Apple Inc. is in talks with mining companies to secure a direct supply of minerals before demand from the booming electric car industry causes a shortage.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported today, Apple is hoping to buy cobalt directly from miners in a deal that the company believes will protect both sides. Cobalt is a relatively rare mineral that is a key component in lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from smartphones to laptops.

There are certainly more smartphone batteries in the world than electric car batteries, but the volume of cobalt needed to make a vehicle battery is significantly higher than something like an iPhone or an Apple Watch. Still, Apple itself is one of the top buyers of cobalt, and Bloomberg noted that a quarter of the world’s supply of cobalt goes to making smartphones.

A cobalt shortage would create a bottleneck that could cripple Apple’s device manufacturing capabilities. That is why Apple is reportedly looking to sign multiyear deals to secure thousands of cobalt directly from the companies who mine it rather than relying on third-party suppliers. An industry source told Reuters that it’s unclear if Apple intends to buy the mineral for itself or it will instead act as a guarantor for cobalt supplies, but the source added that “if they are looking for anything more than a couple of years, they might be disappointed.” According to Reuters, the predicted global demand for cobalt exceeds the expected production of the mineral by 65 percent.

This is not Apple’s first fight with electric car makers, nor is it the first time the company has reportedly courted mining companies to source its minerals directly. Apple’s competition with the electric car industry could also be about more than just cobalt. In 2015, several reports suggested that Apple was working on its own electric vehicles meant to launch in 2020, and shortly afterward, electric car makers A123 Systems accused Apple of poaching its engineers to develop batteries for the project.

Photo: Apple