Chariot Corporation to Add Nigerian Hard-Rock Lithium Assets to US Portfolio
Chariot Corporation (ASX: CC9) has agreed to outlay approximately $2.3 million to acquire Continental Lithium’s 66.7% interest in a Nigerian hard-rock lithium portfolio to add to its growing global focus on the battery mineral.
The assets cover 254 square kilometres and include four project clusters – Fonlo, Gbugbu, Iganna, and Saki – located across Nigeria’s Oyo and Kwara states, along with eight exploration licences and two small-scale mining leases.
Chariot will transfer the new assets to joint venture entity C&C Minerals, which it will control 66.7% of, with Continental holding the remaining 33.3%.
Nigerian First-Mover
Chariot believes the transaction will position it as one of the first publicly listed lithium explorers with significant holdings in Nigeria—one of Africa’s most prospective, yet underexplored, areas hosting lithium mineralisation.
Managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan said that Chariot’s entry into Nigeria would provide the company with exposure to the rapidly expanding Africa-China lithium supply corridor.
“Although China dominates the downstream EV battery supply chain, it remains heavily reliant on a limited number of upstream producers—namely producers located in Australia and Chile.”
“Recognising this exposure, Chinese lithium buyers are actively seeking out supply from Africa, where Nigeria has emerged as one of the continent’s fastest-growing lithium regions.”
New Funding Agreement
To help fund its Nigerian plans, Chariot will receive an unsecured loan facility of $880,000 after entering into a binding working capital facility agreement with GAM Company.
Once the acquisition is complete, Chariot plans to move quickly into an exploration phase in the lead-up to commencing drilling in late 2025.
The initial drilling programs at the Fonlo and Gbugbu projects will test the lithium mineralisation potential, along strike and at depth beneath extensive surface pegmatites and historical workings.
US Drilling Success
Chariot has also intersected promising hits in five holes in Phase 2 drilling at its Black Mountain hard-rock lithium project in Wyoming.
The company began its Phase 2 program in late November 2024 to test whether extensions of the lithium mineralised pegmatites intersected in the Phase 1 program were sufficient to support a proposed “pilot mine” project.
Meanwhile, geological mapping in the Southern Crest area has also confirmed pegmatite in outcrops that Chariot will evaluate as part of its next drill program.
The company’s next priority is to complete drill testing of the Northern Crest, Northwest Flank, and the gap areas in light of the its understanding of the pegmatite orientations.