WCNOE Underwriting Accomplished – A$4.33M Raised

Overview

Chariot Company (ASX:CC9) is the most important land holder for lithium exploration within the US. It has a technique to focus on each onerous rock lithium in Wyoming and claystone lithium in Nevada and Oregon. The flagship Black Mountain Venture, situated in Wyoming, has proven vital mineralization with grades of as much as 6.68 p.c Li2O from rock chip samples. Along with the Black Mountain Venture, Chariot holds six different onerous rock initiatives in Wyoming with 443 claims masking 3,585 hectares.

Chariot’s second flagship undertaking, Resurgent, holds the second largest land place within the McDermitt Caldera, which hosts the 2 largest lithium assets found thus far (Thacker Go 19.1 million tons (Mt) lithium carbonate equal (LCE) and McDermitt 21.5 Mt LCE). The current $650-million funding in Thacker Go by Common Motors signifies curiosity from automakers trying to safe a provide of battery uncooked supplies. The McDermitt Caldera’s measurement and scale potential current a chance for Automotive OEMs, battery producers and others to acquire large-scale provide to satisfy their progress plans.

The automaker’s EV targets and authorities insurance policies banning new inner combustion engine (ICE) automobile gross sales may propel lithium demand to three.7 Mt by 2030, in keeping with projections from mining big Albemarle. This means a CAGR of greater than 20 p.c between 2022 and 2030. Because the world’s demand for lithium continues to develop, Chariot’s exploration and improvement efforts within the US are well-timed and supply traders publicity to the quickly rising lithium market.

Along with exploration-led initiatives, Chariot has been actively specializing in creating worth by way of the divestment of chosen lithium belongings. 4 such belongings have been divested up to now by way of sale and/or choice agreements with publicly listed corporations. These transactions, assuming the prevailing choices are exercised, might generate as much as an estimated US$5.1 million in money and stock-based consideration, along with future royalty funds for Chariot. The corporate presently has 4 extra initiatives which may be potential divestment alternatives, together with Lida and Amargosa (Nevada), Mardabilla (Western Australia) and Nyamukono (Zimbabwe).

The corporate believes its two core initiatives, Black Mountain and Resurgent, characterize early, potential lithium alternatives in the US. Chariot has obtained and accomplished the required approvals and preparations for drilling and has now commenced the section 1 diamond drill program on the Black Mountain Venture. This program was developed following extremely encouraging assay outcomes from the 22 rock chip samples collected thus far at Black Mountain, which returned assay outcomes of as much as 6.68 p.c lithium oxide. Eight holes have been drilled and the primary three holes intersected high-grade spodumene mineralisation which confirmed potential of the Black Mountain LCT pegmatite swarms. Assay outcomes for the next 5 holes are pending and anticipated to be introduced by April 2024. Chariot plans to conduct a section 2 drilling program starting in Q2 2024.

Following the AU$9-million IPO, Chariot now has almost AU$11.2 million obtainable money, which is enough to fund its exploration actions for the following 24 months. Of the AU$11.2 million, almost 43 p.c or AU$4.8 million will probably be spent on the Black Mountain Venture.

Concurrently, the corporate plans to proceed early exploration actions on the Copper Mountain Venture, South Go, Wyoming Regional and the Resurgent Venture to outline targets for future drilling.

Chariot boasts a world-class group with robust monitor data in mining, exploration and the monetary providers sectors. The administration has vital company and funding banking expertise. Non-executive chairman Murray Bleach was previously the CEO of Macquarie in North America, whereas the CEO, Shanthar Pathmanathan was an oil and has funding banker with Macquarie and Deutsche Financial institution. On the geological aspect, Neil Stuart who’s a non-executive director is a lithium trade veteran having beforehand based Orocobre Ltd (which later merged with Galaxy Sources) to type Allkem Ltd, one of many largest lithium producers on this planet. The exploration group is led by Dr. Edward Max Baker, a geologist with over 40 years of expertise and a number of other discoveries. He was the chief geologist at Newcrest Mining, MIM Holdings, Rennison Goldfields and Mount Isa Mines. The collective expertise of the administration group, from funding banking (with fundraising and M&A expertise) to useful resource discoveries, will probably be helpful in advancing the corporate’s core initiatives.

