Lithium Americas get final environmental report for Nevada mine

NACCO Industries

04/12/2020 15:57

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Lithium Americas Corp  LAC.TO  said on
Friday the U.S. government has published the final environmental
report for its Nevada lithium project, with full federal
permitting expected by early 2021.
    Lithium is used to make electric vehicle batteries, and
Lithium Americas and others are projecting a surge in demand
over the next decade.
    The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees much of
the country's federal land, issued the final environmental
impact statement after more than a decade of review of the
company's Thacker Pass project in northern Nevada.
    The company said it expects a record of decision, the last
step in the federal permitting process, early in the new year.
Nevada state officials are still reviewing a water permit for
the project.
    Lithium Americas has said it plans to spend $400 million on
the first phase of its Thacker Pass project with output of
20,000 tonnes of lithium annually. The mine is expected to open
by 2023.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N26E1RP
    The company has hired Nacco Industries Inc  NC.N  to build
and run Thacker Pass, where lithium is found in clay rock. The
company plans to use a proprietary acid leaching process to
extract the lithium.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N26E1RP

 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))