Elon Musk, owner of the electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc., has immediately responded to the supply of electric vehicle batteries. Especially nickel, by one of the world’s nickel giants, BHP Nickel West. A nickel business line owned by an energy trading company from England-Australia, BHP.
About BHP
BHP, or formerly known as BHP Billiton, is a trading company part of the BHP Group. A public company (issuer) that is listed on many world stock exchanges including the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE aka Wall Street) , The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Quoted from Kitco, Edward Haegel, President of BHP Nickel West Assets, said that there is an opportunity for Tesla to use the nickel supply from his company. Moreover, currently about 70% of the nickel that BHP produces has been used to develop electric batteries around the world.
For information, the official BHP Nickel West website notes that this company is part of BHP’s line of business. Its smelter is in Nickel West Kalgoorlie.
How the BHP Plant Works
The BHP smelter uses a flash furnace to smelt the concentrate to produce a nickel matte finish. The Nickel West Kwinana smelter then refines the nickel matte granules. From the Kalgoorlie smelter into premium quality nickel powder and briquettes containing 99.8% nickel.
Matte nickel and metals are exported to overseas markets via the Port of Fremantle. More than 75% of BHP nickel is now sold to global battery material suppliers. A nickel sulfate plant currently under construction at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery will produce nickel sulfate. A product used in lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, “wrote BHP Nckel West in his profile.
Previously, Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX, said that he is worried about the supply of nickel in the global market.
One of the richest people in the world is encouraging nickel suppliers to mine more of this mineral for the production of electric vehicle batteries. In addition, this US electric car company also has the potential to divert the source of materials raw battery for Model 3 Standard Range to other types.
