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Chariot Corporation Limited (ASX:CC9) (“Chariot” or the “Company”) owns 24.1% of Mustang Lithium LLC (“Mustang”), which through two wholly owned subsidiaries, is in the process of repossessing full, unencumbered ownership of the Horizon and Halo lithium projects located in the Big Smoky Valley claystone-hosted lithium play near Tonopah, Nevada, United States (see the ‘Property Option Agreements’ section below).
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Chariot holds a 24.1% ownership interest in Mustang which is in the process of terminating property option agreements entered into by two of its wholly-owned subsidiaries with Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE Ticker: PNRG) and POWR Lithium Corp. (CSE Ticker: POWR), which will result in the subsidiaries’ repossession of full and unencumbered ownership of the Horizon and Halo lithium projects, respectively
- Each of Pan American Energy Corp. and POWR Lithium Corp. decided not to make the required payment of claims maintenance fees to the BLM and to surrender their respective interests in the mineral claims
- Pan American Energy Corp. and POWR Lithium Corp. have each cited the current market conditions as the principal reason for terminating their respective property option agreements (see Pan American Energy Corp.’s announcement: Pan American Energy's Announcement dated 29 August 2024)
- Mustang completed a capital raise of US$250,000 through the issue of convertible notes and has used the proceeds of the issuance to pay the maintenance fees to maintain its interest in the Horizon and Halo lithium projects
- Pan American Energy Corp. has conducted exploration activities at the Horizon Lithium Project in Nevada, U.S.A. and has announced a maiden Mineral Resource estimate on 20 November 2023 and announced a NI 43-101 compliant technical report on 4 January 2024. An electronic copy of the technical report can be found on SEDAR at: SEDAR FILING
- The Horizon Lithium Project maiden Mineral Resource estimate comprises an Indicated category of 1.3 Mt lithium carbonate equivalent (“LCE”) (373 Mt @ 669 ppm Li) and an Inferred category of 8.8 Mt LCE (2,454 Mt @ 680 ppm Li), with an effective date of 15 November 2023
The Horizon Lithium Project maiden Mineral Resource estimate comprises an Indicated category of 1.3 Mt LCE (373 Mt @ 669 ppm Li) and an Inferred category of 8.8 Mt LCE (2,454 Mt @ 680 ppm Li), with an effective date of 15 November 2023.
Table 1: Horizon Lithium Project –Mineral Resource Estimate with an effective date 15 November 2023The Horizon and Halo projects neighbor American Lithium Corp.’s (TSX-V Ticker: LI) TLC project (Mineral Resource Estimate of 10.69 million tonnes LCE1) and American Battery Technology Company’s (NASDAQ: ABAT) Tonopah Flats project (Mineral Resource Estimate of 18.63 million tonnes LCE2).
Chariot holds a 24.1% equity interest in Mustang and will have an equivalent indirect exposure to the Horizon and Halo lithium projects, upon repossession of the projects by Mustang’s subsidiaries.
Figure 1: Corporate Structure Overview
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This article includes content from Chariot Corporation, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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Chariot Corporation
Investor Insights
Chariot Corporation presents a unique value proposition for seasoned investors, with its strategic ownership of the largest land package for lithium exploration in the US and a portfolio of non-core assets providing significant revenue opportunities.
Overview
Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) is the largest landholder for lithium exploration in the US. It has a strategy to target both hardrock lithium in Wyoming and claystone lithium in Nevada and Oregon. The flagship Black Mountain project in Wyoming has shown significant mineralization with grades of up to 6.68 percent Li2O from rock chip samples. Chariot’s six other hard rock projects in Wyoming span 443 claims covering 3,585 hectares.
The second flagship project, Resurgent, has the second largest land position in the McDermitt Caldera, which hosts the two largest lithium resources discovered to date (Thacker Pass with 19.1 million tons (Mt) lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and McDermitt at 21.5 Mt LCE). The recent $650-million investment in Thacker Pass by General Motors indicates interest from automakers looking to secure a supply of battery raw materials. The McDermitt Caldera’s size and scale potential present an opportunity for Automotive OEMs, battery manufacturers and others to obtain large-scale supply to meet their growth plans.
The automaker's EV targets and government policies banning new internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales could propel lithium demand to 3.7 Mt by 2030, according to projections from mining giant Albemarle. This implies a CAGR of more than 20 percent between 2022 and 2030.
