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Chariot Corporation Limited (“Chariot”, “CC9” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that following completion of site preparation and the earthworks required to support the drilling program at its flagship Black Mountain Project in Wyoming, USA (“Black Mountain”), a Boart Longyear LF90 surface diamond core drill rig (“Drill Rig”) has arrived at the site. Drilling operations will commence immediately with the first round of assay results from the drill cores expected in January 2024.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Site preparation and earthworks completed
- Drilling team mobilised with offsite infrastructure in place
- Drill rig arrived at the site on 8 November for immediate commencement of drilling operations
- Boart Longyear LF90 surface diamond core drill rig being used
- Initial assay results of the cores expected in January 2024
Chariot’s U.S. subsidiary, Panther Lithium Corporation, plans to drill 2,000 - 3,000m(1) of orientated triple tube HQ sized core. The initial phase 1 program targets outcropping spodumene-bearing LCT pegmatite dykes within a 1km long by 50m to 150m wide zone.
Figure 1: Major Drilling Drill Rig Positioned on a Drill PadDrill Permitting
On 21 August 2023, the Company received formal approval from the United States Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) to conduct drilling activities at Black Mountain(2). The Company has also obtained approvals for its drilling plan from the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the United States Department of Game and Fisheries.
Drill Site Earthworks and Access Road Upgrade
The Company has utilised the historical tracks and roadways in the Black Mountain area which were developed by ranching teams that lease the land from the BLM (for cattle grazing purposes only) and State and County personnel pursuing water drilling initiatives. Between August 2022 and June 2023, the Company’s technical team surveyed the numerous access routes into the site and engaged local stakeholders in order to ascertain time, physical and permitting requirements to enable access for the Drill Rig.
On 16 October 2023, a local earthmoving contractor was mobilised and completed work needed to allow access to the site within permitted disturbance limits, specifications and timeline requirements prescribed by the Company’s drilling contractor, Major Drilling America Inc. (“Major Drilling”). This work included the construction of initial drill pads and the improvement of the existing access road to accommodate the Drill Rig and associated equipment. The upgrade of the access road should be able to support drilling operations through the early winter months(3) and serves as base-level infrastructure for future drilling activities.
Figure 2: Road and Drill Pad Construction at Black Mountain
Drilling Plan
The Phase 1 drill program (“Phase 1 Drill Program”) is designed to test the central portion of the Black Mountain pegmatite dike swarm, comprising a 1,000m long by +100m wide zone of LCT pegmatite sub-crop and outcrop depicted in Figure 3. The Phase 1 Drill Program was developed in part based upon the highly encouraging assay results from the 22 rock chip samples collected to date at Black Mountain. Of the 22 rock chip samples, 14 assayed +300ppm Li (0.06% Li2O), 10 of which were +7,000 ppm Li (1.51% Li2O) with the highest value being 31,018 ppm Li (6.68% Li2O)(4,5). Refer to Figure 3.
These modelled zones were used to develop the initial twenty-three (23) hole drilling plan, which has overlapping fans of holes at varying azimuths and dips from levelled pads shown in the plan view overlain in Figure 3.
The diamond drilled cores will be orientated and HQ sized such that appropriate observations and measurements can be captured and later modelled as part of an in-depth lithological, geochemical, geological, geotechnical and structural analysis.
Chariot’s site geologist and manager will be actively monitoring operations and interactively working with Major Drilling and management to dynamically adjust the plan. Drilled cores from Black Mountain will be sent to Chariot’s core logging and sampling facility in Jeffrey City, Wyoming for core cutting, photography, density measurements, rock quality designation logging, lithological and structural logging with a view to determining appropriate intervals for assay and mineralogy studies.
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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, which includes the following 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). These divestments, once executed, can potentially generate more than US$5 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.
Updated Commercial Development Plan for North America’s First Lithium Brine Production Facility
HIGHLIGHTS
- Updated strategic phased development plan has been implemented for the Prairie Lithium Project.
- Phase I will see the Prairie Lithium Project go into production at Pad #1 using a commercial-scale DLE unit capable of producing 150tpa of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE).
- To get into production, only AUD35m (USD22m) required to spend on Phase 1 CAPEX.
- Non-dilutive capital initiatives currently being considered with multiple potential strategic partners completing extensive due diligence on the Prairie Lithium Project, in addition to existing Government grants and loans being considered as well as traditional debt financing solutions.
- First commercial production marks the first Company in North America to reach this milestone.
- De-risking by a commercial scale proof of concept allows production to be increased by rapid replication of the process at Pad #1.
- Construction work will commence at Pad #1 in Q2 2025.
- Phase 2 will immediately expand the facility with additional commercial-scale DLE units. Additional units can be rapidly deployed to increase production at Pad #1. Phase III will see the Pad design replicated across the already drilled and de-risked Pad #2, and Pad #3. Additional Pad locations are also being finalised in 2025.
- Grey Owl Engineering has been engaged for facility engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). Grey Owl is a leading Western Canadian oil & gas facilities engineering company.
- The Prairie Lithium Project in Canada is perfectly positioned to feed battery-grade lithium carbonate into the mature Asian battery market. Battery-grade samples produced from the Prairie project are currently being distributed and tested in Asia.1
Phase I will see the project go into production at Pad #1 using a commercial-scale Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) unit capable of producing 150 Tonnes Per Annum (“TPA”) Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (“LCE”). The lithium produced will be used to de-risk end market opportunities where battery-grade samples are currently being tested by interested groups in Asia. Phase I will process brine at a rate of approximately 1,000m3 per day. It is critical to process raw brine at this commercial scale to de-risk the temperature, pressure and chemical constituents of the brine while feeding a commercial scale DLE unit 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. A video rendering of Phase I at Pad #1 has been prepared and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/mUNExsUBjfo
This will represent one of the world's largest DLE facilities and provide the guidance required to scale up production cost-effectively across the Prairie Project shortly thereafter. Upon commissioning and operating at this scale, the Company will have significantly de-risked the process and proceed to Phase II.
Phase II will see the immediate expansion of production on Pad #1. Phase II expansion will highlight the benefits of modularised scale-up as additional commercial-scale DLE units will be rapidly deployed. Additional wells will also be drilled to maximise production from Pad #1.
Phase III will see the replication of the wells and facility at Pad #1, applied to Pad #2, Pad #3 and additional Pads that are currently being identified.
Figure 1: Rendering of site layout and facility for Phase I at Pad #1
Arizona Lithium Managing Director, Paul Lloyd, commented:“We are excited to share additional details about our plans for the Prairie Project. In 2023, a PFS was released that highlighted lithium production across three pad locations from the Prairie Project. In 2024, we partnered with three landowners to secure the three pad locations and immediately went to work permitting and clearing the ground for the pads. A major drilling program was then executed across those three pads, which significantly de-risked the project and put us in a position to continue development toward production. 2025 will be a year of facility construction and commissioning Phase I at Pad #1. Our phased development plan clearly articulates how we will continue to de-risk and develop the project. Modularisation allows rapid and cost-effective scale-up to increase production in Phase II and III.”
About the Prairie Lithium Project
AZL’s Prairie Lithium Project is located in the Williston Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. Located in one of the world’s top mining friendly jurisdictions, the project has easy access to key infrastructure including electricity, natural gas, fresh water, paved highways, and railroads. The project also aims to have strong environmental credentials, with Arizona Lithium targeting to use less freshwater, land and waste, aligning with the Company’s sustainable approach to lithium development.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Arizona Lithium, 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.
Chariot Corporation Investor Kit
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