Firm Highlights

• Chariot Company Restricted is a mineral exploration firm targeted on discovering and growing high-grade and near-surface lithium alternatives within the U.S.
• Chariot holds the most important land place for lithium exploration within the U.S. with onerous rock lithium and claystone hosted lithium exploration belongings.
• The corporate commenced buying and selling on the ASX in October 2023 after closing a extremely sought-after and oversubscribed A$9 million preliminary public providing (which is along with A$14.8 million being raised privately to assemble the portfolio).
• It’s presently targeted on its two core initiatives within the US: (1) the Black Mountain Venture, a tough rock lithium undertaking situated in Wyoming; and (2) the Resurgent Venture, a claystone lithium undertaking situated in Oregon and Nevada.
• The Black Mountain Venture has had two-rounds of rock chip sampling which resulted in 22 rock chip samples collected with 10 of those samples returning assay outcomes better than 2.00% lithium oxide (Li2O) with the best worth being 6.68 p.c Li2O. The Resurgent Venture has had a number of rounds of rock-chip sampling with 289 samples being collected and returning values as excessive as 3,865 ppm lithium. The preliminary floor rock-chip sampling packages display the presence of lithium mineralization at floor.
• Along with the core initiatives, Chariot holds an exploration pipeline of six initiatives in Wyoming together with Copper Mountain, South Go, Tin Cup, Barlow Hole, Pathfinder and JC initiatives. These initiatives are potential for onerous rock lithium.
• The corporate’s portfolio consists of a number of extra initiatives potential for onerous rock (Western Australia and Zimbabwe) and claystone lithium (Nevada, USA).
• Chariot additionally holds pursuits in a number of initiatives which were both offered or conditionally divested by way of choice agreements to publicly listed corporations. These embody belongings comparable to Halo, Horizon, Lithic & Mustang, and the Western Australia Lithium portfolio. Every of the divested initiatives are operated by a publicly listed counterparty and relying upon the actual transaction, the initiatives generate extra income for Chariot within the type of future funds and royalties.
• Chariot gives traders publicity to the nascent and quickly rising U.S. lithium market.

The Black Mountain Venture is Chariot’s flagship onerous rock lithium undertaking situated in Natrona County, roughly halfway between Casper and Riverton, Wyoming. Chariot initially held a 91.9 p.c stake within the undertaking with 134 mining claims masking 878 hectares. In 2024, the corporate expanded the undertaking with 218 contiguous claims leading to a 206 p.c improve in undertaking tenure space. Black Mountain undertaking now includes 352 claims masking 2,686 hectares of tenure which subsequently elevated Chariot’s possession pursuits in its Wyoming lithium portfolio to 93.9 p.c.

The undertaking is well-serviced by current roads and infrastructure and includes . The declare space was acquired through declare staking of public land administered by the US Bureau of Land Administration.

The undertaking options giant spodumene-bearing pegmatites outcropping at floor. Outcomes from the rock chip sampling program returned a finest results of 6.68 p.c lithium oxide from a spodumene outcrop. In a current exploration program, 22 rock chip samples returned assays with a median results of 2.16 p.c lithium oxide.

The corporate is conducting a 3,000-metre section 1 drilling program at Black Mountain, which commenced in November 2023. The positioning preparation, crucial approvals and the earthworks required to help the drilling program have been accomplished.

The section 1 drill program is designed to check the portion of the Black Mountain pegmatite dyke swarm, a goal space that’s 1,000 metres lengthy by 100 metres vast. Greater than 22 rock chip samples have been taken from this space and the assay outcomes have been extremely encouraging. Of the 22 rock chip samples, eight had assay outcomes better than 4 p.c lithium oxide, with the best worth being 6.68 p.c lithium oxide from a spodumene outcrop. Chariot introduced that the primary three holes from the drill program delivered robust preliminary onerous rock lithium outcomes with a number of mineralised lithium intersections.

Black Mountain might characterize a major onerous rock lithium alternative in a tier-1 mining jurisdiction within the US. The asset options a wonderful mixture of geological elements, and a supportive regulatory regime and is situated in a largely unpopulated a part of Wyoming.

