, Columnist
Elon Musk Misses the Big Picture on Lithium Mining
He sees fat margins, but just digging out more of the metal or buying a mine isn’t the solution to production problems.
Margins aren’t everything, Elon.
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Elon Musk has a suggestion for entrepreneurs: Get into lithium mining for juicy margins. It’s a pithy recommendation, but it fails to grasp the complicated challenges for producing more of the metal.
Soaring lithium prices have dampened the excitement around electric vehicles. Musk noted that the production of the white metal was the biggest “limiting factor” for EVs. That may be true — along with all the other battery supply chain bottlenecks — but just mining more lithium or buying a mine isn’t the solution.