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Under contract with Lithium Americas, WEG is set to deliver low and medium voltage motors for compressors, pumps, and crushers at the Nevada mine. The project is financed with US$ 2.23 billion from the Department of Energy and is expected to create around two thousand construction jobs.
WEG, a billion-dollar multinational from Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, has signed a contract with a U.S. mining company and will supply about 600 motors for the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, identified as the largest lithium reserve in the world. This information is from the company’s own statement, and the project belongs to Lithium Americas.
According to the NSC Total portal, the project, with an investment of about US$ 2.2 billion and financing of US$ 2.23 billion from the United States Department of Energy, will extract lithium to be transformed into electric car batteries, among other uses. According to Lithium Americas, Thacker Pass is expected to help enable a domestic battery supply chain in the country and reduce dependency on foreign suppliers, while WEG delivers low and medium voltage motors for the mining equipment, and the construction is expected to generate around two thousand jobs.
The contract between WEG and Lithium Americas
WEG, a billion-dollar multinational from Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, has signed a contract with a U.S. mining company and will supply electric motors for the country’s largest lithium project.
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This is the lithium project at the Thacker Pass mine, which belongs to Lithium Americas, and for which WEG is expected to supply about 600 motors for the entire plant.
According to the company’s statement, the scope serves the lithium mine in northern Nevada, whose ore will be transformed into batteries for electric cars, among other functionalities.
For WEG, the contract expands its presence in the U.S. mining market and connects the company to one of the most strategic projects in the American critical minerals chain.
The 600 motors and the scope of supply
WEG’s scope includes low and medium voltage motors specially developed to meet the demands of mining applications, which face dust, vibration, and continuous operation.
In total, about 600 motors are expected to be delivered for the entire plant, according to the company.
The items will serve a wide range of equipment, such as compressors, fans, pumps, crushers, agitators, separators, and decanter centrifuges.
By supplying the motors that drive this equipment, WEG positions itself as a supplier of the machinery base on which lithium extraction at Thacker Pass depends.
Thacker Pass, the largest lithium reserve in the world
Located in northern Nevada, the Thacker Pass mine is, according to Lithium Americas, the largest lithium reserve ever identified in the world, positioning it as a strategic asset to develop the United States’ domestic lithium production capacity.
The project involves an investment of about US$ 2.2 billion, and it is in this structure that WEG enters as a motor supplier.
The project also includes financing of US$ 2.23 billion from the United States Department of Energy and, according to disclosed information, is expected to generate approximately two thousand jobs during the construction phase.
The lithium extracted there is expected to fuel the production of batteries that, in turn, serve electric cars and other applications, the chain in which WEG’s motors fit.
The Critical Minerals Strategy and External Dependence
In a press release, WEG emphasized the importance of lithium as an essential mineral for battery production and as a strategic project for the United States’ energy security.
According to Lithium Americas, Thacker Pass should help enable a domestic battery supply chain in the country, strengthen economic and national security, reduce the global carbon footprint of lithium batteries, and decrease dependence on foreign suppliers.
“It reinforces WEG’s role as a provider of essential technological solutions,” says Peter Barry, president of WEG’s operations in the United States.
According to Peter Barry, president of WEG’s operations in the United States, the large-scale project strengthens the company’s role in the critical minerals supply chain and in enhancing energy security.
He added that the company remains committed to expanding investments that contribute to economic development, the resilience of energy infrastructure, and the integration of strategic production chains, including those related to critical minerals.
WEG, a Brazilian multinational from Jaraguá do Sul, in Santa Catarina, will supply about 600 motors for Thacker Pass, identified by Lithium Americas as the largest lithium reserve ever identified in the world, in northern Nevada, a project of about $2.2 billion with $2.23 billion funding from the United States Department of Energy.
The extracted lithium is expected to become batteries for electric cars, and according to Lithium Americas, the project aims to build a domestic battery supply chain in the country and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
For WEG, the contract reinforces its role in the critical minerals supply chain and connects a company from Santa Catarina to one of the most strategic mining projects in the United States.
And you, what do you think about the Brazilian WEG winning the contract to supply motors for the largest lithium reserve in the world in the United States? Do you believe the Brazilian industry can continue securing these strategic contracts abroad? Share your opinion and exchange ideas with other readers about industry and energy.
