CC9 - Chariot Corporation

[System]

Chariot Corporation Limited is a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and developing high grade and near surface lithium opportunities in the USA.

Upon Listing, and subject to completion of the Acquisitions, the Company will own a diversified lithium exploration portfolio with a focus on the United States.

The Company’s flagship assets (Core Projects) will be:

(a) the “Black Mountain Project” (prospective for hard rock lithium) which comprises of 134 unpatented lode mining claims (Claims) located in Wyoming, USA; and
(b) the “Resurgent Project” (prospective for claystone lithium) which comprises of 1,450 Claims located in Humboldt County Nevada and Malheur County Oregon, USA.

Both of these projects have early assay results indicating high-grade lithium mineralisation at surface.

The Company will also have a pipeline of exploration projects as follows (Exploration Pipeline Projects):

(a) the “Copper Mountain Project” which comprises of 83 Claims located in Wyoming, USA;
(b) the “South Pass Project” which comprises of 214 Claims located in Wyoming, USA; and
(c) four other hard rock lithium projects comprising of 146 Claims located in Wyoming, USA (the Regional Wyoming Projects).

The Black Mountain Project, Copper Mountain Project, South Pass Project and Regional Wyoming Projects are together referred to as the Wyoming Lithium Projects. The Core Projects and Exploration Pipeline Projects are together referred to as the Projects.

The Company has an interest in additional projects in Nevada, Western Australia and Zimbabwe that it does not consider material to its prospects and is pursuing divestment opportunities; accordingly, no funds to be derived from the IPO have been allocated to these projects other than to keep the tenure in good standing.

It is anticipated that CC9 will list on the ASX during October 2023.

Chariot Corporation

Chariot is a lithium exploration company with a global portfolio of lithium exploration assets, with a focus on the United States of America, Zimbabwe, and Western Australia.

www.chariotcorporation.com

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Listing date	02 October 2023 ; 12:00 PM AEST ##
Company contact details	https://www.chariotcorporation.com/ Ph: 61 8 9481 0389
Principal Activities	Mineral exploration
Issue Price	AUD 0.45
Issue Type	Ordinary Fully Paid Shares
Security code	CC9
Capital to be Raised	$15,500,000
Expected offer close date	14 September 2023
Underwriter	Not underwritten. Wilsons Corporate Finance Limited and Jett Capital Advisors LLC (Joint Lead Managers).

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Listing date	26 October 2023 ; 12:00 PM AEST ##
Company contact details	https://www.chariotcorporation.com/ Ph: 61 8 9481 0389
Principal Activities	Mineral exploration
Issue Price	AUD 0.45
Issue Type	Ordinary Fully Paid Shares
Security code	CC9
Capital to be Raised	$15,500,000
Expected offer close date	14 September 2023
Underwriter	Not underwritten. Wilsons Corporate Finance Limited and Jett Capital Advisors LLC (Joint Lead Managers).

 

[Dona Ferentes]

article at ShareCafe

Chariot Corporation, soon to be ASX-listed next month, is making waves in the US lithium market.

With a strategic focus on the United States, Chariot is poised to take advantage of the country's burgeoning lithium sector.

Let's delve into Chariot's flagship project, extensive portfolio, and upcoming ASX listing.

US Lithium Opportunity
Chariot Corporation has set its sights on the US for good reason. The Company believes the US represents a critical opportunity for ASX lithium juniors.

While Australia took the lead in lithium development, responding to China's demand for the mineral, the US is now shifting its attention to the electric vehicle market.

Lithium deposits at the surface and a growing domestic EV market in the US are creating ripe opportunities. Chariot Corporation has strategically positioned itself as one of the prominent hard rock lithium players in the US.

Flagship Project: Black Mountain Lithium
Chariot's flagship project is the Black Mountain Lithium Project, located in Wyoming. This hard rock lithium project stands out due to fierce competition—a billion-dollar NASDAQ-listed company vied for it. Black Mountain is part of two critical pegmatite provinces explored by ASX juniors, the other being in South Dakota. At Black Mountain, spodumene-bearing ore has been discovered at the surface, a promising sign. Extensive rock chip sampling programs have yielded excellent grades, and the next phase involves drilling to assess the extent of the spodumene-bearing ore.

