Lithium Americas occupies a pivotal place in the North American critical minerals landscape. The company is concentrated on advancing the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada while its historical Argentine holdings and partnerships shaped its growth trajectory. Key milestones include project permitting, a strategic separation of North American and Argentine assets, and partnerships that link the company to global battery supply chains. Investors and industry analysts monitor Lithium Americas for its potential to deliver large-scale, battery-grade lithium carbonate to the EV and energy-storage markets. This profile consolidates operational facts, project data, ownership details and comparative context to enable direct comparison with producers such as Albemarle, SQM, Piedmont Lithium and major integrators like Ganfeng Lithium. Links to regulatory filings, corporate pages and market summaries are embedded to facilitate further verification and due diligence.
Company profile and corporate facts for Lithium Americas — legal status, leadership and listing data
This section consolidates corporate identifiers and governance attributes that are commonly required by investors and analysts. The emphasis is on verifiable elements: listings, leadership, headquarters and corporate evolution. Lithium Americas is a publicly traded corporation with cross-listing that facilitates liquidity for North American and international shareholders.
Key corporate facts:
- Listing: Trades under the ticker LAC on both the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
- Headquarters: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Leadership: Executive team includes Jonathan Evans as President & CEO and Pablo Altimiras as CFO (current leadership as of latest public filings).
- Corporate evolution: Founded in 2007; notable events include acquisition of Lithium Nevada Corp. (2009) and strategic transactional separation of Argentine assets in 2023–2024.
The following table offers a consolidated, comparable layout of the most relevant company fields used by research platforms and directories.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Lithium Americas |
| Ticker(s) & Exchange(s) | LAC — TSX, NYSE |
| Country | Canada (headquartered) — projects in USA and Argentina |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Founded | 2007 |
| CEO | Jonathan Evans |
| Sector / Sub-Sector | Mining / Lithium development and battery material production |
| Market Cap (USD) | ~$590 million (approx., market conditions vary) |
| Website | https://www.lithiumamericas.com/ |
For deeper company background, primary sources include the corporate site and regulatory filings; secondary summaries can be found on financial platforms such as MarketScreener, StockAnalysis, and general profiles like Wikipedia.
Short list of reference links and profiles:
- Battery-Tech network company page
- Yahoo Finance company profile
- Bloomberg corporate profile
- Official corporate website
- Press release on business separation
Case in point: the corporate separation finalized in 2024 refocused the public Lithium Americas entity on the Thacker Pass project and North American strategy, while Argentine assets transitioned to a separate listed entity. This reorganisation clarified risk exposure and capital allocation, a common corporate action in mining where geographical diversification can create divergent development timelines. Such structural clarity aids comparison with peers like Albemarle and SQM.
Key insight: The listing structure and recent separation establish Lithium Americas as a company with a concentrated North American development mandate, a useful axis for comparative investment analysis.
Assets, reserves and major projects — Thacker Pass, historical Argentine interests and project geography
This section details the asset portfolio and reserve context that determine production potential and strategic value. Lithium Americas’ asset mix historically included both U.S. hard-rock/clay resources and Argentine brine interests. Post-separation, the North American project is the principal focus, with the Argentine history remaining relevant for understanding prior partnerships and operational experience.
Primary assets and project summary:
- Thacker Pass (Nevada, USA): Large sediment-hosted claystone deposit; primary development target for domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate production.
- Historical Argentine assets: Cauchari-Olaroz (44.8% interest historically) and Pastos Grandes (85% interest historical holding), plus the Sal de la Puna joint venture proximal to Pastos Grandes.
- Processing & pilot facilities: Planned concentrator and chemical conversion facilities for carbonate production at Thacker Pass to serve North American battery supply chains.
| Project | Location | Interest / Status | Resource Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thacker Pass | Nevada, USA | Primary focus — advancing to development | Clay-hosted lithium (sedimentary) |
| Cauchari-Olaroz (historical) | Jujuy, Argentina | 44.8% interest historically; now under separate entity arrangements | Lithium brine |
| Pastos Grandes (historical) | Salta Province, Argentina | 85% interest historically | Brine basin exploration |
A comparative view highlights how deposit type affects processing requirements, capital intensity and timelines. Claystone deposits like Thacker Pass require different extraction and roasting/conversion sequences compared with brine operations such as Cauchari-Olaroz. Examples from the region show brine operations (historically commercialized by companies such as SQM and Albemarle) can offer lower operating costs per tonne but longer lead times to develop wellfield infrastructure and evaporation circuits.