The Resurgent Venture is a claystone-hosted lithium undertaking situated within the McDermitt Caldera in Oregon and Nevada. The corporate owns a 79.4 p.c stake on this undertaking. The Resurgent Venture includes 1,450 claims masking 12,128 hectares and is additional subdivided into two principal declare areas, recognized as ‘Resurgent North’ and ‘Resurgent East.’ Chariot has the second-largest land place within the McDermitt Caldera, which hosts two of the most important lithium mineral assets in North America, with a mixed mineral useful resource estimate of over 40 Mt LCE – Thacker Go at 19.1 Mt LCE and McDermitt at 21.5 Mt LCE.

The Resurgent North undertaking targets the identical sedimentary models that host Jindalee Sources’ (ASX:JRL) McDermitt undertaking with a mineral useful resource estimate of 21.5 Mt LCE. A floor sampling marketing campaign at Resurgent North performed in 2021 involving 289 samples returned values as excessive as 3,865 ppm lithium (over 3 times typical lithium claystone MRE cut-off grade). Of the 289 samples, 70 samples returned values better than 100 ppm lithium, 20 samples returned values better than 1,000 ppm lithium and 10 samples returned values better than 2,000 ppm lithium.

The Resurgent East undertaking targets the identical sedimentary models that host Lithium Americas’ (NYSE:LAC) Thacker Go lithium deposit (MRE at 19.1 Mt LCE). The similarity in geological traits with the 2 largest lithium deposits within the US additional validates the potential for a large-scale high-grade lithium discovery at Resurgent.

Apart from the 2 core initiatives, the corporate has a pipeline of six lithium exploration initiatives comprising 443 claims and masking 3,585 hectares. Every of them is described beneath:

• Copper Mountain Venture: The undertaking is situated ~80 kilometres northwest of Black Mountain in Fremont County, Wyoming. It includes 83 mining claims masking 648 hectares. Copper Mountain has an extended historical past of prospecting and artisanal-scale manufacturing having been traditionally mined for mica, feldspar, beryl, lepidolite and tantalite. The corporate has already recognized a number of pegmatite goal areas and has plans for a geochemical and floor magnetics survey along with geological mapping.

• South Go Venture: The undertaking is situated in Fremont County, Wyoming, and includes 214 mining claims masking 1,750 hectares. This can be a giant and extremely potential undertaking with an abundance of outcropping pegmatites that happen in swarms. The corporate notes the person pegmatites on the undertaking may vary as much as a number of hundred metres vast and a number of other thousand metres lengthy. There was no prior exploration for onerous rock lithium within the South Go undertaking space.

• Regional Wyoming Exploration Pipeline Tasks: It includes 4 onerous rock lithium mining initiatives specifically Tin Cup, Pathfinder, Barlow Hole and JC, comprising 146 mining claims masking 1,146 hectares.

• Barlow Hole Venture: This undertaking is situated in Natrona County, Wyoming, and includes 60 mining claims masking 501 hectares. That is an early-stage onerous rock lithium exploration undertaking with outcropping pegmatites on a northeast pattern.

• Tin Cup Venture: The undertaking is situated in Fremont County, Wyoming, and includes 45 mining claims masking 376 hectares. There’s a lengthy historical past of exploration at The Tin Cup mining district relationship again to 1907. The area has been identified for small-scale mining for gold, copper and varied gems together with purple jasper, ruby and jade. That is an early-stage onerous rock lithium exploration undertaking with outcropping pegmatites.

• Pathfinder Venture: That is an early-stage onerous rock lithium undertaking situated in Natrona County, and includes 32 mining claims masking 234 hectares.

• JC Venture: Positioned in Fremont County, Wyoming, the undertaking includes 9 mining declare blocks spanning 75 hectares. That is an early-stage onerous rock lithium exploration undertaking that options a number of small excavation pits and outcropping pegmatite dykes.

