American Battery Metals hires former Tesla manager Kris Gustafson as its lead procurement manager

American Battery Metals Corporation (OTCQB:ABML), announced Wednesday the hiring of Kris Gustafson, formerly of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) (FRA:TL0), as lead procurement manager.  At Tesla, Gustafson worked most recently as staff procurement manager on the electric car maker’s engineering, procurement, and construction team.  He oversaw all aspects of the procurement process throughout the development of successful infrastructure programs at Gigafactories in Nevada, California, Germany, and Texas. Prior to Tesla, he worked at engineering, procurement, and construction firms AECOM and Burns & McDonnell.  READ: American Battery Metals raises $2.7 million in total from a preferred stock offering At the company, which is in the process of changing its name to American Battery Technology Company, Gustafson’s focus will be to specify, source, negotiate, and purchase all of the future infrastructure and process equipment needed for the company's first commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Fernley, Nevada, as well as all future facilities. "Kris' skills and experience are exactly what ABTC needs at this critical point in the company development," said CEO Doug Cole in a statement. CTO Ryan Melsert, who used to work with Gustafson at Tesla, added: "It is the perfect time to bring Kris on board to help put our first pilot factory into operation in Fernley, NV." The company is focused on its lithium-ion battery recycling and resource production projects in the state, with the goal of becoming a substantial domestic supplier of battery metals to the rapidly-growing electric vehicle and battery storage markets. In a recent corporate update, American Battery Metals announced that the permitting process at its battery recycling facility in Fernley, Nevada is now underway. The building will be designed to manage 20,000 metric tonnes of scrap materials and end-of-life batteries per year, representing around $160 million of annualized revenue and a significant increase in the amount of metal recycled globally. Currently, only 90,000 metric tons of battery materials are recycled globally. The company has said it is adopting the name American Battery Technology Company to align with its new strategic vision, reflecting its focus on battery recycling and extraction. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham