By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : October 22, 2025 8:20 am
The $2.23 billion DOE Loan includes principal of $1.97 billion and estimated capitalized interest during construction of $256 million
Lithium Americas Corp. has received its first drawdown of $435 million from its $2.23 billion guaranteed loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program to finance the construction of the processing facilities at Thacker Pass, located in Humboldt County, Nevada.
Jonathan Evans, President and CEO of Lithium Americas said, “We are excited that Thacker Pass is progressing rapidly. Construction of the processing facilities is underway and our expanding skilled workforce is already living in the housing facility we proudly built in Winnemucca. Together, we are forging a path toward building a U.S.-domestic lithium supply chain, and we are honored to have the DOE as a partner on this journey.”
The $2.23 billion DOE Loan includes principal of $1.97 billion and estimated capitalized interest during construction of $256 million. The interest rate that will be applied to amounts drawn under the DOE Loan is the applicable long-dated U.S. Treasury rate on the date of each draw with 0% spread.
The DOE Loan tenor is approximately 23 years from date of first draw. Scheduled repayments of principal and interest are expected to commence in January 2029. The Company may prepay the DOE Loan at any time, subject to certain conditions, by paying principal plus accrued interest on outstanding advances.
The company has the ability to draw on the DOE Loan as frequently as monthly, as needed, subject to satisfaction the customary conditions for this type of construction loan included in the DOE Loan documentation. There are no financial model bring down requirements for subsequent draws.