Lithium Refining Is ‘Like Minting Money’

• Elon Musk says acquiring into the lithium business enterprise is a “license to print revenue.”
• He encouraged business owners to refine the metallic, which is vital for electric powered-automobile batteries. 
• The selling price of lithium has skyrocketed, and some authorities are involved that demand will outstrip offer as electric powered-motor vehicle output accelerates. 

Elon Musk is contacting for a lot more men and women to get into the small business of refining lithium, a single of the essential products in electric-car batteries. 

The Tesla CEO on Wednesday urged business people to get started lithium-refining ventures, promising that moving into the company is “a license to print dollars.”

“It is essentially like minting money ideal now. There is certainly, like, software margins in lithium processing suitable now,” he explained. “So I would truly like to inspire, when all over again, entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining enterprise. You can not get rid of.”

Lithium is abundant, Musk noted. The tough component, he said, is processing it to the level that it can be used in battery cells. “You have to refine the lithium into battery-quality lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which has to be really superior purity,” Musk stated.

The world wide transition to electrical autos has driven frenzied need for lithium, sending its selling price as a result of the roof this yr. Lithium selling prices have additional than doubled because January and risen virtually 400% in the last calendar year, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. 

Some specialists are concerned that there will not likely be more than enough battery-grade lithium to go around as automakers accelerate manufacturing of electrical styles in the coming yrs. 

The scramble for the crucial metal has incentivized numerous startups to get into the lithium house and cement on their own in the EV offer chain. It really is also pushed car or truck firms to go straight to the resource and safe their have provides by partnerships. Ford on Thursday introduced specials with a number of corporations for lithium and nickel to help its EV output.