Lithium Nevada Projected Completion In 2018

VANCOUVER, BC - Lithium Americas Corp. reported an update on the Lithium Nevada Project located in Nevada,. The Company is developing the 100% owned Lithium Nevada Project, a clay-based lithium resource in the McDermitt Caldera, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Lithium Nevada Corp. Building on years of exploration and testing, a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) on the Lithium Nevada Project is expected to be complete by the end of Q2 2018 to demonstrate the economic potential of producing lithium hydroxide from lithium-bearing claystone.

The Lithium Nevada Project is advancing a process technology with the objective to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide from claystone. The flowsheet is designed to: (1) use leaching to liberate lithium from the ore, and (2) apply proven purification technology to produce high-quality lithium compounds. Leaching is believed to be advantageous when compared to previously considered processes as it avoids energy-intensive roasting, significantly reduces tailings volume, and maximizes the recovery of lithium through commercially-viable process technology.

Test work is underway at a leading lithium manufacturing facility using a combination of laboratory and existing commercial production equipment. This strategic and cost-effective approach is targeted to advance the testing process towards final design and provides options for future strategic partnerships.

"The process has been designed by challenging prior assumptions and leveraging commercially viable technologies. Our efforts are squarely focused on minimizing the cost," said Dr. Deak. "While proprietary, much of our work relies on the application of commercially available solutions that could be deployed quickly and reliably. Recognizing market need, our process is designed to produce lithium hydroxide, the preferred feedstock for high energy density lithium-ion batteries."

The Lithium Nevada Project's lithium clay resource is the largest known lithium resource in the United States, and is unconfined by drilling. An exploration program commenced in 2017 at the Lithium Nevada Project consisting of drilling and seismic work. The purpose of the 2017 Exploration Program is to: (1) increase the confidence of the identified resource, (2) potentially expand the size of the resource, and (3) better understand areas that are unconfined by drilling.

A total of 70 drill targets have been strategically located within, and to the south and to the east, of the Lithium Nevada Project's Zone 1, where some of the most highly-concentrated lithium clays in North America have been discovered. The 2017 Exploration Program is fully permitted, approximately 65% complete, and is expected to be concluded by early 2018.

Seismic work was completed in 2017 and will be analyzed with the drilling data obtained from the 2017 Exploration Program to better understand the geological structures in areas unconfined by drilling to the east of Zone 1 of the Lithium Nevada Project. Additional seismic exploration is anticipated to be conducted in 2018.

The resource at the Lithium Nevada Project is near-surface and in some areas the overburden consists of hectorite clay, which has commercial value in other industries. Due to the soft nature of the claystone, conventional open pit mining using truck and shovel methods is contemplated with blasting not considered a requirement for day-to-day operations.

Lithium Nevada is fully-permitted to complete the 2017 Exploration Program. Additional baseline environmental surveys are expected to begin in early 2018 with the major mine plan permit application expected to be initiated in H2 2018.