Lithium Americas shares rise more than 6%, one of the leading gains on the S&P/TSX Composite index, after research and media reports suggest that the company’s Thacker Pass project is located on a US lithium deposit that could be among the largest in the world.

Lithium reserves in the McDermitt Caldera, located along the Nevada-Oregon border, could contain between 20 and 40 million metric tons of the metal, according to findings from Lithium Americas volcanologists and geologists in an Aug. 31 research report.

Eoin Treacy's view

Lithium Americas has been in discussions with the US government about sourcing federal funding to build its Thacker Pass mine. In service to the goal they are in the process of splitting up. The North American company will contain the Thacker Pass mine, while the existing production in Argentina will be renamed Lithium International. The US government is insisting on no foreign interest in the resource base before they are willing to supply funds.