Tesla May Start Mining Lithium as Musk Cites Battery Metal Cost

Nearly two years after Tesla Inc. outlined a plan to start mining for lithium, its chief Elon Musk signaled the electric car giant might finally take the plunge due to the skyrocketing cost of the battery metal.

Lithium hasn’t been spared from the turmoil gripping commodities in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Even before the war, prices of raw materials rallied with demand surging and supplies choked up due to pandemic-triggered supply chain woes. An index of global lithium prices compiled by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has surged almost 490% in the past year. China worries about the price of lithium so much that the government summoned a number of market participants for two days of talks in March that were focused on halting a breakneck run-up in prices.