Lithium Americas stock surged on Wednesday following a report that the Trump administration is pursuing a 10% stake in the mining firm as the White House looks to intervene in industries deemed critical to national security.
A source familiar with the negotiations told FOX Business that Lithium Americas has agreed to allow the Trump administration to take a small stake of less than 10% in the company as it renegotiates a $2.26 billion Department of Energy (DOE) loan that dates back to the Biden administration.
General Motors (GM) holds a 38% stake in Lithium Americas and negotiations are ongoing over whether the company will agree to the U.S. government's share, according to the source.
Lithium Americas is developing Thacker Pass in Humboldt County of northern Nevada, the site of the largest known measured lithium resource and reserve in the world. The project is moving toward Phase 1 of production, with a goal of 40,000 tons per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate, such as what is used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Lithium Americas plans to extract lithium at the Thacker Pass project in Nevada. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The company's Biden-era loan contained conditions that the firm would have to meet, but it was unable to satisfy those and spurred negotiations with the DOE about restructuring the loan.
Under the proposed new terms of the loan, Lithium Americas wants to delay the first payments on the loan to later years while the DOE's stake would represent the interest of American taxpayers providing the $2.26 billion loan.
Lithium Americas released a statement on Wednesday that discussed the status of negotiations with the DOE and its joint venture partner GM about the first draw of the loan and related conditions.
The clay mixture from which lithium will be extracted is held by a Lithium Americas spokesman. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"The topics of these discussions include certain conditions precedent to draw on the DOE Loan and associated loan specifics, as well as incremental requests from the DOE for potential further conditions to first draw and/or potential amendments to the DOE Loan and associated transaction documents, including corresponding consideration," the company said.
"The Company continues to work with the DOE and GM regarding proposals for a mutually agreeable resolution," Lithium Americas statement concluded.
General Motors is Lithium Americas joint venture partner in the project. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Following the news, Lithium Americas stock nearly doubled on Wednesday, rising to a high of $6.25 per share, the highest intraday price for the stock since April 2024, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Thacker Pass is located in a remote region of northern Nevada. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The stock has since pared back some of those gains, trading around $6.12 a share as of early afternoon, which would represent a 99% gain in Wednesday's trading session. Over the past five days, the stock is up roughly 85% – though it's up 115% in the past month and 147% in the last year.
FOX Business' Edward Lawrence contributed to this report.