarter of 2022, Bechtel Corp. was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the construction of Thacker Pass phase 1, with detailed engineering under way.
- Major construction contracts awarded include:
- Lithium carbonate and purification -- Aquatech International LLC has been awarded the contract for the magnesium sulphate and lithium carbonate chemical plants. Established in 1981 and based in Philadelphia, Aquatech is a global leader in water purification technology for industrial and infrastructure markets, with a focus on desalination, water recycling and reuse, and zero-liquid discharge.
- Sulphuric acid plant -- EXP Global Inc. has been awarded the contract for the engineering, procurement, construction support, commissioning and start-up services for the sulphuric acid plant. Established in 1906 and operationally headquartered in Chicago, EXP is a global leader in oil, gas and chemicals. MECS Inc. was awarded the contract for the technology licence, engineering and equipment for its state-of-the-art MECS heat recovery system, to harness waste heat to generate steam which will subsequently be converted into carbon-free electricity for the processing plant.
- Contract selection and engineering for a work force hub (housing for construction contractors) and transloading facility within the Winnemucca area have commenced.
Construction at Thacker Pass commenced following the favourable ruling from the United States District Court, District of Nevada, for the issuance of the record of decision (ROD), where the federal court confirmed the permitting process for Thacker Pass was conducted thoroughly and responsibly. The federal court declined to vacate the ROD and ordered the BLM to consider one issue under the mining law relating to the area designated for waste storage and tailings, and did not impose any restrictions expected to impact the construction timeline. The company is working closely with the BLM to complete the required follow-up and does not expect it to impact the overall construction timeline.