Lithium Americas Corp. says shareholders have approved its split into two companies. 

The Vancouver-based company says shareholders voted in favour of separating the company into two entities: Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp., and a new Lithium Americas Corp. 

President and CEO Jonathan Evans says the Lithium Argentina team will advance the Cauchari-Oloroz project, while the Lithium Americas team will advance the Thacker Pass project. 

The separation is targeted to become effective this October, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. 

In January, General Motors Co. signed a deal to invest US$650 million in the company to give the automaker access to production from the Thacker Pass project in Nevada. 

The first tranche of the deal was worth US$320 million for a 9.999-per-cent stake in the company, and the second half of the investment, in the company's U.S. business, was to follow the separation of its U.S. and Argentine businesses.