March 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy has

granted Lithium Americas ( LAC ) a conditional commitment loan

of $2.26 billion to finance the construction of processing

facilities at its Thacker Pass project in Nevada, the company

said on Thursday.

Once the loan is closed, the company expects to start major

construction in the second half of this year at the project,

which has the potential to be North America's largest source of

lithium for electric vehicle batteries.

The project is expected to start full-capacity production in

2028. It is targeting a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes per

annum of battery-quality lithium carbonate.

Lithium Americas' ( LAC ) U.S.-listed shares rose 7.3% to $6.15 in

premarket trading.