Diverse Portfolio
Chariot Corporation's portfolio includes six projects in the US, each part of its exploration pipeline. After Black Mountain, attention shifts to Copper Mountain and South Pass. Both projects have historical artisanal mining activities for lithium minerals and documented lithium deposits at the surface. Chariot's strategy of targeting assets with lithium mineralisation at the surface aligns with the successful approach of early Australian lithium companies.

Project Development
While these projects are not strictly Greenfield, the US lithium sector, including Wyoming, remains largely unexplored. Historical literature dating back to the 1940s has identified lithium at the surface, but comprehensive development is still in its infancy. Chariot Corporation aims to capitalise on the vast potential within the US lithium sector and become a frontrunner in its resurgence.

Expert Team
Chariot Corporation boasts a well-rounded team with expertise in both corporate and geological aspects.

The team has a strong connection to Macquarie Bank. CEO and founder, Shanthar Pathmanathan brings his banking background, having worked at Macquarie and Deutsche Bank. Chairman Murray Bleach was formerly the CEO of Macquarie in North America, and Frederick Forni, an ex-Macquarie managing director, serves as an executive director. On the geological side, Neil Stewart, the founding chairman of Orocobre Ltd, brings valuable expertise.

Chariot Corporation's team comprises experienced professionals who are dedicated to advancing the company's projects in the US lithium sector.

Future Prospects
Chariot Corporation's strategic focus on the US lithium sector positions it as a promising player in the industry's future. As the world's demand for lithium continues to grow, Chariot's exploration and development efforts in the US are well-timed, with an eye on the long-term sustainability of lithium supply

 

[Dona Ferentes]

and an interview. Clearly with a plan and a bit of promotional nous. (Yeah, clearly that's a good question)
.
Sanger: Hi, I'm Paul Sanger from the Finance News Network, and today we're talking with Chariot Corporation CEO and founder Shanthar Pathmanathan. Welcome, Shanthar.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Thanks, Paul. Thanks for having me.

Paul Sanger: It's a pleasure. Okay, so welcome to The Network. Let's kick off the interview today. The US, why are you focused on the US?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Paul, we see the US as a critical opportunity. It's the latest play for ASX lithium juniors at the moment. The US is about 10 years behind Australia and in terms of its lithium sector, Australia responded to China, got off to a great start. The US is now responding in an EV market sense and it's got those great ripe opportunities where the lithium is at surface. The sector is largely undeveloped at this point. It's got its first two mines coming on stream and there's a huge market opportunity in terms of an actual domestic EV market there in the US as well. So we see mining coming back to the US and that lithium sector starting to surge from here on out. So we are positioned as one of the two big hard rock lithium players in the US at the moment.

Paul Sanger: Okay. So let's just talk about your project. So what's your flagship project currently in the US?
.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah, good question. Our flagship project is the Black Mountain Lithium Project. It's a hard rock lithium project. We had to beat off a pretty large company, a billion dollar market cap NASDAQ listed company, to get a hold of this project. It's one of two pegmatite provinces that are being operated on by the juniors, ASX juniors. So the other one is South Dakota. Our project, The Black Mountain Project is in Wyoming and we've got a stronghold in Wyoming at the moment. We've got six projects aside from The Black Mountain Project and targeting spodumene at surface, it's visible excellent grades so far from two pretty significant rock chip sampling programs. The next phase of work will be the drilling to test the targets and really understand how much of the spodumene bearing ore there is at that Black Mountain Project.

Paul Sanger: Okay. So you mentioned you've got five other projects, so what's the next one that you've got keen focus on at the moment?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah, so we've got six projects, right? The way I see it, these are part of our exploration pipeline. The other projects probably in order of priority would be Copper Mountain and then South Pass. So both have got historical artisanal mining for lithium minerals. Both have got documented lithium minerals at surface and that's certainly a characteristic of our entire US lithium portfolio is we've targeted assets with lithium minerals at surface, similar to what the early Australian lithium companies had about 10 years ago in Australia and which have now given rights to these mega multi-billion dollar deposits in Australia.

