The probe is part of a broader debate over humanitarian issues in supply chains for materials needed in clean energy technology.

They will develop a facility known for a process called high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL), with a potential mixed hydroxide precipitate production capacity of 120,000 tonnes of nickel content per year.

GM’s chief executive officer is confident the automaker will have enough materials to build 400,000 electric vehicles this year and in 2023.

Nearly half of the vehicles Tesla produced in Q1 were equipped with LFP batteries - a cheaper rival to the nickel-and-cobalt-based cells that dominate in the West.

Henry Ford was right all along, it turns out.