Recently, Elon Musk of Tesla Inc. urged producers to mine more nickel, a critical component of electric cars. But more than nickel is needed to fully realize the potential for electric vehicles in America. Copper is an essential metal for not only the electric vehicle, but for the massive amount of infrastructure needed to support them, namely for charging stations. Wood Mackenzie has hypothesized that by 2030 there will be more than 20 million EV charging stations, which would require an increase in demand for copper of 250 percent. Utility Dive estimates a $75 billion investment will be needed into infrastructure for electric vehicles to meet needs by 2030. And right now, Minnesota, California and Alabama, among other states, all have new infrastructure projects for charging stations underway.
The EV revolution will change our roads, and the addition of so many charging stations is an enormous infrastructure project. Fortunately, U.S. miners are trying to expand production of necessary minerals and metals to support this massive change. Twin Metals has proposed an underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals mine in Minnesota, about nine miles southeast of Ely. On top of producing the resources we need, the project will bring more than 750 full-time and 1,500 spinoff jobs to the northeast Minnesota region. The targeted region holds 4.4 billion tons of ore of copper, nickel and other minerals, which is plenty to assist with infrastructure projects across the U.S. With materials available right here at home, we’ll be well supplied for our future infrastructure needs.