Executive has held senior leadership roles in companies such as General Electric and GE Renewable Energy.

“Australia can be more than a ‘dig and ship’ nation,” Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm told a conference in Canberra.

The company recently completed a $191 million project to make its mining villages in Western Australia safer.

“The likelihood of a deal succeeding has materially increased,” analysts said.

Guy Debelle resigned from the board of Fortescue’s green energy, continuing the run of abrupt departures by executives at the miner.

Earlier in the week, metals division's CEO Fiona Hick announced departure, and on Thursday the division's finance chief Christine Morris stepped down.

Separately, Glencore has launched a secret deal to acquire all the debt in Alita.