March 16 (UPI) — Lithium Americas has received conditional approval for a multi-billion-dollar loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to help fund a massive development project in Nevada.
The Canadian mineral exploration company confirmed the $2.26 billion loan earlier this week, which will cover a three-year period and comes with an estimated $290 million worth of interest.
Interest falls in line with applicable U.S. Treasury rates.
The Vancouver-based company plans to use the money to develop its Thacker Pass project in Humboldt County, Nev. The site is located approximately 200 miles northeast of Reno.
“The United States has an incredible opportunity to lead the next chapter of global electrification in a way that both strengthens our battery supply chains and ensures that the economic benefits are directed toward American workers, companies and communities,” Lithium Americas President and CEO Jonathan Evans said in a statement on the company’s website.
“The ATVM Loan Conditional Commitment announced today by the DOE is a significant milestone for Thacker Pass, which will help meet the growing domestic need for lithium chemicals and strengthen our nation’s security.”
The facility itself is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate once fully operational. The inorganic compound will be primarily used in electric vehicles.
The British Columbia mineral explorer expects to reach full capacity by 2027 and could eventually increase production by 80,000 metric tons annually as the market for electric vehicles grows.
General Motors owns an equity stake in the project, after investing $650 million earlier last year.
The project is also being buoyed by an equity investment from General Motors. The auto manufacturer announced the investment of $650 million in early 2023, which also included a supply agreement,
“Thacker Pass is a treasure trove of lithium — key to strengthening U.S. energy security and electrifying America,” Energy Secretary Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement on X.
“By presenting this $2.26B conditional loan, we’ll help level the global playing field and supercharge clean energy manufacturing nationwide.”
A second-half surge, and some energetic play by the freshmen, led to a dominating win for the Nevada basketball team.
The Wolf Pack beat San Francisco, 81-65, on Friday in the Acrisure Series, a multi-team event in Palm Desert, California.
Nevada led 38-37 at the half, but then shot 75 percent from the field in the second half, 18-of-30, and 48 percent for the game, 30-of-63.
The Pack’s Corey Camper Jr. led all scorers with 22 points; he also racked up six assists as Nevada improved to 5-3 overall. Elijah Price had 11 and Ethan Croley, a freshman, had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Peyton White, also a freshman, had 10.
Nevada freshman point guard Myles Walker played 17 minutes, providing a huge boost off the bench and a defensive spark. He scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting, 1-1 from the arc, with three assists and no turnovers.
David Fuchs led the Dons (5-3) in points with 16 and rebounds with nine.
The Pack forced 15 turnovers while committing four, and turned those into 15 points.
Nevada was 14-of-18 from the free throw line and the Dons were 20-of-25.
Both teams hit seven 3-pointers, Nevada was 7-of-14 and San Francisco was 7-of-25. The Pack hit 3-of-4 from the arc in the second half.
San Francisco had a 34-29 rebounding advantage.
The Pack outscored the Dons, 38-20, in the paint.
Nevada hosts UC San Diego at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Tritons, who play in the Big West Conference, are 7-0 and off to their best-ever Division I start. UC San Diego beat Towson, 87-73, on Wednesday as nine different players hit 3-pointers.
The Tritons shot 64 percent from the arc in that game and 60.4 percent overall. The win was UC San Diego’s 20th consecutive regular season victory dating back to January.
Wearing orange sneakers, Zoom Diallo seemed to be in the Thanksgiving spirit of things when his University of Washington basketball team took the floor against Nevada for the Acrisure Holiday Classic.
In an otherwise raggedy game at Acrisure Arena, the 6-foot-4 Diallo set the table in the holiday encounter by scoring 10 of the Huskies’ first 14 points and finishing with 19 to lead his guys to a 83-66 victory on Thursday in Palm Desert, California.
Teammate Wesley Yates III warmed up to supply a game-best 25 points, hitting 11 of 13 free throws, while 6-foot-11 center Franck Kepnang got going in the second half to finish with 15 points and 4 blocks.
As a reward, the UW (5-1) came away with a Pac-12 reunion, moving into the title game against Colorado, which dispatched USF 79-69 in the opening game. The Huskies and the Buffaloes (6-0) will meet at 1:30 p.m. in a contest that will be televised by TruTV.
Danny Sprinkle’s team played without 6-foot-11 freshman forward Hannes Steinbach, recovering from an ankle sprain for the second consecutive game.
Next to him was Bryson Tucker, the 6-foot-7 sophomore forward and Indiana transfer, who missed his third UW outing in a row with his own ankle issue.
The Huskies, however, had Diallo to set the table on Thanksgiving.
While everyone played a little out of control and shot terribly early on, the man called Zoom came out and hit a pull-up jumper from mid range. He next confidently dropped in a long 3-pointer.
He gave his team a 12-11 lead when he raced in for a lay-in and was fouled, converting the three-point play at 11:46 of the opening half.
He provided another lay-in for a 14-11 advantage, and at that point he had 10 of the Huskies’ points. Everything went through Zoom.
Diallo settled for a team-high13 points at the break in helping the UW take a 34-28 lead. He hit 4 of 5 shots, while everyone else had an off half, with both teams shooting in the 30-percent-plus range.
This Nevada team just wasn’t anywhere as good as the Wolf Pack teams that had won six consecutive games over the UW dating back to 2010.
Steve Alford’s team couldn’t shoot. It hit just 2 of its first 15 field-goal attempts. It couldn’t take advantage of a six-point possession either.
Trailing 9-5, the Wolf Pack got a 3-pointer from Tyler Rollison. When the ball was in the air, the Huskies’ Kepnang shoved a sharp forearm into the chest of 6-foot-10 Joel Armotrading and was called for a flagrant foul. Big Franck got off easy there.
Rollison hit one of two free throws because Armotrading, who’s from England, couldn’t continue, and Ethan Croley dropped in a lay-in for an 11-9 lead.
Armotrading watched the second half while seated in a wheel chair.
The Huskies changed things up for this one by not starting freshman point guard JJ Mandaquit for the first time in six games. They opened with Quimari Peterson, Desmond Claude, Yates and Diallo in a four-guard lineup with Kepnang.
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