KVIG Informative

Construction at Thacker Pass in Humboldt County is heading toward its peak, backed by a federal loan and a federal ownership stake. One nearby Tribe signed a benefits agreement with the developer, while others went to court, and both positions trace back to the same question of who gets consulted.

Lithium Americas reported on Aug. 13, 2026, that more than 1,600 workers were on site at Thacker Pass, with more than 2,000 expected before the end of the year. The company is targeting mechanical completion in late 2027. The first phase is designed to produce 40,000 metric tons a year of battery-quality lithium carbonate.

The project belongs to a joint venture in which Lithium Americas holds 62% and General Motors holds 38%, according to the company. Financing includes a $2.23 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. As of June 3, 2026, the company had drawn $1.209 billion of that loan. After the loan was amended in October 2025, the Energy Department received warrants equal to a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in the joint venture, issued Jan. 30, 2026.

The company’s technical report puts first-phase construction at $2.93 billion. By June 30, 2026, about $1.6 billion of that had been spent. In its August report, the company said it had begun a definitive capital estimate and listed pressures it had not built into the original number, including $80 million to $100 million in expected tariff costs, shipping disruptions tied to conflict in the Middle East, fuel prices and a tight market for skilled labor.

The agreement at Fort McDermitt The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, whose reservation straddles the Nevada-Oregon line about 48 miles by road from the site, signed a community benefits agreement with Lithium Americas in October 2022. According to the company’s annual report, the agreement commits it to build a community center with a preschool, day care, playground, cultural facility and communal greenhouse. It also covers job training, employment, funding for cultural education and preservation, and contracting opportunities.

In the second quarter of 2026, the company said it paid $5 million into the Tribe’s building fund under that agreement. The money is meant to help rebuild a travel plaza the Tribe lost to fire in September 2020. The company reported another $400,000 for workforce training, cultural monitoring and administration.

The case against the mine Other Tribes took the opposite path. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, which calls the area Peehee Mu’huh, has said in its own public statements that the pass holds sacred and historical significance, including as a site where Paiute people were massacred. Michon Eben, then the Colony’s Tribal historic preservation officer, said the site carries deep importance for Native American history. The Colony, the Burns Paiute Tribe of Oregon and the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe pursued legal challenges between 2021 and 2023.

The core legal argument concerned consultation. Federal historic preservation law requires agencies to consult Tribes that attach religious and cultural significance to land affected by a project. The Burns Paiute Tribe argued the Bureau of Land Management did not make a good-faith effort to find every Tribe with ties to Thacker Pass before approving the mine in January 2021.

What the courts decided In 2023, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du found one error in the federal approval, related to waste rock storage, and sent that issue back to the agency without canceling the permit. In July 2023, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the approval. The panel ruled that the bureau’s consultation with Tribes was reasonable and in good faith, and it noted that the agency learned of some Tribes’ claims about the land’s significance only after the approval. Construction had begun in March 2023.

Several numbers will settle what Thacker Pass becomes. The definitive capital estimate will show whether the project still fits the $2.93 billion figure. The company has said the site is on track to connect to grid power in the fourth quarter of 2026. Lithium Americas files quarterly reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and those filings will track both the construction schedule and what the company delivers under its agreement with the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.