Banter and general comments, page-34029

Global EV mandates would require 388 new mines: Fraser Institute

Nelson Bennett - Business in Vancouver | November 23, 2023 | 2:11 pm Battery Metals Intelligence Canada USA Cobalt Copper Lithium

The report estimates that a typical electric car uses about 40 kilograms of nickel, 50 kilograms of copper, and 10 kilograms of lithium.
“Barring breakthrough developments in battery technology, this massive and rapid expansion of battery-electric vehicle production will require a correspondingly massive and rapid expansion of the mining and refining of the metals and rare earth elements critical to battery-electric vehicle technology,” the report concludes.
It cites the International Energy Agency (IEA) to conclude that, if governments meet their EV adoption commitments, the world will need 50 new lithium mines, 60 new nickel mines, and 17 new cobalt mines.
“The materials needed for cathode production will require 50 more new mines, and anode materials another 40. The battery cells will require 90 new mines, and EVs themselves another 81.
“In total, this adds up to 388 new mines. For context, as of 2021, there were only 270 metal mines operating across the US, and only 70 in Canada. If Canada and the US wish to have internal supply chains for these vital EV metals, they have a lot of mines to establish in a very short period.”
The report notes that taking a new mine from discovery, through permitting, to production typically takes about 15 years.