General Motors has been busy over the last few weeks with plans to expand its investments in lithium and other essential minerals in North America. This development comes after the company made an additional US$625M investment in its joint venture with Lithium Americas, to develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine, to nearly US$1B, Reuters has reported.
The move boosts GM’s investment in the project by an additional US$325M, bringing the total to US$950M after an initial investment made last year. It also grants GM a partial ownership stake in the mine and ensures access to production for at least 20 years.
Although the Thacker Pass joint venture is expected to provide GM with a substantial amount of lithium, the company still has a hunger for other critical mineral deals within the continent, according to Jeff Morrison, GM’s senior vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, in an interview on Thursday.
Most of GM’s agreements focus on securing mineral supplies rather than forming joint ventures, and the company is expected to maintain this strategy, he mentioned.
“We don’t aim to become a mining company,” Morrison stated. “Our primary objective is to establish a North American-based, Western-allied, and dependable supply chain. To achieve this, we need to select partners and assets and determine what they require to industrialize and succeed.”
