ABTC appoints new chief financial officer

Battery metals manufacturer and recycler American Battery Technology Co., Reno, Nevada, has appointed Jesse Deutsch as its new chief financial officer.

“As we ramp up our commercial scale manufacturing operations over the coming months, we are excited to have such an experienced leader as Jesse join ABTC in this pivotal time to help drive our growth and financial path forward,” CEO Ryan Melsert says. “We have an immense number of financial and strategic opportunities in front of us, and with this enhanced leadership team we are looking forward to driving them to execution.”

Deutsch brings over 25 years of finance experience in multinational corporations in the U.S. and abroad. According to ABTC, he has led several businesses through transformative high-growth phases and has completed more than 75 merger and acquisition transactions with strategic partners. He joins ABTC with nearly 20 years serving in the role as chief financial officer with global brands such as Kraft Foods and Aramark Inc., and over the course of his tenure has served in executive financial leadership roles at companies such as Visa, Philip Morris and Altria.

“I am very excited to be joining ABTC at this inflection point,” Deutsch says. “The company is poised for growth in this rapidly expanding field. I look forward to partnering with Ryan and the executive team, and leading finance to support this growth.”

Deutsch has an MBA from New York University and a bachelor's degree in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In his new role at ABTC, he will oversee all financial operations of the company, including executing strategic financial growth strategies to accelerate the commercialization of the company’s battery recycling and battery metals manufacturing operations. He will also have responsibility for corporate functions including financial planning and analysis, accounting and controls, risk management, financial performance and revenue growth, investor relations and reporting and compliance.

ABTC says it has made significant progress in accelerating towards commercialization in each of its three core businesses of lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling, battery resource mineral development and primary battery metals manufacturing. The company has expanded its lithium-ion battery recycling business by securing a move-in ready 137,000-square-foot commercial LIB recycling facility and has executed a term sheet agreement for a $20 million prepayment purchase of some of this facility’s first recycled metal products.

The company recently announced a third-party assessment that concluded its Tonopah Flats lithium resource is one of the largest known lithium resources in the U.S. To bring this lithium resource to market using its technologies, the company has engaged global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Black & Veatch to support the design, construction and commissioning of its commercial scale lithium hydroxide refinery, funded in part by a $57 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.