The rapid, global push toward electric vehicles has put a premium on extraction of several critical minerals. Lithium is the most important, but others such as copper, cobalt, nickel and other metals will be needed in large quantities to facilitate large-scale battery production. Caterpillar and Freeport McMorRan have announced a project to automate the company’s fleet of ore hauling heavy equipment at the Baghdad, Arizona copper mine. A first in U.S. mining, the fleet of 33 CAT 793 machines will be converted, with electrification expected in the future.  * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.