Last week during Tesla’s Q2 2020 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk asked for any mining company in the world to take on efficient, clean, high volume nickel mining.
“Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some long…some high point that you experienced some five years ago whatever. Go for efficient, environmentally-friendly nickel mining at high volume.“
One small Canadian mining firm heard the plea, and reached out to Musk on Twitter to take him up on his offer to process zero-carbon nickel.
Elon, let’s talk. @elonmusk @Tesla $CNC #nickel #mining #Ontario #ElectricVehicles #EVs #sustainability #cleanenergy #BatteryMetals pic.twitter.com/tFNHLcXXSl
— Canada Nickel Corp. (@CanadaNickel) July 23, 2020
Toronto-based Canada Nickel Co. said in a announcement yesterday the company is looking at building a processing facility in the Timmins-Cochrane region of northern Ontario related to zero-carbon production of nickel, cobalt, and iron products.
To do so, it has now created a wholly-owned subsidiary, NetZero Metals.
The facility will use nearby hydroelectric power to reduce emissions to help achieve its goals. The use of serpentine rock in the process, which naturally absorbs carbon dioxide when exposed to air, is also being investigated, according to Mark Selby, Chair & CEO of Canada Nickel.
“As a result of the unique advantages of the Timmins region with its close proximity to zero-carbon hydroelectricity and our Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide project, comprised largely of serpentine rock that naturally absorbs CO2 when exposed to air, Canada Nickel has the potential to develop zero-carbon products that our customers are expecting from the mining sector. With nickel as a preferred metal to power the clean energy revolution, our commitment to net zero-carbon production is the right step to take for the environment, for consumers, and for our investors.“
It is clear to see why both Musk and Canada Nickel Co. is wanting a cleaner nickel mining process. For an electric vehicle battery pack that contains 50kg of nickel from current sources in Indonesia, approximately 4 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be produced to mine the nickel for that single pack.
Markets have responded positively to the news, with share prices nearly tripling in the last few days, and up nearly 50% today alone.
