BUZZ-Tesla gains, BHP to supply nickel to co

** Shares of electric-car maker rise 0.41% to $658 in premarket trading

** Global miner BHP Group said on Thursday it signed an agreement to supply nickel to TSLA 

** Nickel makes batteries energy-dense, allowing cars to run more on a single charge

** BHP will work with TSLA on lowering carbon emissions in the battery supply chain

** Earlier in June, TSLA said it expects to spend more than $1 bln a year on battery raw materials from Australia given the country's reliable mining industry and responsible production practices

** Separately, TSLA CEO Elon Musk said at a conference on Wednesday that co will most likely restart accepting bitcoin as payments once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy used to mine the currency 

** Bitcoinrose 8% to $32,160.16, while ether surged 11.6% to $1,993.36 after Musk's comments

** As of last close, stock is down ~7% this year

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru) ((tiyashi.datta@thomsonreuters.com))