‘A paradigm shift’: Australian miners prosper as Ford inks agreements to power EV transition

Car manufacturing giant Ford has struck deals with Australian miners, including BHP and Rio Tinto, to secure supplies of critical battery minerals to power its transition to electric vehicles.

Mining giant BHP announced on Thursday it had signed an agreement with the US automaker to explore options to supply nickel from Western Australia for EV batteries.

“Demand for nickel in batteries is estimated to grow four-fold over the next decade, in large part to support the world’s rising demand for electric vehicles,” said BHP chief commercial officer Vandita Pant.

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto also announced a partnership with Ford for supplies of lithium, low-carbon aluminium and copper. Under the deal, Ford said it may become the foundation customer for Rio’s large Rincon lithium development in Argentina once it begins production in coming years.

Ford said on Thursday it had secured enough battery minerals from various deals around the world to produce 600,000 EVs by late 2023; a jump from the 27,140 battery-powered cars it sold last year.

As global sales of electric cars rise, automakers are racing to lock in scarce supplies of key raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium needed to build millions of electric batteries.

Loading

The forecast supply crunch sparked a stunning rally last year in lithium prices, one of the building blocks for EV batteries.

Australian lithium minnow Ioneer also announced on Friday it had signed a more advanced binding agreement to supply Ford with lithium from its flagship American lithium-boron mine in Nevada, once it is expected to begin production in 2025.