Battery supply chains at the heart of a Sudbury, Ont., conference connecting mining, auto industries

Although the battery supply chain is becoming a more important part of Ontario's economy, researcher Nadia Mykytczuk says it remains poorly understood by the average person.

"We talk about supply chain, but I don't think people really realize what that means," said Mykytczuk,CEO and president of MIRARCO Mining Innovation andexecutive director of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University.

"It is everything and the multiple steps along the way from getting the rocks and minerals out of the ground, processed into forms that can be put into batteries, building those batteries, building those batteries into cars that work, and the whole transportation and electrification support system that has to go and making that possible."

Mykytczuk was one of the speakers at the third annual BEV In-Depth conference in Sudbury. Itwas started to connect leaders in both the mining and automotive industries.

Keynote speakers included Jean Marc Leclerc,president and CEO of Honda Canada, and Vito Paladino,president and CEO of Volkswagen Group Canada.

Both companies are making multibillion-dollar investments in Ontario to build electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

Because those batteries rely on critical minerals, Mykytczuk said,the relationship between the mining and automotive sectors is "such an important conversation" today.

Mykytczuk's own research is exploring ways bacteria can be used to extract minerals like nickel and copper from tailings ponds.

"We produce more waste than the metal that we extract," Mykytczuksaid.

"And that simply is a product of mineral processing that is part and parcel of how we extract the critical minerals that we're talking about today."

In Sudbury, that mine waste has been collecting in large ponds for more than 100 years.

Although Mykytczuk says less than one per cent of that mine waste consists of valuable metals, the overall value is still in the billions of dollars.

As demand for electric vehicles in turn increases demand for critical minerals, Mykytczuk said,the value proposition to extract those minerals with bacteria becomes stronger.

Using EVs to mine critical minerals

As the mining industry supplies the materials needed to make batteries, those batteries are also helping mining companies extract the minerals deeper underground.

Mining giants like Vale and Glencore both with mines in the Sudbury region are adding more electric vehicles to their fleets.

Heavy equipment manufacturers like Komatsu, which has facilities in Sudbury,are building that equipment.

Renier Koekemoer, Komatsu's senior manager for their drilling and bolting products, saidthere are several advantages to going electric in an underground mine.

"You don't have exhaust gasses to extract, which means you'll cut down on ventilation requirements," he said.

"And that's a significant investment for a miner because that's capital costs that sucks a lot of money."

As mines get deeper to extract critical minerals, the cost of cooling those mines and ventilating them goes up.

Koekemoer saideclectic vehicles also produce less heat than their diesel counterparts, which adds to additional savings.

But batteries haven't reached the point yet where they can last an entire shift without needing to be charged.

And the risk of battery fires underground is one mining companies are still learning to deal with.