Three sources familiar with the matter told the news service the coperation would give the electric car maker access to environment-friendly nickel for its batteries.

Tesla founder Elon Musk recently urged miners to produce ore clean nickel for its electric vehicle and battery business.

When contacted by Reuters, Giga president Martin Vydra declined to comment on any talks with Tesla, but said: "Giga is actively engaged, and has been for some time, with automakers regarding our ability to produce carbon neutral nickel."   

According to its website, Giga plans to become a premier supplier of the battery metals that will be needed as the world progresses to a future powered by clean energy.

It is currently developing the Turnagain nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit in central British Columbia. The NI 43-101 compliant resource contains 5.2 billion pounds of nickel and 312 million pounds of cobalt in the measured and indicated categories, plus a further 5.5 billion pounds of nickel and 327 million pounds of cobalt in the inferred resource category.

Giga is researching technologies to produce low-carbon battery metals at Turnagain.