WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Department of Defense announced that it has awarded $11.8 million to Lithium Nevada Corporation to accelerate the extraction and processing of lithium carbonate.
The award, via the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) office, supports the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy's objective to expand domestic production of critical minerals.
'It is critical that we shore up reliable and sustainable domestic supplies of strategic materials, like lithium carbonate, that are necessary for the production of large-capacity batteries,' said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. 'This award helps do just that, facilitating the acceleration and expansion of Lithium Nevada's existing capabilities to meet growing demand.'
The award will enable Lithium Nevada to upgrade infrastructure at Thacker Pass, the company's lithium mine located in McDermitt Caldera, Humboldt County, Nevada. Lithium Nevada, a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp., will test, demonstrate, accelerate, and scale up its lithium carbonate extraction process and produce commercial-scale levels of battery-grade lithium carbonate.
The Pentagon said in a press release that the award will help to meet the United States' growing requirements for large-capacity lithium batteries, which are critical components in many DoD systems.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
