NanoOne was just an example of a cathode materials company. I should have clarified that I am not concerned about financing Thacker Pass. Phase I and II of Thacker Pass will cost ~$1B and we have $500 million that will be spent between Thacker Pass and Cauchari-Olaroz, thus I am aware of the shortfall. I would estimate that once Cauchari-Olaroz is in full produciton ~2023, LAC's share should generate roughly $200M a year, which will grow as they expand but perhaps not in time to finance Thacker Pass. As ProsserP suggested, I believe the US government will provide some funding in the way of loan/grant/infrastructure. LAC could also sell future production or have another share offering. The point being, they have several options and runway due to the cash in hand from the recent share offering.

I hope I am correct to perceive they have the financial freedom to be more strategic in their partnership to capture value further downstream without forming a JV that forces them to give up partial ownership of Thacker Pass. I don't think it will be necessary or likely given the recent investments, but I could see them selling some small percentage of Cauchari-Olaroz (say ~10%) to allow them to retain full control of Thacker Pass, which I believe should be their priority. The resource potential seems far greater at Thacker Pass than Cauchari-Olaroz and as we observed in the recent news release the resource size is growing. The increase does not include the ongoing drilling. I also wonder if they have another trick up their sleeve, say to further upgrade the ore using a technique like flotation that is commonly used to make concentrate from spodumene, to further increase the rate of lithium production and reduce inputs such as sulfuric acid. Have yet to hear anything on that subject, so it remains my speculation.