Battery Mines Shut Down Amid Weak Electric Vehicle Demand

Lithium prices have crashed by more than 80 percent while nickel and cobalt have declined by more than 40 percent.

A general view of artisanal miners working at the Shabara artisanal cobalt mine near Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Oct. 12, 2022. Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images

Electric vehicle (EV) battery material mines are shutting down as weak demand for EVs and crashing prices make projects financially unviable.

Many investors and experts had predicted that EV sales would grow at an expedited rate in 2023. However, this did not materialize. Although sales in the United States grew last year to 1.2 million units, it was still far off from estimates that predicted 1.6 million units. The prices of key EV battery materials—lithium, nickel, and cobalt—have also come down drastically.