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The open pit is shallow, less than 400 feet deep and designed with a low strip ratio. The pit will be block mined with active reclamation. Minimal blasting is expected due to the mineralized soft clay, which is scooped up by large shovels.

In block mining, once one block is mined to the bottom, mining will move to the next block while backfilling begins in the previously mined area. This allows us to reclaim the land quickly while mining still occurs. Only a small portion of the overall pit will be exposed at any given time during operations, and the entire pit will be backfilled at the end of the mine life. The backfilled pit would then be capped with topsoil and revegetated with native species.

In 2019, we entered into a mine design, consulting and mining operations agreement with Sawtooth Mining, a NACCO Natural Resources company, who will have design, construction, operation, maintenance, mining and mine closure services for Thacker Pass. They have over 65 years of surface mining experience and currently operate seven surface mines in similar deposits. They have strong safety records and manage reclamation for over 200,000 acres under regulatory permits. Their extensive reclamation history has earned them 99 federal and state awards in the last 45 years, which includes reclaiming over 61,000 acres of land, reconstructing over 68 miles of streams and 1,490 acres of wetlands and planted over 10 million trees.

Learn more in our Mining and Processing Factsheet

Health and safety excellence is one of our core principles, and we seek to prevent, minimize and manage occupational health and safety risks for our employees, contractors and the communities in which we operate. Learn more on our Safety Page.

Nevada is home to abundant lithium resources and a talented workforce.

The Thacker Pass deposit is the largest known Measured and Indicated Resource and highest-grade known sedimentary lithium deposit in the U.S. This is a remarkable asset for America. We are committed to responsibly mining the lithium deposit for the benefit of Nevada and North America.

The U.S. Department of Defense has listed lithium as a critical mineral because of U.S. overdependence on foreign countries for supply and its importance to American security and economic prosperity.

Currently, the manufacturing of batteries has a global footprint. Most of the world's lithium is mined in Australia or South America and only 1% is mined in the US. Lithium concentrate is then shipped mostly to China, to be processed into battery chemicals. These lithium chemicals are then often shipped to other parts of Asia, the US or Europe to make into cathodes and install in battery packs. The batteries are then often shipped to another location for installation into their final product, such as electric vehicles. This current global supply chain is inefficient and unsustainable uses a lot of energy.

The Thacker Pass project will enable a US domestic supply chain that allows domestic car manufacturers to produce electric vehicles from battery materials completely sourced and manufactured in the US, bringing down the overall carbon footprint, transport costs and supply chain risks. Production from Thacker Pass is expected to enable the production of up to 800,000 electric vehicles per year.

Lithium Americas has a state-of-the-art facility in Reno, Nevada, the Lithium Technical Development Center (LiTDC). The 30,000 ft2 facility was developed to demonstrate the chemical process designed for Thacker Pass in an integrated process testing facility.

The integrated process uses unit of operations and equipment that has been proven for decades and found in mining operations all over the world. Visit the Lithium Technical Development Center in this virtual tour:

Learn more in our Community Engagement Fact Sheet.

Learn more in our Community Engagement Fact Sheet.

Learn about our commitment to operating in an environmentally responsible manner on our ESG page.

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