Tesla is reportedly considering purchasing Sigma Lithium, a Brazilian lithium mining company, for an estimated $3 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk have shown a continued interest in the extraction and refinement of lithium over the past five years. With the company’s exponentially growing demand for the substance, and its alacrity to vertically integrate, a corporate purchase of a lithium miner certainly is within its MO.
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The move comes amid a global growing demand for the metal used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Sigma Lithium is currently developing the Grota do Cirilo Project in Brazil, which involves a green-tech processing plant, 100% recycled water and 100% dry-stack tailings.
Scheduled to open by April 2023, the project will produce spodumene concentrate, which will be used to make lithium hydroxide, a type of metal used by automakers, reported Bloomberg News.
