Why Lithium Americas Stock Jumped 8% Today

Shares of start-up lithium miner -- and General Motors partner -- Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) soared 8.1% through 11:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday, after a federal district court in Nevada issued what the company called a "favorable ruling" in an appeal against a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ruling. As Reuters relates, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada instructed the BLM to consider whether Lithium Americas should be permitted to dump waste rock from its Thacker Pass lithium project at a location just south of the Oregon border. In short, Lithium Americas now has a green light to proceed with exploitation of what Lithium Americas calls "the largest known lithium resource in the U.S." It keeps the company on track to begin producing up to 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year by late 2026, and as much as 80,000 tons per year in a later Phase 2 of the project.