Lithium Americas Corp. announced the closing of a $2.26 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy?s Loan Programs Office under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for financing the construction of the processing facilities at Thacker Pass, located in Humboldt County, Nevada. The DOE Loan for $2.26 billion will have interest rates fixed from the date of each monthly advance for the term of the loan at applicable U.S.Treasury rates.

The DOE Loan amount includes funding of interest accrued during construction. The DOE Loan will help finance the construction of Thacker Pass, targeted to produce an initial 40,000 tonnes per annum of battery-quality lithium carbonate. The Company is targeting to make the final investment decision and issue full notice to proceed by the end of the year.

Thacker Pass Phase 1 is expected to create approximately 1,800 direct jobs during its three-year construction period and approximately 360 full time jobs during operations for its 40-year mine life. Thacker Pass supports the U.S. government?s commitment to securing a domestic supply chain for critical minerals to reduce reliance on foreign materials. The DOE Loan will be supplemented by the investment agreement announced on October 16, 2024 with General Motors Holdings LLC to establish a joint venture for the purpose of funding, developing, constructing and operating Thacker Pass.

Under the terms of the Investment Agreement, GM will acquire a 38% asset-level ownership stake in Thacker Pass for $625 million in total cash and letters of credit, including a $195 million letter of credit facility that can be used as collateral to support reserve account requirements under the DOE Loan. The key terms and conditions of the DOE Loan are summarized below: Loan Quantum: $2.26 billion ? Principal: $1.97 billion ?

Capitalized interest during construction: $290 million. Interest Rate: U.S. Treasury Rate ? Interest rates fixed from the date of each monthly advance for the term of the loan at the applicable long-dated U.S. Treasury rate with 0% spread.

Tenor: 24 years ? From date of first draw of the DOE Loan. Other Key Terms: Customary covenants and events of defaults for a project finance loan facility, Customary conditions precedent to loan effectiveness and advances for a project finance loan facility.

The closing of the DOE Loan follows receipt of a Conditional Commitment in March 2024. Over the past several months, the DOE confirmed the Company satisfied all technical, legal and financial conditions to close the DOE Loan. The Company expects to make the first draw on the DOE Loan sometime in the middle of 2025.

Conditions precedent to first draw include closing the GM JV Transaction, funding DOE Loan reserve accounts through the GM LC Facility, securing additional corporate working capital and project finance model bring down.