Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) (“Lithium Americas” or the “Company”) today announced that construction activities at the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project (“Caucharí-Olaroz” or the “Project”) in Jujuy, Argentina, are temporarily suspended, in accordance with government-mandated restrictions in response to COVID-19.
On March 19, 2020, the government of Argentina enacted the Urgency Decree (DNU) #297/20 ordering, among other provisions, a national mandatory quarantine effective from March 20, 2020 until March 31, 2020. Accordingly, development work at Caucharí-Olaroz will be suspended immediately and the Project will be placed on care and maintenance. COVID-19 medical safety procedures have been implemented at site and at the Jujuy office and no employees are currently identified as infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Jon Evans, Lithium Americas’ President and CEO, said. “Our focus is on the safety and health of our employees, contractors and the local communities. We are in the process of safely demobilizing the over 1,000 person construction workforce in support of the government of Argentina’s measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Our development of this world-class lithium project is well advanced and we would expect to be able to resume construction once the suspension is lifted.”
The suspension of construction may impact the Company’s previous estimate for completion of construction by early 2021. Until construction activities resume, the Company is unable to quantify the extent of any such impact. Lithium Americas continues to monitor developments in respect of COVID-19 and its impact on operations at Caucharí-Olaroz and its other business interests.
