I use Norton security system, works great. When it comes to the news from the company- I think it is a quiet before the storm, JD. Agree that something is brewing and it is not my coffee.

Pavel, did you ever consider to be a comedian?  Seriously, you have such a sense of humor!

Unfortunately for Ellon, government started investigation into cheap aluminum cooling tubes which were  installed  in his cars, aluminum came from China of cause. I hope Bill will reconsider with his car choice , LOL. I personally will wait till plenty competition available.

Back to chewing :

"Klein pointed out that when Tesla first opened the Nevada Gigafactory, it had an annual production target of 35 GWh, and Tesla would require 25,000 tons of lithium per year to produce 35 GWh. In comparison, a terafactory could be 28 times larger than the size of the Nevada Gigafactory. Just one terafactory would require 800,000 tons of lithium per year. 

Ivan noted that, currently, there is an oversupply of lithium. which has dropped lithium prices. He explained that 2020’s global lithium production output is at 300,000 tons per year. If one terafactory required 800,000 tons of lithium each year, this is two and a half times more than our current production.

Tesla and Mining

At the Tesla shareholder meeting in 2019, Elon Musk kind of laughed when he brought up the subject Tesla getting into the mining business. However, it’s not as wild an idea as one might first think. His other company, The Boring Company, already does something that many mining companies need and often do: dig holes. Another reason why it makes sense for Tesla to get into the mining business is to scale down the cost of supplies, and to ensure supply if the market gets very hot.

In the interview, Klein dives into the specifics of what Tesla would need to do if it got into the mining business. One major thing that Tesla would need is its own mine. Klein noted that while it would take Tesla only 2–3 years to build a terafactory, it would take 5–7 years to build an actual mine.

Klein noted that Elon Musk said that it doesn’t pay to increase complexity and introduce new products if you can’t make the batteries. Likewise, you can’t make those batteries without the minerals for those batteries.

Investors & Lithium

Klein shared his thoughts about the EV market and noted that we have investment companies such as Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest that are making big projections about the market’s growth. However, there is one thing that perhaps isn’t being discussed enough: What if there isn’t enough lithium to produce all of these EVs?

Klein pointed out that there isn’t sufficient investment currently being made into the lithium mines needed to meet these aggressive EV market projections. He noted that he’s met some of the Tesla employees who are responsible for sourcing minerals and that they understand the idea that Tesla would do well if it had its own mine. Klein takes it a step further:

“If Tesla had its own lithium ore, it could design its own batteries. It wouldn’t have to buy them already made or partially designed. Tesla could use its own ore to make its own unique design.”

Ivan noted that he hasn’t even thought of this before. “If Tesla had their own ore that they could develop their own chemistries to that specific ore and not have to buy off-the-shelf lithium, what benefits could these have?” Ivan asked.

Which Mine Could Tesla Acquire?

Ivan asked Klein, if Tesla was looking to acquire a mine, who did he think Tesla would be looking at? Ivan suggested that if Tesla was looking at mines, he would go with North American mines such as Lithium Americas. Thacker Pass is 150 miles north of the Nevada Gigafactory. There are also the Rhyolite Ridge and Clayton Valley mines, which are 200 miles south of the Nevada Gigafactory.

Klein, as an investor and advisor, represented Lithium Americas before they moved to Argentina. He shared that they have assets on both continents (North and South America).

In his newsletter, Klein shared that Tesla’s Battery Day could be a potential lithium equity market catalyst and that if Tesla was to buy a mine, he reiterated he thinks it would definitely be in North America.

Klein spoke of Thacker Pass, which is a clay resource — a sedimentary deposit which is actually a problem for the company due to it being an unconventional lithium deposit. These types of mines are hard to progress. If Tesla was to buy the Thacker Pass project, Tesla would even do well, though, if it was able to produce at the mine for $10,000 a ton, since the company is paying out of pocket $12,000 a ton for lithium.

Another mine that Tesla could purchase is the Piedmont project in North Carolina. Klein said that the Piedmont project is very similar to Western Australia’s hard rock spodumene projects. Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral that has lithium aluminum inosilicate and is a major source of lithium — well known for its kunzite and hiddenite gem varieties.

“For 40 years — from the 1950s to the mid-1990s — 100% of the world’s lithium came from North Carolina,” Klein said.

Tesla’s Potential Impact On The Lithium Market