Paul Sanger: And all your projects that you have in Wyoming, are these Brownfield projects or the Greenfield projects?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: The US as a whole and Wyoming in particular is unexplored for lithium. So there's certainly some literature that dating back to the 1940s, identifying lithium at surface and the various pegmatites. We've got something like 700 pegmatites in Wyoming, right? They are not Greenfield, they're a little bit more advanced in Greenfield, because there's some existing literature on them. The mineralization can be seen at surface. But as I said that lithium industry as a whole in the US is very undeveloped and early in its development. So there's no such thing as currently the only producing lithium mine in the US is the Silver Peak mine, which is a 5,000 tonne per annum facility. So insignificant in the global lithium supply context, all of the major developments will happen from here on out.

Paul Sanger: So clearly you've got a lot in your hand, some great project by the sand that you're trying to develop. Tell us about the team that's going to help you with the next sort of phase of work.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah, so let me start on the corporate side first. I previously worked at Macquarie in New York and then in Australia and then also Deutsche Bank in Australia, oil and gas and chemicals most of the time. So I'm the founder and CEO of the company. Our chairman was previously the CEO of Macquarie in North America, Murray Bleach. And then Frederick Forney is an ex Macquarie managing director who's also on our board. He'll be an executive director with the company. On the geological side, we are fortunate to have a man by the name of Neil Stewart. So Neil was founding chairman of Orocobre Ltd, now Allkem (ASX:AKE).

Neil introduced me to the vast team that I now work with in the US. So notably we've got Edward Max Baker, Dr. Edward Max Baker. Max was previously chief geologist at Newcrest and later MIM or Mount Isa. And he's got a gold project over in Idaho at the moment. So the corollary of that is that we will inherit his team of about 12 or so people currently and they'll help us. They've already been helping us advance these projects and that team includes people from other geologists, geophysicists, geo technicians, field crew, and most importantly land managers to help with all the title work we do over there. We've got one of the largest land holdings for lithium in the United States of America. So that's where it becomes important to have really good landmen and that we have.

Paul Sanger: And also having that Macquarie connection at some point down the line, project financing will come nicely into play and help hopefully bring the projects to fruition. Yeah?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah. Over time I see that being more relevant. Short term we've got other sources of capital.

.

Paul Sanger: Tell us a bit more, what are your thoughts on clay stone hosted lithium?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Look, I think clay stone has a big part to play in the global lithium supply equation. Clay stone is orders of magnitude larger in terms of the net lithium contained in the resources, than hard rock lithium. However, there's no current production of lithium carbonate from clay stone hosted lithium. Clay stone hosted lithium is a large scale, longer term opportunity. Shorter term we intend to keep those clay stone hosted assets, some of which we operate and others we have divested off to other companies to operate for us. The hard rock lithium will very much be our short term focus and that's what we will spend about 80% of our capital and time developing in the short term.

Paul Sanger: And I guess it's an obvious question, why are so many projects in your portfolio?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: The availability of lithium assets with mineralization at surface is a luxury of the time we're in today. It's very much an early mover advantage that we are seeing there. And so to that end, we want to seize on these opportunities with assets, with lithium mineralization at surface, bring them into our portfolio and then figure out how to advance those. Whether it be on our balance sheet or whether we continue to do the various divestments we've done. But we think the key is to have assets where the mineralization is there, and then in terms of management and capital, I think those are problems we can then solve down the road. So we see it as a luxury of our time that we've got these assets similar to at the beginning of other industries like the oil industry a couple of 100 years ago where they had oil assets which had seeps at surface. So it was for that reason to take seize on the opportunity to acquire these assets with mineralisations at surface. And that's why we've got so many assets.

