Tesla Inc has agreed to purchase nickel supplies from miner Talon Metals Corp as an expected surge in demand spurs automakers to secure access to battery metals and other parts for electric vehicles.
Tesla committed to purchase 75,000 tonnes of nickel concentrates produced from Talon’s Tamarack project, with the price linked to the London Metal Exchange’s cash-settlement price for nickel, Talon said in a statement on Monday.
Tamarack, a nickel, copper and cobalt joint venture between Talon and Rio Tinto Group, is located in Minnesota and is not yet in commercial production.
Photo: AFP
Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk has repeatedly expressed concern about supplies of nickel due to challenges in sustainable sourcing, with demand set to skyrocket as the world increasingly moves toward electric vehicles.
The agreement with Talon comes less than six months after Tesla struck a nickel-supply deal with BHP Group.
The announcement also follows a flurry of activity among automakers securing supplies of nickel and other materials needed to produce batteries to power the green-energy transition.
BHP, the world’s biggest miner, on Monday said that it would buy a minority stake in a Tanzanian nickel project as it expands its footprint, while General Motors Co last month said that it would build a plant to make magnets using rare-earth materials supplied by MP Materials Corp.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to invest in US domestic manufacturing and move away from reliance on adversaries for critical inputs.
In October last year, Tesla said higher prices of nickel were having an impact on battery cells.
Talon said it would use “commercially reasonable efforts” to achieve commercial production by Jan. 1, 2026, at the Tamarack project, which might be extended by the agreement of the parties for up to 12 months.
“Rio Tinto is working to support Talon to bring the Tamarack mine into production, as we strengthen our battery materials portfolio,” Rio Tinto Minerals chief executive officer Sinead Kaufman said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing it supply Tesla with nickel that is essential for the production of their electric vehicles.”
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS