Trident Royalties PLC (AIM:TRR) has welcomed the ruling by a Federal judge over the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, where it has a sizeable royalty once production starts.
The Nevada District Court rejected an appeal filed against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that the original permit had been wrongfully issued, concluding the process had been conducted thoroughly and responsibly.
The judge did order the BLM to consider whether developer Lithium Americas (LAC) possessed adequate mining-claim rights to the lands over the area designated for waste storage and tailings, but did not impose any restrictions expected to impact the construction timeline.
LAC said it expects to work closely with BLM to satisfy the outstanding requirement.
Thacker Pass stands to be one of the US's largest lithium mines and recently received a US$650mln equity investment from General Motors with another heavyweight, Bechtel, as engineering and construction project manager.
LAC's plans are for a 40-year mine life at Thacker Pass, producing 80,000 tonnes per annum of battery-quality lithium carbonate in two phases of 40,000 tonnes a year.
The first phase of production is expected to commence in the second half of 2026.
Trident holds a 60% interest in a royalty over the entirety of Thacker Pass and said on the assumption that LAC exercises its partial royalty buy-back (US$13.2mln cash), will retain the equivalent of a (net) 1.05% gross of revenues.
At the current lithium spot price of approximately US$66,000 per tonne LCE, once at full production, the post-buyback royalty will generate over US$55mln per year for Trident.
Adam Davidson, Trident’s chief executive, said: "We are very pleased with the ruling from the Federal Court and that there is now no impediment to commencing construction.
“Thacker Pass is a critical project for the USA to establish a robust battery metal supply chain.”