Steel is a crucial component in batteries but mining takes a serious toll on the atmosphere.
A tiny Canadian mining firm claims it has discovered a way to extract nickel without dumping a lot of pollution into the environment — an technological feat that suggests no less than Elon Musk is the secret to supplying the electricity to fuel potential transportation needs around the globe.
Canada Nickel Company is in the process of building up a factory in Timmins, Ont., which CEO Mark Selby said is practically carbon-free to mine the nickel.
At least one famous consumer of nickel is delighted. Musk, the CEO of the Tesla electric car group, requires nickel to fulfill the insatiable battery appetite of his business.
The process hinges on the rock in question being what is known as serpentine rock, a form of mineral-rich ore which when mined sucks carbon out of the atmosphere.
The land of the organization is situated on one of the twelve largest documented nickel sulphide deposits on Earth, and around 90% of it is the kind that can absorb carbon, Selby said in an interview with CBC News.
“When they are exposed to air, they naturally absorb CO2 in a spontaneous reaction.”
That’s a simple benefit so there’s no limit to the appeal. Conventional mining also requires a lot of natural gas and diesel for power operations, but in Northern Ontario this is not the case.
“All of the electricity…will be hydroelectric — and because we have access to it, we can also look at using hydroelectric trolley trucks and electric shovels in place of diesel-powered ones,” Selby said.
Many metal miners often have to transport the raw material for recycling over long distances, so a specific method occurs for the waste product. But at the one-stop-shopping location of the group, that too would not be the case.
“The beauty of it is that there’s nothing that we have to specifically invent here,” Selby said. “It’s just taking a bunch of existing technologies and taking advantage of the location of where we’re at.”
A traditional nickel mine will be generating around four tons of carbon dioxide to manufacture the volume of nickel required for an electric car battery. The method followed by Canada Nickel could get it down to virtually zero.
The project poses a few challenges, including environmental reviews by municipal bodies, as well as a range of internal feasibility tests and deciding just how much carbon dioxide the rock involved will extract from the atmosphere. It is on target for clearance early next year and if all goes well, start manufacturing maybe a year later.
The outcome will be one of the world’s biggest nickel sulphide mines, an undertaking of $1 billion that would create hundreds of employment for decades to come for the local economy — and carry on a far lighter environmental cost than other methods of nickel mining.
“Timmins is one of a very handful of unique locations globally that could really make that happen,” Selby said.
Musk had a warning in the company’s second-quarter conference call earlier this month for nickel miners:
“I’d just like to re-emphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel,” Musk said. “Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some high point that you experienced some five years ago or whatever, go for efficiency.”
Nickel has a high density of energy which makes it particularly useful for cathodes. The metal is doubly in demand as Tesla is in the process of phasing out cobalt use in their batteries.
“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So, hopefully, this message goes out to all mining companies. Please get nickel,” Musk said.
Around half of the world’s nickel actually comes from the South Pacific — whether from the Philippines, Indonesia or New Caledonia’s tiny island republic. On theory, the plant of Canada Nickel will be an perfect provider to Tesla as it is similar to the supply chain of the firm in California and Nevada, where it manufactures batteries — which is probably why Musk recently received project details on its Twitter page.
Selby said the proposal for the project has been in the works for some time, but Musk ‘s participation in the venture could be serendipitous owing to the publicity he controls.
“It’s good to have a good idea, but it’s also good to get the timing right,” he said.
