Trump’s angling for a slice of Lithium Americas and that’s a win for ASX critical mineral juniors

• Trump administration seeks 10% stake in Thacker Pass owner Lithium Americas, sending shares surging 40%
• Move signals continued US interest in securing domestic supplies of critical minerals such as lithium
• Australian companies operating in the US likely beneficiaries with CC9 seeing significant share price growth

While US President Donald Trump rails against renewable energy and his administration moves to cancel funding for such projects, investment to develop domestic sources of critical minerals is continuing apace.

This includes lithium with the Trump Administration said to be seeking as much as 10% in Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) as the company renegotiates terms for the US$2.26bn loan from the Department of Energy for its Thacker Pass project in Nevada, according to Reuters.

The news sent shares in Lithium Americas soaring nearly 40% on Thursday trade.

Thacker Pass is poised to be the Western Hemisphere’s largest source of lithium when production begins in 2028.

It has a non-JORC NI 43-101 measured and indicated resource of 44.5Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent and a projected mine life of 85 years.

Construction at the sediment-hosted deposit, which will be a shallow open pit mine with estimated total production capacity of 160,000tpa lithium carbonate to be developed over four phases, has already been underway for nearly a year.

Car-manufacturing giant General Motors is a minor shareholder in the project and has an offtake agreement in place to take 100% of production volumes (40,000tpa) from Phase 1 for 20 years, plus 38% (15,200tpa) of Phase 2 production volumes for 20 years. It also has the right of first offer to remaining Phase 2 volumes.

The project is seen as a central plank in the US Government’s bid to build a domestic supply chain and boost US production of lithium, which is used in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles, home storage and other electronic devices.

A White House official told Reuters that President Trump supported the project and wanted it to succeed, and also be fair to taxpayers.

Catching tailwinds

Knowing that the US Government remains supportive – even if it wants a small stake in the project – is likely to be welcomed by ASX companies operating in the region with Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) being a notable beneficiary, thanks to it owning the Resurgent and Horizon projects in the state.

Shares in CC9 have picked up considerably in the current quarter, rising almost 240% from 5.3c on July 1, 2025, to the current price of 18c.

While its recent activity has been focused on its Nigerian lithium projects, it remains hugely interested in its Nevada projects.

The Horizon (and Halo) project covers over 19,358 acres in Nevada and is adjacent to American Lithium Corporation’s TLC project and American Battery Technology Company’s Tonopah Flats project.

Horizon currently has an indicated resource of 1.3Mt LCE and inferred resource of 8.8Mt LCE with significant upside for resource expansion and definition.

It is suitable for low-cost and sustainable mining methods while having access to highways, electrical, rail and gas infrastructure.

Over the northern border in Orogen, the claystone-hosted Resurgent project sits within the same giant McDermitt Caldera that hosts Thacker Pass and Jindalee Lithium’s (ASX:JLL) 21.5Mt LCE McDermitt project.

While activity at Resurgent has been limited to date, the development of Thacker Pass and US Government interest in lithium and other critical minerals could provide the impetus for more work to be carried out on CC9’s US lithium projects.

Astute Metals (ASX:ASE), which is changing its name to Venari Minerals on or around October 14, holds the Needles gold and Red Mountain lithium projects in Nevada.

Red Mountain is a clay-hosted project that promises low-cost mining due to low strip ratios and soft material.

It is also expected to have lower water consumption than lithium brine projects and a lower processing cost to LCE production compared to most hard rock operations.

To date, the company has drilled 19 holes, 18 of which returned lithium intersections of more than 1000ppm with elevated grades in the northern and central parts of the basin.

Initial testwork has demonstrated the mineralisation’s amenability to leaching with recoveries of up to 98%.

While no resource has been defined to date, the project has a significant contained exploration target of 4.7-10.7Mt LCE.

Assays are currently pending from reverse circulation drilling at Red Mountain with ASE planning to carry out work to produce LCE products in November and defining a maiden resource in December.

Red Mountain Mining (ASX:RMX) holds the Mustang and Lithic lithium projects in Nevada but did not carry out any activity in the recent months due to its focus on gold, antimony and copper projects.

While not lithium, Locksley Resources’ (ASX:LKY) Mojave antimony and rare earths project over in California certainly counts as a critical mineral project and one that is high up on the list thanks to the metal’s use in military applications.

The company is currently picking up the scale and pace of exploration at the project, which includes follow-up field sampling focusing on existing and new critical minerals prospects.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Chariot Corporation, Red Mountain Mining and Locksley Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.