Responsible Production

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Standard is the world's most stringent ESG framework with a strong emphasis on external assurance and stakeholder engagement. Project-level certification is based on independent third-party verification and certification against a comprehensive standard that covers all issues related to industrial-scale resource extraction.

In April 2022, Lithium Americas voluntarily participated in a pilot for the draft IRMA Ready Standard for Responsible Mineral Exploration and Development for Thacker Pass. The company completed a self-assessment of the draft standard by analyzing 405 requirements and commenting on 122 consultation questions.

The Company has since initiated an IRMA Ready gap analysis to prepare for a formal IRMA Ready external audit, following IRMA's integration of the IRMA Ready Standard into the broader IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining.

To learn more about IRMA visit https://responsiblemining.net/.

Energy And Emissions

As a responsible steward of the environment, Lithium Americas is focused on reducing our energy consumption and minimizing our carbon emissions.

Thacker Pass’ planned energy strategy relies significantly on the self-generation of carbon-free energy through waste heat capture at the sulfuric acid plant. The sulfuric acid plant for Phase 1 is expected to generate a significant amount of the electricity needs annually, the same is expected for Phase 2 operations.

In 2023, we worked with a leading international engineering firm to establish a baseline for estimated operational carbon intensity expected for Scope 1, 2 and 3 (C1 – Purchased Goods and C4 – Transport) based on the Nov 2022 Feasibility Study. Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity for Thacker Pass is estimated to be ~40% less than mining peers, when including processing.

Following is a carbon intensity comparison chart for 2024 lithium operators, with the estimated carbon intensity for Thacker Pass Phase 1 shown for comparison.

diagram

By using Mechanical Vapor Recompression evaporator technology, this carbon-free power is used to electrify our most energy intensive processes, avoiding up to 10.02 tonnes of carbon emissions per tonne of lithium carbonate produced per annum (t CO2e/t Li2CO3), versus a conventional triple effect evaporator with propane fired boilers and imported sulfuric acid

Water

Our water conservation plan supports one of our priorities – to sustainably manage water resources by limiting its use and safeguarding its quality. We are committed to sustainably reusing and recycling water wherever possible.

The process flowsheet design for Thacker Pass will have efficiencies designed throughout the entire process that leverages filtration, evaporation and centrifuge technologies, to maximize the reuse and recycling of processed water and limit the amount of water obtained from natural sources. Thacker Pass has been designed as a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) process to eliminate discharge of industrial wastewater into the environment.

Based on a detailed water cycle assessment, any water withdrawn for the operation is expected to be recycled and reused an average of approximately seven times within the production process.

Learn more about how we recycle and reuse process water.

Download our Water Fact Sheet.


Biodiversity and Reclamation

Lithium Americas is committed to reducing our biodiversity impacts, to protecting local species, cultures and natural ecosystems and to integrating conservation into the design and life cycles of our projects and operating activities. We are actively involved in managing, protecting and mitigating habitats and ecosystems in our project areas.

Over the past 12 years, we have carefully studied the ecosystem that surrounds Thacker Pass, and have made several key design decisions based on biodiversity considerations including:

  • Moving the location to the south and away from the Montana Mountains, avoiding potential impacts to sensitive species and their habitat. The Montana Mountains provide a unique biodiverse habitat for sensitive aquatic species, game birds (sage grouse) and other wildlife, while the habitat at Thacker Pass is dry, of lower quality due to past wildland fires and dominated by invasive weeds; and
  • Building stringent environmental protection measures into the design from an early development stage, including strict water recycling, on-site clean energy generation and implementing a reduced footprint.

We are committed to active reclamation throughout the mine life, as well as at the end of mine life, with plans in place to initiate reclamation at the earliest economically and technically feasible date on portions of disturbed areas that are no longer required for operations.

Read our blog post to learn more.

Download our Biodiversity Fact Sheet.

Waste and Materials Management

At Lithium Americas, we manage our waste and materials safely and responsibly to protect human health, natural resources and the environment. We are using state-of-the-art processes to properly manage the waste generated by our activities

We have made several critical design decisions at Thacker Pass that underscore our commitment to developing a facility with minimal impact to the environment, including repurposing and/or minimizing waste. Among them:

  • The open pit will be backfilled with waste rock and coarse gangue;
  • Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) processing facility ensures there will be no discharge of industrial wastewater into the environment; and
  • Dry stacking filtered, neutralized tailings is considered the most sustainable method of storing tailing and eliminates the need for a traditional slurry tailings dam, resulting in a more geotechnically stable tailings facility.

Refer to pages 32 and 33 of our 2023 ESG-S Report to learn more about how we handle our waste and how we’re collaborating with University Nevada Reno to research the potential uses and the commercial viability of our waste streams.