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Elon Musk has a plea for mining companies: “Please mine more nickel.”

“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,” said Musk, chief executive officer of the electric-carmaker, during a second-quarter earnings call.

Musk’s plea comes as one of Japan’s general trading giants is about to take a roughly $500 million write down on a nickel project in Madagascar because of low prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

Supplies of battery-grade nickel — a key component in the cathode of an electric vehicle’s battery — could run short as early as 2023. BloombergNEF expects a tight balance in the next two to three years as lithium-ion battery demand picks up.

Read more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-22/musk-promises-giant-contract-for-efficiently-mined-nickel