Paul Sanger: Bit of an obvious question, but tell us why you have so many projects in your portfolio. How do you see that as an advantage for Chariot?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: The US has got these opportunities are pretty ripe for exploration, right? So assets with lithium mineralization and surface and as I said, the US is 10 years behind Australia. So to that end, we think this is a luxury of our time that we have these opportunities. So we think it's prudent to acquire and bring these into our portfolio and certainly we've done that to date. We have, as part of that process also divested four assets to four public companies. Our cost, there was about a million and a half US dollars and we're able to successfully execute on those divestments for total proceeds of 16 and a half million USD. So those assets are by default on other people's balance sheets, they'll be operated and funded by other public companies, giving us some additional capital as well to focus on our core assets, which are the Black Mountain and resurgent projects.

Paul Sanger: Wyoming, water supply. All good?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: With our process, it's hard rock lithium, so it's not the brine and the stone and all that. So we've got a lot of clay stone, but the water with hard rock is a minimal issue. It's just the processing requirement. It's not for the actual.

Paul Sanger: Yeah, okay.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: With brine, you actually literally depleting a reservoir.

Paul Sanger: Yeah, okay.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: And you can't pull stuff out unless you have water rights. Okay? With our hard rock lithium, minimal water required. And then moreover, Wyoming is not that dry of a state. Right?

Paul Sanger: And with the permitting, who owns the land, where your projects are?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: These are called unpatented claims.

Paul Sanger: Yeah. Okay.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: They're administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the federal body, US federal government. We are the owner of those claims. So we've paid or acquired, we've done three deals with two different vendors. We have staked most of our own ground. So we're the registered owner with the Bureau of Land Management. That in entails some payments every year. The annual holding costs is about 750,000 Australian dollars per year. So it's a pretty substantial cost, but we've also got a pretty large land position in the US. So our companies have an underlying a 100% interest in these claims.

Some of our geologists do have a minority interest in some of the subsidiaries that we use to operate over there. So we're the owner, but it's federal ground. We have the rights to the mineral endowment of that ground. There are situations where cattle ranches have got grazing rights, so even during exploration, the cattle ranches can temporarily bring their cattle onto the property, graze it. They have no underlying title, they have no freehold title, and then as required they'll be moved off in terms of converting these to mining leases, they will all have to be removed from the properties, longer term.

Paul Sanger: And if you've got any neighbours that currently have assets digging spodumene in Wyoming, any other big companies around you?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: No.

Paul Sanger: When you said Wyoming, I can't think of one that I've heard something. I've heard Oregon, Nevada and what have you. But first one I've heard Wyoming.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah. So we had to go through a competitive auction process to get hold of this property. So it was a couple of bidders. One billion market cap company.

Paul Sanger: Yeah, interesting.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: But once we secure that property, we realized that good drill results from this property is going to trigger competition. So we've taken out the whole state in terms of opportunities. We've got six other swarms of pegmatites, right? That we have taken out some 700 pegmatites in our portfolio in Wyoming. The way I see it, this it could be the Gulf of Mexico for lithium, sitting in the heart of the US, and it's incumbent on us to get control of that early before the competition can move in. South Dakota is the next state and there's a bit of activity over there. There's another ASX listed company that's just drilled into some spodumene bearing pegmatites there. So same geology, but Wyoming, it's more suitable I think for developing a mine. It has population of 600,000 people bodes well in terms of developing a mine and it's already a resource that it produces a coal, uranium, oil. So it is an ideal position for us to be, and we've taken a strategic position there by taking out all of available opportunities preemptively.

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Paul Sanger: And then look, all the stars align, everything goes to plan. When do you think the earliest you can bring Black Mountain onto production?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Look realistically, four and a half to six years. That's a realistic picture. I think given it is a critical mineral for the United States, government intervention may play a role, but there's still considerable work to be done. Expiration studies, feasibility studies, and then the various permits to be obtained from the government agencies. So I think realistically four and a half to six years is a good timeline for that.