As the world's demand for lithium continues to grow, Chariot's exploration and development efforts in the US are well-timed and offer investors exposure to the rapidly growing lithium market.
Chariot has been actively focusing on creating value through the divestment of selected lithium assets. Four such assets have been divested so far through sale and/or option agreements with publicly listed companies. These transactions can potentially generate up to an estimated US$5.1 million in cash and stock-based consideration, in addition to future royalty payments for Chariot. The company currently has four additional projects that may be potential divestment opportunities, including Lida and Amargosa (Nevada), Mardabilla (Western Australia) and Nyamukono (Zimbabwe).
The company believes its two core projects, Black Mountain and Resurgent, represent early, prospective lithium opportunities in the United States. Chariot has completed its phase 1 drill program at the Black Mountain project consisting of nine shallow holes, drilled from a total of 1,132 metres. The company plans to recommence exploration work at Black Mountain and engage in exploration activities at its six other lithium-caesium-tantalite pegmatite projects in Wyoming. Phase 2 drilling at Black Mountain will comprise 3,000 to 4,000 metres utilizing cost-efficient, man-portable rigs as a precursor to a larger truck-mounted drilling program.
Following the AU$9-million IPO, Chariot is now fully funded to execute its exploration plans over the next two years, of which nearly a significant proportion will be spent on the Black Mountain project.
Concurrently, the company plans to continue exploration activities at the Copper Mountain project, South Pass, Wyoming Regional and the Resurgent project to define targets for future drilling.
Chariot boasts a world-class team with strong track records in mining, exploration and the financial services sectors. The management has significant corporate and investment banking experience. Non-executive chairman Murray Bleach was formerly the CEO of Macquarie in North America, while the CEO, Shanthar Pathmanathan was an oil and investment banker with Macquarie and Deutsche Bank. On the geological side, Neil Stuart who is a non-executive director is a lithium industry veteran having previously founded Orocobre Ltd (which later merged with Galaxy Resources) to form Allkem Ltd, one of the largest lithium producers in the world. The exploration team is led by Dr. Edward Max Baker, a geologist with over 40 years of experience and several discoveries. He was the chief geologist at Newcrest Mining, MIM Holdings, Rennison Goldfields and Mount Isa Mines. The collective experience of the management team, from investment banking (with fundraising and M&A experience) to resource discoveries, will be useful in advancing the company’s core projects.
Company Highlights
- Chariot Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and developing high-grade and near-surface lithium opportunities in the US.
- Chariot holds the largest land position for lithium exploration in the US with hard rock lithium and claystone hosted lithium exploration assets.
- The company commenced trading on the ASX in October 2023 after closing a highly sought-after and oversubscribed A$9 million initial public offering (which is in addition to AU$14.8 million being raised privately to assemble the portfolio).
- It is currently focused on its two core projects in the US: (1) the Black Mountain project, a hard rock lithium project located in Wyoming; and (2) the Resurgent project, a claystone lithium project located in Oregon and Nevada.
- Chariot also holds an exploration pipeline of six projects in Wyoming including Copper Mountain, South Pass, Tin Cup, Barlow Gap, Pathfinder and JC projects. These projects are prospective for hard rock lithium.
- The company’s portfolio includes several additional projects prospective for hard rock (Western Australia and Zimbabwe) and claystone lithium (Nevada, USA).
- Chariot also holds interests in several projects that have been either sold or conditionally divested through option agreements to publicly listed companies. Each of the divested projects are operated by a publicly listed counterparty and depending upon the particular transaction, the projects generate additional revenue for Chariot in the form of future payments and royalties.
- Chariot offers investors exposure to the nascent and rapidly growing US lithium market.
Key Projects
Black Mountain Project, Wyoming
County, approximately midway between Casper and Riverton, Wyoming. Chariot initially held a 91.9 percent stake in the project with 134 mining claims covering 878 hectares. In 2024, the company expanded the project with 218 contiguous claims resulting in a 206 percent increase in project tenure area. Black Mountain now comprises 352 claims covering 2,686 hectares of tenure which subsequently increased Chariot's ownership interests in its Wyoming lithium portfolio to 93.9 percent.
The project is well-serviced by existing roads and infrastructure. The claim area was acquired via claim staking of public land administered by the US Bureau of Land Management.
The project features large pegmatite outcrops at the surface with spodumene and tantalum mineralisation. Surface rock chip samples returned assays of up to 6.38 percent lithium oxide.
