NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) ("Lithium Americas" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has submitted a formal application to the US Department of Energy (“DOE”) Loan Programs Office (“LPO”) for funding to be used at its 100%-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada (“Thacker Pass”) through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (“ATVM Loan Program”). The ATVM Loan Program is designed to provide loans for facilities located in the United States for the manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles and qualifying components used in those vehicles.

"Thacker Pass is a unique, large-scale and advanced-stage lithium project representing one of the most significant opportunities to create a domestic lithium supply chain to support the production of electric vehicles in the US,” said Jonathan Evans, President and CEO. “We are pleased to submit our formal loan application and look forward to progressing through the ATVM Loan Program process to accelerate development of Thacker Pass. We are very excited to become a leading supplier of domestic critical materials to support the growth of the domestic battery and electric vehicle industry in response to increased demand and interest from US-based consumers.”

The submission is not an assurance that Lithium Americas will secure funding from the ATVM Loan Program and additional steps remain in the process.