Tesla Has Sealed Its First U.S. Nickel Supply Deal, With 75,000 Tons Over Six Years.

Tesla has signed its first us nickel supply deal, securing the battery supply chain.

Tesla has signed a six-year contract to supply 75,000 tons of nickel to Talon Metals, Reuters reported on Monday, marking tesla's first nickel supply deal in the United States. Tesla chose Talon Metals' Tamarack mine in Minnesota as the supplier because it plans to produce nickel in a more environmentally friendly way and will open in 2026.

IGO的新星我预计在澳大利亚西部to produce 25,000-27,000 tons of nickel concentrate in 2022, foreign media reported. In other words, Tesla's 75,000 tons of nickel concentrate order is equivalent to about three years of Nova production.

Nickel is a key component of the cathode used in electric vehicle power batteries. Nickel is in high demand in energy-dense three-way power batteries. Bloomberg previously predicted that nickel supply could be tight as early as 2023.

According to zhesang Securities Research report, the American market has always been in favor of high energy density batteries. Tesla's 4680 large cylindrical batteries are featured by high-end and high energy density routes, and clearly choose high nickel technology routes.

In July 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly called on mining companies to supply more nickel. "If you mine nickel in an environmentally friendly and efficient way, Tesla will give you a big long-term contract," he said.

In July 2021, Tesla signed a nickel supply contract with Australian mining giant BHP Billiton; In October 2021, Tesla signed a contract with Proni Resources, a mining company based in New Caledonia, France, to purchase about 42,000 tons of nickel ore.

Reuters reported that it was unclear where Tesla would extract the nickel, as there are no nickel refining plants in the US.