Black Mountain may represent a significant hard rock lithium opportunity in a tier-1 mining jurisdiction in the US. The asset features an excellent combination of geological factors, and a supportive regulatory regime and is located in a largely unpopulated part of Wyoming.
Resurgent Project, Nevada and Oregon
The Resurgent project is a claystone-hosted lithium project located in the McDermitt Caldera in Oregon and Nevada. The company owns a 79.4 percent stake in this project. The Resurgent project comprises 1,450 claims covering 12,128 hectares and is further subdivided into two principal claim areas, identified as ‘Resurgent North’ and ‘Resurgent East.’ Chariot has the second-largest land position in the McDermitt Caldera, which hosts two of the largest lithium mineral resources in North America, with a combined mineral resource estimate of over 40 Mt LCE - Thacker Pass at 19.1 Mt LCE and McDermitt at 21.5 Mt LCE.
The Resurgent North project targets the same sedimentary units that host Jindalee Resources' (ASX:JRL) McDermitt project with a mineral resource estimate of 21.5 Mt LCE. A surface sampling campaign at Resurgent North conducted in 2021 involving 289 samples returned values as high as 3,865 ppm lithium (over three times typical lithium claystone MRE cut-off grade). Of the 289 samples, 70 samples returned values greater than 100 ppm lithium, 20 samples returned values greater than 1,000 ppm lithium and 10 samples returned values greater than 2,000 ppm lithium.
The Resurgent East project targets the same sedimentary units that host Lithium Americas’ (NYSE:LAC) Thacker Pass lithium deposit (MRE at 19.1 Mt LCE). The similarity in geological characteristics with the two largest lithium deposits in the US further validates the potential for a large-scale high-grade lithium discovery at Resurgent.
Exploration Pipeline Projects
Besides the two core projects, the company has a pipeline of six lithium exploration projects comprising 443 claims and covering 3,585 hectares. Each of them is described below:
- Copper Mountain Project: The project is located ~80 kilometres northwest of Black Mountain in Fremont County, Wyoming. It comprises 83 mining claims covering 648 hectares. Copper Mountain has a long history of prospecting and artisanal-scale production having been historically mined for mica, feldspar, beryl, lepidolite and tantalite. The company has already identified multiple pegmatite target areas and has plans for a geochemical and ground magnetics survey in addition to geological mapping.
- South Pass Project: The project is located in Fremont County, Wyoming, and comprises 214 mining claims covering 1,750 hectares. This is a large and highly prospective project with an abundance of outcropping pegmatites that occur in swarms. The company notes the individual pegmatites at the project could range up to several hundred metres wide and several thousand metres long. There has been no prior exploration for hard rock lithium in the South Pass project area.
- Regional Wyoming Exploration Pipeline Projects: It comprises four hard rock lithium mining projects namely Tin Cup, Pathfinder, Barlow Gap and JC, comprising 146 mining claims covering 1,146 hectares.
- Barlow Gap Project: This project is located in Natrona County, Wyoming, and comprises 60 mining claims covering 501 hectares. This is an early-stage hard rock lithium exploration project with outcropping pegmatites on a northeast trend.
- Tin Cup Project: The project is located in Fremont County, Wyoming, and comprises 45 mining claims covering 376 hectares. There is a long history of exploration at The Tin Cup mining district dating back to 1907. The region has been known for small-scale mining for gold, copper and various gemstones including red jasper, ruby and jade. This is an early-stage hard rock lithium exploration project with outcropping pegmatites.
- Pathfinder Project: This is an early-stage hard rock lithium project located in Natrona County, and comprises 32 mining claims covering 234 hectares.
- JC Project: Located in Fremont County, Wyoming, the project comprises nine mining claim blocks spanning 75 hectares. This is an early-stage hard rock lithium exploration project that features several small excavation pits and outcropping pegmatite dykes.
Divestment Projects
Chariot has been actively focused on creating value via divestment of selected lithium assets in its portfolio. In total, four such assets – Halo (Chariot’s ownership 21.4 percent), Horizon (Chariot’s ownership 21.4 percent), Lithic & Mustang (ownership 21.4 percent) and the WA Lithium portfolio (Chariot was the 100 percent owner of this property prior to the sale to St George Mining Ltd) - have been divested so far through option agreements to publicly listed companies. These transactions, if the options are exercised, may generate up to an estimated US$5.1 million in gross proceeds (cash and stock-based consideration) for Chariot in addition to future royalty payments.
