Yesterday, Tesla commenced construction at its state-of-the-art lithium refinery situated in the vicinity of Corpus Christi, Texas. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, made quite the entrance, arriving at the event in a uniquely customized Cybertruck, proudly displaying the flags of the United States and Texas.
Musk initiated the presentation with palpable enthusiasm, announcing the ambitious goals of the lithium refinery project:
“We’re incredibly excited to announce one of the biggest lithium refineries in the world, at a location [where] we expect to produce lithium for about a million vehicles, and produce more battery-grade lithium than the rest of North America’s refinery capacity combined.”
Tesla’s intentions for the battery-grade lithium facility surfaced in 2020 when Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reported an agreement between the American electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer and Piedmont Lithium. In that same year, during Tesla’s Battery Day event, the company declared its foray into the mining industry by acquiring lithium claims spanning 10,000 acres in Nevada.
Although initial rumors suggested construction would commence by the end of 2022, Tesla officially broke ground on the project yesterday. Musk previously referred to this endeavor as “a license to print money” and encouraged entrepreneurs to consider lithium refining:
“So it is basically like minting money right now. There’s like software margins in lithium processing right now. So I would really like to encourage, once again, entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. You can’t lose. It’s a license to print money,” Musk said last year.
Tesla has revised the refinery’s timeline, projecting the completion of construction in 2024 and the commencement of production by 2025. The company’s representatives did not divulge extensive information about the novel facility. However, they mentioned that the refining technology would streamline the process by eliminating several steps compared to conventional facilities, resulting in reduced waste.
Furthermore, Tesla aims to minimize the environmental footprint by importing lithium ore and utilizing lithium extracted from recycled batteries.
The Corpus Christi lithium refinery in Texas is estimated to cost approximately $365 million. It will employ about 165 full-time staff members, as well as an additional 250 construction workers for roughly two years. Earlier this year, Tesla advertised job vacancies for positions such as Area Superintendent, Project Scheduler, and Area Construction Manager.
As always, we welcome your opinions and thoughts on this development. Please feel free to share your insights in the comments section below.
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