> Mining, and refining is pretty efficient at this point Hardly. Nickel goes through a rube-goldberg process of extraction, smelting into pure nickel, made in

> Mining, and refining is pretty efficient at this point Hardly. Nickel goes through a rube-goldberg process of extraction, smelting into pure nickel, made into a sulfate, transported around the world, remade into a nickel carbonate, and finally input into cathode manufacture. The supply chain simply isn't set up for batteries yet. Nickel metal powder is the best form to transport, and likely the best input for cathode manufacture as well. But the industry formed around the sulfate which was a mature market from other industrial use.