The company has identified four more projects for divestment: Lida project (Nevada), Amargosa project (Nevada), Nyamukono project (Zimbabwe), and Mardabilla project (Western Australia).
Management Team
Shanthar Pathmanathan – Managing Director
Shanthar Pathmanathan has 14 years of investment banking experience in the metals and mining, oil and gas and chemicals sectors. He was the CEO and managing director of Lithium Consolidated, an ASX-listed company, which had one of the largest portfolios of hard rock lithium exploration assets, globally. Before that, he held various investment roles with Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Group. He has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Australia.
Frederick Forni – Executive Director
Frederick Forni is a senior finance professional with over 25 years of investment banking experience. He was a former senior managing director of Macquarie Holdings (USA) and held non-executive director roles with numerous Macquarie Group entities and GLI Finance Ltd. He holds a B.A. in economics from Connecticut College, a J.D., awarded cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University Law School.
Neil Stuart – Non-executive Director
Neil Stuart is an exploration geologist with over 40 years' of experience and is a member of The Australian Institute of Geoscientists and a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He was a founding director of Orocobre Limited, now Alkem (ASX:AKE). He has considerable experience across several commodities and was heavily involved in project delineation and acquisition in Australia, Mexico and Argentina. Over the last 20 years, he was involved with the exploration and commercial development of lithium projects. Stuart is on the board of numerous ASX-listed companies and is a graduate of the University of Melbourne (BSc.) and James Cook University (MSc.).
Dr. Edward Max Baker – Geological Consultant
Dr. Edward Max Baker is a Ph.D. geologist and a fellow of AusIMM. Baker has over 40 years of experience and has made several discoveries. Baker was chief geologist for Newcrest Mining, MIM Holdings, Rennison Goldfields and Mount Isa Mines. Baker was co-founder and previously a vice-president of exploration at New York Stock Exchange-listed Integra Resources (NYSE:ITRG).
Ramesh Chakrapani – Chief Strategy Officer
Ramesh Chakrapani has over 20 years of experience in the investment banking and alternative asset investing space. Of which, over 15 years were spent at The Blackstone Group where he was a managing director and a member of the Hedge Fund Solutions Special Situations Investing Group. Chakrapani has invested across a diverse set of industries, asset classes, geographies and liquidity profiles, and has represented The Blackstone Group on the boards of selected investments. He has a B.A. from Yale University.
David Bethke – Exploration Geologist
David Bethke is an exploration geologist with 6 years of experience working primarily in the Mountain West and Alaska regions of the United States, specializing in both gold and lithium deposits. During his career, he has worked closely with companies such as Jindalee and United Lithium to explore, sample, drill, and map lithium deposits hosted in both hard rock and claystone. In Alaska, he has worked in production for multiple well-known gold mining companies, including Coeur Mining and Northern Star Resources. David graduated cum laude from the University of Idaho with degrees in geology and Spanish.
Significant High-Grade Lithium Achieved at Drill Hole 2 at Rio Grande Sur
- Drillhole 2 (DDH-2) at the Sal Rio 2 tenement of the Rio Grande Sur Project, has hit significant high grade intercepts of lithium brine at shallow depths of ~161m.
- DDH-2 recently completed with additional lithium bearing brines continuing to be intercepted below 130m to the final depth of 500m, with assays pending and results expected over the coming weeks.
- Initial high-grade assays include the following intervals:
- 498mg/L (“milligrams per liter of Lithium”) from an interval of 63m to 65m
- 504mg/L from an interval of 72m to 74m
- 506mg/L from an interval of 121m to 123m
- 511mg/L from an interval of 159m to 161m
- The hole recently completed reaching a final depth of 500m with assays and packer samples currently being analysed.
- The Stage 1 Drill Program is targeting resource growth to the existing inferred JORC resource of 251.3kt LCE @ 351mg/L1.
In relation to the progress of DDH-2 at the RGS Project, Pursuit Managing Director & CEO, Aaron Revelle, said:
“The initial results from DDH-2 are especially exciting as we progress our initial exploration phase of the Rio Grande Sur Project. With these initial intercepts at DDH-2, we are continuing the significant advancements we have made in our understanding of the RGS Project mineralisation following on from the high-grade results from DDH-1. We now have multiple drill hole intercepts above 500mg/L Li which continue to demonstrate the potential significant scale of the project.
