Long-term contracts are one of the better ways to encourage new supplies. There are a couple of new lithium mines in the US/Mexico which opened after signing co

Long-term contracts are one of the better ways to encourage new supplies. There are a couple of new lithium mines in the US/Mexico which opened after signing contracts with Tesla. Cobalt is a small enough % of the price of things that use LiIon batteries that it's a good candidate for paying extra to ensure a reliable, non-conflict-area source.