The New EV Gold-Rush:
Automakers Scramble to Get Into Mining

Authors: Mike Colias and Scott Patterson
Source: Wall Street Journal

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A scarcity of EV battery materials pushes car companies and miners to work closer together; for both, there is a learning curve.

When General Motors began outlining plans in 2020 to fully switch to electric vehicles, it didnโ€™t account for one critical factor: Many of the battery minerals needed to fulfill its plans were still in the ground.

โ€œI remember seeing a report from our raw-materials team at the time saying, โ€˜There is plenty of lithium out there. There is plenty of nickelโ€™,โ€ said Sham Kunjur, an industrial engineer now in charge of securing the raw materials for GMโ€™s batteries. โ€œWe will buy them from the open market.โ€

GM executives soon came to discover how off the mark those projections were, and now Mr. Kunjurโ€™s 40-person team is scouring the globe for these minerals.

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