Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

EV Automaker Mining Deals

No surprises here. As the EV boom continues to thrive, automakers are moving upstream to secure the raw materials that power their batteries.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Randy Smallwood, CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals, said “We’ve had conversations, and Tesla has definitely looked into these kinds of partnerships,” Smallwood said in an interview. “There’s growing anxiety around the long-term availability of battery metals.”

Smallwood said that Wheaton has spoken with potential partners—some from the auto world—who are even considering launching their own streaming companies to lock in access to critical materials like cobalt, nickel, and lithium.

These moves aren’t surprising other than the fact it’s taken so long for automakers in the West to wake up. Governments around the world are tightening emissions targets and consumers are leaning into the EV trend. Demand for battery-grade metals is surging but Western governments have sat on the sidelines when it comes to providing meaningful support to battery metal mining. So that’s why we’ve seen, just last month, Tesla signing a nickel supply deal with mining major, BHP, following Elon Musk’s public concerns about the environmental and ethical challenges of sourcing the metal.

We’re also seeing that for automakers, the growing involvement in mining isn’t just about securing volumes—it’s also about being able to vouch for the origins of their materials. “They need to be sure that what they’re putting into their vehicles is being sourced responsibly,” Smallwood said. “It’s becoming part of their brand integrity.”

Wheaton Precious Metals is still largely focused on gold and silver but does have a cobalt streaming agreement with Vale for output from the Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada. The scramble for metals is pushing carmakers into new territory so we’ll have to see how fast they can get up to speed on the mining business model. Regardless, more money coming into the sector is a good thing for supporting EVs and thus battery metal demand growth.

Anthony Milewski

Chairman, Nickel 28 Capital

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