Elon Musk says Tesla open to buying a mining company
By Sheila Dang
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc is open to purchasing a mining firm if producing its personal provide of electrical automobile (EV) metals would velocity up worldwide adoption of fresh vitality applied sciences, Chief Government Officer Elon Musk stated on Tuesday.
Concern is mounting throughout the EV trade that there is probably not sufficient provide of lithium, nickel, copper and different metals to match demand later this decade, fueling questions on whether or not Tesla would take into account leaping into the mining sector.
“It isn’t out of the query,” Musk advised the FT Way forward for the Automobile 2022 convention. “We’ll handle no matter limitations are on accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable vitality. It isn’t that we want to purchase mining firms, but when that is the one method to speed up the transition, then we’ll do this.”
Whereas the auto big has EV metals contracts with suppliers throughout the globe, its aim to supply 20 million autos yearly by 2030 – what Musk known as an “aspiration, not a promise” – would require vastly extra provides of metals. Tesla produced slightly below 1 million EVs final 12 months.
Different automakers and executives together with Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Tesla rival Stellantis NV, have warned the auto trade faces a metals provide scarcity.
Tesla has no expertise with the time-intensive and laborious activity of constructing and working a mine, so trade analysts have suggested the automaker to give attention to shopping for an current operator.
Many within the mining trade have famous that purchasing an current metals producer would price far lower than the $43 billion Musk supplied to personally purchase social media community Twitter Inc earlier this 12 months.
Tesla has lithium provide offers with Ganfeng Lithium Co, Livent Corp and Albemarle Corp, amongst others. The corporate’s lithium provide cope with Piedmont Lithium Inc PLL.O was placed on maintain final 12 months.
Tesla has nickel provide offers with Vale and Talon Metals Corp.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; extra reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, David Morgan, Eva Mathews, Jeff Mason, Nandita Bose, Greg Roumeliotis, Katie Paul and Peter Henderson; Enhancing by Nick Zieminski and Leslie Adler)
