GM, Lithium Americas agree to delay $330 million investment in Thacker Pass

(Reuters) -Lithium Americas said on Friday that General Motors had agreed to delay an additional investment worth $330 million in the miner until the end of the year.

The U.S. automaker in January 2023 announced an investment of $650 million in Lithium Americas to help the miner develop the Thacker Pass project in Nevada, which holds enough of the battery metal to build 1 million electric vehicles annually.

The first of the two-tranche investment closed in February last year.

The lithium miner said on Friday it was exploring alternative structures for the second tranche and extended the date for deal close to Dec. 20. Lithium Americas will have to grant additional rights to the automaker, if the company fails to close the deal by then.

"They are making good progress toward scaling commercial production. This agreement will support the successful completion of the project," GM said an emailed statement.

The conditions for the second tranche include the successful execution of a $2.26 billion loan agreement with the U.S. Energy Department, which the company is rushing to finish amid uncertainties fueled by the November U.S. presidential election.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has pledged 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 have forced miners to try to close agreements before Joe Biden leaves office.

Toronto-listed shares of Lithium Americas were down 6.3%.

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

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