List of development and exploration considerations for each project type:
- Claystone (Thacker Pass): requires open-pit mining, material handling, and chemical conversion; subject to processing engineering that influences cost per tonne.
- Brine (Cauchari-Olaroz): contingent on brine pumping, solar evaporation cycles and chemical plant capacity; partnerships (e.g., with Ganfeng Lithium) are common to provide capital and offtake.
- Regional logistics: proximity to U.S. battery manufacturers reduces freight and geopolitical risks when producing domestically.
Operational example: The Thacker Pass permitting milestone (Record of Decision in 2021) demonstrates typical project trajectories — regulatory approvals followed by legal and community processes. The subsequent legal challenge period affected timelines but also clarified the regulatory framework for large domestic lithium developments. Similarly, the Cauchari-Olaroz project progressed via partnership structures that blended local brine expertise and foreign capital, showing a model that other companies (including peers like Orocobre and Livent) have used in lithium brine development.
Key insight: Project geology and regional context define capital intensity, likely unit costs and strategic partnerships; the conversion to a North American-focused entity positions Lithium Americas to compete on supply chain proximity to EV makers and battery gigafactories.
Production profile, processing strategy and strategic partnerships — how Lithium Americas plans to supply battery-grade lithium
This section outlines the practical steps from ore or brine to battery-ready chemicals, and the alliances that underpin development financing and off-take. Production strategy hinges on large-scale processing capacity, product specification (carbonate vs hydroxide) and integration into battery manufacturing supply chains.
Key production and processing elements:
- Product focus: Primary target is battery-grade lithium carbonate, with potential for conversion pathways to lithium hydroxide depending on market demand and downstream partnerships.
- Processing routes: For claystone at Thacker Pass — mining, material preparation, chemical conversion to carbonate; for brines (historical Argentine operations) — brine extraction and evaporation followed by chemical refining.
- Scale and timing: Project aim to reach initial production phases in the late 2020s (Thacker Pass targeted for first output in the latter part of the decade), contingent on financing, construction and regulatory processes.
| Metric | Planned/Reported |
|---|---|
| Primary product | Battery-grade lithium carbonate (with possible hydroxide output via downstream conversions) |
| Expected first production | Targeted late-2027 for initial Thacker Pass ramp (subject to financing and permitting timelines) |
| Partners | Historic Argentina partnership with Ganfeng Lithium; North American offtake and technology partners under negotiation |
Partnerships matter. The historical alliance with Ganfeng Lithium for the Cauchari-Olaroz project provided capital, technical capacity and access to Asian battery markets. For Thacker Pass, the strategic aim is to secure partnerships that link domestic production with U.S. and Canadian battery makers, thereby reducing supply chain risk compared to sourcing from distant producers such as those dominant in Chile, China or Australia.
List of typical contractual and technical elements investors track:
- Off-take agreements and volume commitments.
- Technology licensing for extraction and conversion processes.
- Financing packages — project debt, equity, strategic investor stakes.
- Local procurement and construction contracts that influence capital cost and schedule.
Operational case: In Argentina, ramp-up at brine operations often benefits from state-level incentives but faces local logistical complexities; the Cauchari-Olaroz model used a joint-venture approach to share development risk. In Nevada, Thacker Pass’s proximity to U.S. manufacturing provides a compelling commercial pitch to automakers seeking to localize supply chains — an advantage relative to peers such as Piedmont Lithium and global suppliers like Albemarle.
Risk-management examples:
- Hedging through diversified offtake to reduce exposure to price cycles.
- Staged construction and modular processing to align capital deployment with market demand.
- Environmental design improvements to lower permitting risk and bolster ESG credentials.
Key insight: Production viability depends equally on processing technology and the commercial framework of partnerships and offtake; securing credible partners and offtake is as critical as geological scale.
Lithium companies quick comparator
Lithium Americas (Thacker Pass) · Albemarle · SQM · Piedmont Lithium — interactive comparison| Company | Asset Type | Production scale (tpa) | Location | ESG profile | Offtake agreements | Typical cost / t |
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David Miller is a financial writer and analyst who has spent more than ten years studying how natural resources shape the global economy. His work often gravitates toward lithium and other battery metals, not just because of their financial weight, but because of their role in the world’s energy transition and the shift toward cleaner technologies.
Having followed the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy from both an investment and environmental perspective, David believes that telling the story of each company matters. Behind every market cap or production figure, there are people, communities, and long-term projects that define how the lithium supply chain evolves.
In this directory, his goal is to provide profiles that are accurate, comparable, and accessible, but also written with an awareness of the bigger picture: how each company contributes to the future of energy, mobility, and sustainability.