Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence. Stay Ahead.

General Motors increases investment in lithium project to nearly $1 billion, looking for other critical mineral investments for electric vehicles

General Motors has announced it will invest an additional US$625 million into a joint venture with Lithium Americas Corp to develop Thacker Pass lithium project.

The investment will mean GM will acquire 38% interest in the project, with US$387 million in funding from Lithium America’s for 63% ownership, totaling nearly US$1 billion investments in the project. The US Department of Energy also announced plans to lend Lithium Americas up to US$2.26 billion for the project.

Lithium Americas estimates the lithium extracted and processed from the project can support production of up to 1 million electric vehicles annually. Production is projected to begin in the second half of 2026.

A GM executive told Reuters that the company is also looking for further investments in North America in other critical minerals needed for critical minerals.

“We don’t want to become a mining company. Our main goal is to build out a North American based, Western-allied, reliant supply chain. To do that, we have to pick partners and assets and figure out what they need to do to industrialize and be successful”

— Jeff Morrison, GM’s senior vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, told Reuters

The move comes as sales of GM electric vehicles increased in the US to nearly 21,000 in July-August, almost matching its full Q2 EV sales, and up about 70% compared to 2023.

GM, CEO Mary Barra told The New York Times, is about to start making money on its electric vehicles by the end of this year, right on schedule.

Electric vehicle sales in Q1 Q2 and partial Q3 in 2024 - The Oregon Group - Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

GM also has agreements:

  • to buy cobalt from Glenore
  • an investment in nickel and cobalt miner
  • a lithium deal with Arcadium Lithium
  • investment in Controlled Thermal Resources Hell’s Kitchen geothermal brine project in California

As we’ve highlighted in our recent newsletter, the tension for automakers over their electric vehicle ambitions lies in critical mineral supply:

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The Oregon Group is an investment research team focused on critical minerals, mining, energy and geopolitics.

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