Tesla nickel partner Talon Metals announced on Wednesday it has purchased three additional drill rigs to accelerate battery mineral exploration at its Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project mine in Central Minnesota.
Talon said the new drills will be deployed to expand the company’s “exploration of the Tamarack Intrusive Complex for additional high-grade nickel, copper, and cobalt.”
“The need to secure domestic sources of battery minerals like nickel has grown more urgent. Climate change is accelerating, and the United States is dependent on foreign countries for the key ingredients required for clean power and battery storage,” CEO of Talon Metals Henri van Rooyen said. “President Biden, with bipartisan support in Congress, has recently elevated domestic sourcing of battery materials like nickel to a national priority. Our investment in new equipment, people, and technology to explore for battery minerals in Minnesota addresses this national priority and purpose.”
The new rigs will be used to explore additional zones outside of the Tamarack mine’s main resource area. The main resource area is where numerous intercepts of high-grade materials, such as nickel-copper mineralization, have already been discovered, the company said. The mineralization offers up to 9.95 percent nickel.
Talon signed a nickel supply deal with Tesla in January. The exact terms of the deal were unknown, but Tesla did secure 75,000 tonnes of nickel over six years from Talon, who would also provide cobalt and iron ore to the electric automaker for its EV batteries. Additionally, the agreement may be extended “for up to 12 months following which Tesla has a right to terminate the agreement and Talon may elect to sell to other parties.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a call for nickel mining to increase during an Earnings Call in July 2020. “Well, I’d just like to reemphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel, OK?” Musk asked. “Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel, and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some long–some high point that you experienced some five years ago or whatever. Go for efficiency, as environmentally friendly, nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully, this message goes out to all mining companies.”
Tesla also signed an agreement with BHP, an Australian nickel company, in July 2021.
Nickel experts are calling for more domestic production of the material as prices spiked due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Trent Mell, a nickel mining expert, told Teslarati in an interview last month that automotive industry leaders, like Musk and Ford CEO Jim Farley, needed to push for more North American production of EV battery materials. Mell’s wishes were answered, as President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to decrease foreign dependence on materials.
“I am encouraged by this latest measure and what it could mean for the Idaho Cobalt Belt,” Mell said to Teslarati in an emailed statement. “We cannot achieve a low carbon future without new nickel, cobalt, and lithium mines. Building mines in America is important for our national security and industrial interests, and we can realize our clean energy ambitions in a safer, cleaner, and more responsible manner.”
I’d love to hear from you! f you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s target for Starship’s 10th launch
Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.
Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.
Musk says SpaceX is aiming for a timeline of roughly three weeks from now, which would come about ten weeks after the previous launch.
Coincidentally, it would bring the two launches 69 days apart, and if you know anything about Elon Musk, that would be an ideal timeline between two launches.
🚨 Just wanted you to know, Starship 10’s projected test flight date, according to Grok, is August 4.
Starship’s ninth test flight took place on May 27.
August 4 is 69 days after May 27.
Do with that what you will. 🚀 https://t.co/IISpT08rIy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 16, 2025
SpaceX is coming off a test flight in which it lost both the Super Heavy Booster and the Upper Stage in the previous launch. The Super Heavy Booster was lost six minutes and sixteen seconds into the flight, while SpaceX lost communication with the Ship at 46 minutes and 48 seconds.
Musk is aiming for the tenth test flight to take place in early August, he revealed on X:
Launching again in ~3 weeks
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2025
This will be SpaceX’s fourth test flight of the Starship program in 2025, with each of the previous three flights bringing varying results.
IFT-7 in January brought SpaceX its second successful catch of the Super Heavy Booster in the chopstick arms of the launch tower. The ship was lost after exploding during its ascent over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
IFT-8 was on March 6, and SpaceX caught the booster once again, but the Upper Stage was once again lost.
The most recent flight, IFT-9, took place on May 27 and featured the first reused Super Heavy Booster. However, both the Booster and Upper Stage were lost.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hit SpaceX with a mishap investigation for Flight 9 on May 30.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk confirms Tesla is already rolling out a new feature for in-car Grok
Tesla is already making in-car Grok more robust with a simple but effective feature that CEO Elon Musk says is “coming.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company will roll out a new feature for in-car Grok as it is rolling out to vehicles for the first time.
