Lithium Americas began trading on Wednesday at both the Toronto and New York exchanges under its new ticker (LAC) as a result of the recent separation of its North American and Argentinean businesses into two independent public companies.
Shares in the Vancouver-based company soared during its first hours of trading — up more than 10% to C$16.15 each in Toronto.
The new Lithium Americas is a pure-play lithium company focused on advancing its Thacker Pass project in Nevada, which is the US largest known lithium deposit, to production. The company has been advancing construction since early this year.
Lithium Argentina (TSX, NYSE: LAAC) will focus on the assets held in the South American country, including the Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project in Jujuy, which is progressing toward full commercial production, and the Pastos Grandes lithium brine project in Salta, which it added in December, through the acquisition of Arena Minerals.
The business separation allowed Lithium Americas to distance from one of its top shareholders, China’s Ganfeng Lithium, which in 2018 grabbed SQM’s stake in Caucharí-Olaroz and took control of the project in 2020.
“We look forward to seeing these two market-leading companies thrive independently,” Jonathan Evans, President and CEO of Lithium Americas said in a statement. “The separation offers investors two unique and highly focused pure-play lithium companies with world-class assets in our respective regions of operation.”
Analysts have said Lithium America’s decision to split the company came down to the delicate status of US-China relations.
Besides a $650 million investment the company secured from General Motors, Lithium Americas recently applied for funding from the US Department of Energy, which has allocated millions of dollars to support battery metals projects.
