Chariot Corporation has saddled up with a convertible note deal, roping in up to $2 million to fuel its lithium hunt across the United States and Australia.
The company has locked in an initial $600,000 drawdown from New York-based investor Obsidian Global and could tap an additional $1.4m over the next 12 months. The deal gives Chariot the financial horsepower to charge ahead at its flagship Black Mountain project in Wyoming, while keeping shareholder dilution in check.
Chariot’s latest capital manoeuvre comes hot on the heels of its nimble pivot to fast-track a small-scale lithium mining operation at Black Mountain alongside its latest lithium-gold play in Western Australia.
The company intends to service the surging US electric vehicle market, which lacks a domestic lithium supply at a time when Trump’s tariffs are unrelenting.
The convertible notes carry a conversion price of 14 cents, well above the current share price of 9.3c, offering a 12-month runway with no interest ticking - unless things go awry. After one year, the note will mature with a tidy 110 per cent redemption premium.
Chariot says it will retain the flexibility to redeem early at a 107.5 per cent premium before June 1, or 110 per cent after, to keep its options open.
Chariot Corporation managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan said: “Obsidian’s convertible note facility provides us with capital flexibility that will assist us in advancing our exploration projects while limiting the dilution that would occur from a standard equity capital raising in this extremely challenging lithium market. We look forward to utilising this funding to create additional value for shareholders.”
The cash injection is set to keep the drills humming at Black Mountain, where near-surface spodumene-rich lithium is primed for a low-capex pilot mine to feed the US refineries that are just a stone’s throw away. Wyoming’s generous small-mine permitting system, which caps surface disturbance at 10 acres with no limit on extraction volume, remains at the core for Chariot’s swift-to-market strategy.
The company will also direct a small amount of the funds towards its recently acquired Southern Cross greenstone belt tenements in WA, where it has peppered the ground with early-stage exploration to catch the next lithium wave.
Chariot has 12 lithium projects in its stable, including the claystone-hosted Resurgent project straddling Nevada and Oregon, plus a half-dozen Wyoming prospects, which means it is playing a multi-pronged game and hoping to time the next lithium wave to perfection. The convertible note structure gives Chariot breathing room to ride out the lithium price doldrums, while positioning the company as a potential producer in a future price rebound.
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By Andrew Todd