Grok was just recently added as a feature to Tesla vehicles within the past week, but owners are already requesting some small changes to make it more convenient to use.
Tesla debuts hands-free Grok AI with update 2025.26: What you need to know
The first is already on the way, Musk confirmed, as WholeMarsBlog requested a simple, but useful feature for Grok as it is used within Tesla vehicles.
Whole Mars requested that “Hey Grok” be used as a wake word, automatically activating the AI assistant without having to touch any buttons. Musk confirmed it is already in development and on the way to vehicles:
Coming
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2025
This feature is incredibly similar to that of “Hey Siri” with iPhones and other iOS devices. The phone will recognize your voice and hear that prompt, automatically activating Siri. Apple’s assistant will then perform whatever task it is asked to perform. It’s a simple but effective performance feature.
Grok is already getting its first reviews from owners as it rolls out to owners for the first time. It is a long time coming, too. Tesla has been hinting that Grok would be enabled in the vehicles for a while now, and it just started its initial rollout last week.
After using @grok in my Tesla tonight, I’m insanely impressed.
I honestly went into it a bit skeptical on how useful it would actually be, but I asked it some real genuine questions and it nailed it every time.
Asked it if I take my Tesla to San Francisco next week, where… pic.twitter.com/R0QrK347vi
— Zack (@BLKMDL3) July 16, 2025
Hey @Tesla_Optimus … @grok wants to know if you’re free tonight pic.twitter.com/xXfSkg8M22
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 12, 2025
Grok is available in vehicles with the AMD chip and requires Premium Connectivity or a WiFi connection to use.
Elon Musk
Tesla reveals key detail of Supercharger Diner, but it’s bigger than you think
Tesla has finally released one key detail about the Supercharger Diner, and it is bigger than what it appears at face-value.
Tesla has revealed a key detail of its Supercharger Diner as its launch date appears to be nearing, based on what we are seeing at the site currently.
The Supercharger Diner is located on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles and was first proposed as an idea by CEO Elon Musk back in 2018. Musk envisioned a drive-in movie-style 1950s-inspired diner that would feature elements such as servers on roller skates, large movie screens, and a menu inspired by classic treats from several decades ago.
A project that first broke ground in 2023, the Supercharger Diner has been in development for over two years, as Tesla performed demolition work at the site back in February of that year.
It has slowly moved forward, and drone footage shot this week seems to show things are nearly up and running. Musk even mentioned that he had eaten at the Diner Supercharger this week.
There are still details that Tesla has yet to announce and confirm. The most important thing is regarding the menu that will be served at the diner.
Tesla has not hinted at what it will be making for patrons at the restaurant, but Musk commended the food and said the diner would be one of the coolest spots in LA.
🚨 Tesla has involved “almost every team at the company…in some form” in the development of the Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles https://t.co/wLC6t79vgu pic.twitter.com/o52SWWbYPd
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 16, 2025
However, we now have details on another important thing about the restaurant: the hours.
Images taken by Aaron Cash of ABetterTheater.com show the diner will be open 24/7, as it appears on the front doors of the diner:
🚨 Tesla Diner in Los Angeles will be open 24/7 https://t.co/SlccUUlLIb pic.twitter.com/9I78ZGBdnz
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2025
At first thought, it seems this will operate like any other diner, as many are open for 24 hours a day. Diners typically serve large menus with numerous options, catering to the tastes and moods of anyone who walks in.
People of all walks of life eat at diners, as the food is typically affordable, tasty, and available at any hour to serve those who are night owls or those who work non-typical schedules.
However, Tesla is a bit different, and it seems that this new venture into food service could eventually transition from human servers and cooks to robots, most notably the company’s in-house project of Optimus.
It is something straight out of a Star Wars movie. I can think of Obi-Wan Kenobi visiting Dex in his diner in Attack of the Clones to figure out where a poison dart was sourced from:
Eventually, Optimus will likely be working as an employee in the Tesla Diner, and 24/7 operation will be performed by the humanoid robot that aims to eliminate trivial tasks from humans.
Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s target for Starship’s 10th launch
Elon Musk confirms Tesla is already rolling out a new feature for in-car Grok
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