Divestment Tasks

Along with exploration-led initiatives, Chariot has been actively targeted on creating worth through divestment of chosen lithium belongings in its portfolio. In whole, 4 such belongings – Halo (Chariot’s possession 21.4 p.c), Horizon (Chariot’s possession 21.4 p.c), Lithic & Mustang (possession 21.4 p.c) and WA Lithium portfolio (Chariot was the 100% proprietor of this property previous to the sale to St George Mining Ltd) – have been divested up to now by way of choice agreements to publicly listed corporations. These transactions, if the choices are exercised, might generate as much as an estimated US$5.1 million in gross proceeds (money and stock-based consideration) for Chariot along with future royalty funds.

a) Halo asset: Offered to POWR Lithium for a complete consideration of ~US$2.5 million and 1 p.c NSR.

b) Horizon asset: Offered to Pan American Vitality for a complete consideration of US$15 million.

c) Lithic and Mustang belongings: Offered to Purple Mountain Mining for a complete consideration of ~US$1.7 million and a couple of p.c NSR.

d) WA Lithium portfolio: Offered to St George Mining for a complete consideration of ~US$1.1 million and a couple of p.c NSR.

Furthermore, the corporate has recognized 4 extra initiatives for divestment: Lida Venture (Nevada), Amargosa Venture (Nevada), Nyamukono Venture (Zimbabwe), and Mardabilla Venture (Western Australia).

Administration Crew

Murray Bleach – Non-executive Chairman

Murray Bleach has over 40 years of expertise in funding banking, funds administration and infrastructure. He beforehand held govt director and CEO roles at Macquarie Group’s North American enterprise from 1999 to 2009, and was the CEO of Intoll Group Restricted previous to its sale for AU$3.5 billion in 2010. He presently serves because the infrastructure and personal fairness professional at AustralianSuper for its direct funding group and transaction assessment committee. He additionally holds quite a few chair and non-executive director roles at varied funds, funding start-ups and not-for-profit ventures. Bleach holds a Bachelor of Arts (monetary research) and a grasp’s diploma in utilized finance from Macquarie College.

Shanthar Pathmanathan – Managing Director

Shanthar Pathmanathan has 14 years of funding banking expertise within the metals and mining, oil and gasoline and chemical compounds sectors. Previous to Chariot, he was the CEO and managing director of Lithium Consolidated, an ASX-listed firm, which had one of many largest portfolios of onerous rock lithium exploration belongings, globally. Earlier than that, he held varied funding roles with Deutsche Financial institution and Macquarie Group. He has a Bachelor of Legal guidelines from the College of Western Australia.

Frederick Forni – Government Director

Frederick Forni is a senior finance skilled with over 25 years of funding banking expertise. He was a former senior managing director of Macquarie Holdings (USA) and held non-executive director roles with quite a few Macquarie Group entities and GLI Finance Ltd. He holds a B.A. in economics from Connecticut Faculty, a J.D., awarded cum laude, from Georgetown College Regulation Heart and an LL.M. in taxation from New York College Regulation Faculty.

Neil Stuart – Non-executive Director

Neil Stuart is an exploration geologist with over 40 years’ of expertise 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 Restricted, now Alkem (ASX: AKE). He has appreciable expertise throughout a number of commodities and was closely concerned in undertaking delineation and acquisition in Australia, Mexico and Argentina. Over the past 20 years, he was concerned with the exploration and industrial improvement of lithium initiatives. Stuart is on the board of quite a few ASX-listed corporations and is a graduate of the College of Melbourne (BSc.) and James Prepare dinner College (MSc.).

Dr. Edward Max Baker – Geological Marketing consultant

Dr. Edward Max Baker is a Ph.D. geologist and a fellow of AusIMM. Baker has over 40 years of expertise and has made a number of discoveries. Baker was chief geologist for Newcrest Mining, MIM Holdings, Rennison Goldfields and Mount Isa Mines. Baker was co-founder and beforehand a vice-president of exploration at New York Inventory Change-listed Integra Sources (NYSE:ITRG).

Ramesh Chakrapani – Chief Technique Officer

Ramesh Chakrapani has over 20 years of expertise within the funding banking and various asset investing area. Of which, over 15 years have been spent at The Blackstone Group the place he was a managing director and a member of the Hedge Fund Options Particular Conditions Investing Group. Chakrapani has invested throughout a various set of industries, asset courses, geographies and liquidity profiles, and has represented The Blackstone Group on the boards of chosen investments. He has a B.A. from Yale College.

This text was written in collaboration with Couloir Capital.