Paul Sanger: Which actually it sounds when you say it's a long time, but actually for a lithium project it's not. And hopefully by then there'll be some carbon and hydroxide processing plants that will be hopefully close by that you can send your hard rock to.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Yeah. Correct. So we've already been approached by some strategics in the US, car makers and so on. You raise a good point, Paul. So instead of focusing on what happens next year and the year after, short term, I think we need to worry about what happens 2030 onwards, because there's some serious deficits that have been predicted for that time period. So as a company, our mindset's focused on a little bit longer term than the market currently.

Paul Sanger: And I also think from an investor point of view now is they're looking for the new place, and particularly one Australian industry, companies that have that focus in the US, because anyone knows the US it is ramping up. It's still in its infancy as you say, and the money that's going to be thrown at these new projects, the big guys are going to just sit there and then that's actually be your biggest problem with the big guys looking to take the assets on their hand before you can bring them to fruition. But that's a good problem to have fighting off the big boys. Yeah?

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Well, that's always good to have. We've started to entertain the big boys, so to speak, already through various channels and conversations. But I'll tell you this, so the US when it wants to, because it does through the capital market, means it has the ability to respond at will to a problem at hand. So we saw that with shale . So the US is now the largest oil producer in the world. So they saw their vulnerability geopolitically to be on other regions for oil. And in the last 15 years they've developed a very difficult asset class, the shale oil and gas asset class, to become the largest oil producer on the planet. So similar way mining is somewhat dormant in the US at the moment. They went through the urbanization trends 70 years ago. All the big mining companies, copper companies, steel players have subsided in the US, but the US has got an ability, it's got the population, it's got the capital, it's got the wherewithal to respond.

Paul Sanger: It's got the money!

Shanthar Pathmanathan: It's got the money, that's right! So I see the mining sector coming back in the US with some volition in the near term and we're already seeing signs of that. So to that end, we're lucky to have the team we have, we've got about 15 people on the ground, very experienced. We've got one of the best exploration teams in the country at the moment working with us. Again, if you look at the pedigree of our geologist, Neil Stewart, ex founding chairman of Orocobre Ltd, Max Baker, previously Chief geologist at Newcrest. These all bode well for attracting talent and for that part of the business to be organized.

Paul Sanger: Shanthar, many thanks for your time today. It was an absolute pleasure.

Shanthar Pathmanathan: Thank you, Paul. Thank you.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

CC9 listed today.... at 45c for fresh capital, it has proven not to be a STAG, hit a snag.

 

[Country Lad]

CC9 listed today.... at 45c for fresh capital, it has proven not to be a STAG, hit a snag.

Yes good one @Dona Ferentes. Looks like the market said:

"oh no, not another lithium hopeful with a block of dirt and nothing in hand except two so-called "pretty significant rock chip sampling programs"

And so it came to pass that another hopeful fell down the stairs..

 

[Dona Ferentes]

but wait, there's a market sensitive announcement out..

.
slowly getting to settle at a level ..

 

[Dona Ferentes]

all rather breathless ... can't wait until
.
from a chat thread:
Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) witnessed a remarkable 35% increase in its share price yesterday, closing at 70 cents with $700,000 in stock trading volume,. And the positive results have been continuing today, currently trading above 6% higher at 74.5c (2:00pm AEDT). While no new developments were reported today, the recent announcement of the arrival of a drill rig at CC9's flagship Black Mountain Project in Wyoming, USA, has been driving investor interest over the past two weeks.
.
since listing

 

[Dona Ferentes]

"And so it came to pass that another hopeful fell down the stairs..

and then discovered an elevator...

1. No.
2. The Company would like to note it has recently listed on the ASX and has commenced its drilling program at its flagship Black Mountain Project in Wyoming, USA as announced on 9 November 2023. Otherwise the Company is not aware of any other explanation for the recent trading in its shares.
3. The Company confirms that it is complying with the Listing Rules and, in particular, Listing Rule 3.1.

Now $1.25

 

[Dona Ferentes]

CC9 has significantly increased the footprint of its Black Mountain project through the acquisition of 218 contiguous claims, representing a 206% increase in project tenure area