“We continue to progress with permitting for the Mito tenement in the north of the Rio Grande Sur Project, which we intend to include in our Stage 1 program and as the preferred location for DDH-3 as we target a significant mineral resource upgrade. This is in addition to the ongoing production works at our Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant which remains on track to produce our first Lithium Carbonate before the end of the year, with Pursuit having already received multiple requests for product samples from potential off-take partners.”
High-Grade, Shallow Depth Lithium Brine Assay Results
DDH-2 on the Sal Rio 02 tenement, part of the Stage 1 drilling program, commenced on site at the Rio Grande Sur Project in July 2024; and completed in mid-August with the hole reaching a depth of 500m.
Throughout the first several hundred metres, the on-site geologists and drilling team have been extremely encouraged by the geological units encountered with many comparables to the favourable geological units of DDH-1 at the Maria Magdelena tenement.
Figure 1 – Drilling crew onsite drilling DDH-2
Intercepts from DDH-2 have shown highly favourable geology consistent with the results from DDH-1 with elevated brine grades ~500mg/l Li. Lithium brine samples captured for assays are currently being analysed with the first preliminary results to a depth of 160m completed.
Notable intercepts from the first 160m of DDH-2 include:
- 498mg/L (“milligrams per liter of Lithium”) from an interval of 63m to 65m
- 504mg/L from an interval of 72m to 74m
- 506mg/L from an interval of 121m to 123m
- 511mg/L from an interval of 159m to 161m
Table 1 –DDH-2 Drill hole collar
Figure 2 – Pursuit’s on-site drilling team following completion of DDH-2 to a depth of 500m
Following completion of DDH-2, Pursuit is currently awaiting environmental approvals to commence drilling at DDH-3 which is to be relocated to the Mito tenement in the north section of Rio Grande. Pursuit is targeting a material resource upgrade in 2024, which will build on the recent maiden resource defined at the Rio Grande Sur Project.1 The adjustment of DDH-3 from the southern section to the northern section is focused on maximising this resource upgrade target, with intercepts of ~900mg/l Li obtained from an adjacent project some ~2km to the east of the proposed location of DDH-3.
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This article includes content from Pursuit Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Bonanza Grade Silver Identified ±550mtrs from Historic Silver Mines that Produced 34,200,000oz of Refined Silver
- Truly outstanding silver results from Slider mark another high-grade discovery. Approximately 550m along strike to the NW from the two historical producing underground silver mines that produced 34,200,000oz of refined silver
- Slider, a significantly expanded silver region a newly defined area of interest of at least 1.5km x 1.5km:
- includes a newly identified westerly extension of the two historical silver mines which includes a zone of native silver bearing breccias
- Results from Slider include bonanza silver concentrations shown below as percentage of silver, grammes of silver and ounces of silver:
- Additional newly identified E-W structural trend within the Slider region identified over ±450m of strike length returned assays up to 904g/t Ag, 6.5% Cu and 8.1% Zn (F005606)
- a similar mineralised structure, sampled over 450 m N-S also returned 383g/t Ag and 13.6% Cu (F005649)
- Charlie, a skarn horizon covering a strike of approximately 900m, previously identified by state geologists has returned consistently high-grade polymetallic results adding further depth to the metal basket at Great Bear:
“Well, this not something you see every day, let alone to find on surface during a maiden field program - possibly the highest- grade silver results published in recent history. It’s remarkable that the team has now delineated a total of six high grade Copper, Gold and Silver mineralised districts at Great Bear. Results to date have included massive, mineralised contents of 42.6% Cu, 42.2% Cu, 39.5% Cu, 38.2g/t Au, 29.7g/t Au and 716g/t Ag and, now, those results have now potentially been outshone by this silver discovery. To reel off, with consistency these results in a maiden campaign from around 15-20% of the overall Great Bear Project Area is great. If we are able to marry these results and structures up with the recently completed geophysics and prove depth potential we will be well placed for significant discovery.
Coming into this campaign, there was a high expectation given what historically had been identified at Great Bear. Pleasingly, we have not only exceeded those historical high grade assay results, but we have also extended mineralisation in all directions and in some cases into the kilometres as districts are identified.
Amazingly, the 1.5 x 1.5 km Slider District remains underexplored. Given these results - there is a lot of upside for additional high grade silver structures to exist.”
Troy Whittaker - Managing Director
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This article includes content from White Cliff Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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