Chariot primed as US lithium spotlight intensifies

If there was ever a prize for an ASX junior being in the right commodity, in the right place and at the right time, ASX-listed Chariot Corporation would surely be a hot contender.

The company’s share price soared 225 per cent from 10 cents to 32.5 cents a share this week after the Trump administration said it was considering taking a 10 per cent equity stake in the company’s neighbour - Lithium Americas - as part of a US$2.26 billion (A$3.4 billion) government loan renegotiation. 

Not surprisingly, the share price of Lithium Americas, which owns the Thacker Pass lithium project, soared 95 per cent to $6 a share on the news, taking the market capitalisation of the company to US$1.5 billion (A$2.26 billion). 

Thacker Pass in Nevada is North Americas’ biggest lithium prize and the prospect of Washington muscling onto the register alongside General Motors - which last year snapped up 38 per cent for US$625 million (A$944 million) - speaks volumes about just how vital the metal has become to America’s future.

As for Australian punters, the ripple effect couldn’t be clearer. The Chariot-controlled Resurgent project sits right next door to Thacker Pass. The company’s landholding shares the same ancient caldera basin, which is the very geological bowl that has already coughed up billions of dollars’ worth of lithium-bearing claystone at its famous neighbour.

Chariot’s own early surface sampling has thrown up some serious numbers, with assays hitting up to 3,865 parts per million lithium. Widespread mineralisation is already mapped and the company is poised to unleash a drilling program once the final permits are in hand. 

Given the US Government’s laser focus on securing domestic lithium, Chariot’s timing really couldn’t be sharper.

For Chariot though, its Resurgent prospect is only one piece of the jigsaw. The company recently reclaimed full ownership of its Horizon lithium project, also in Nevada, after a partner defaulted. 

Horizon currently hosts a 10.2-million-tonne lithium carbonate equivalent resource, including 1.3Mt in the indicated category, catapulting it into the top tier of US lithium plays. It is up there with Lithium Americas’ 19.1Mt Thacker Pass orebody and American Lithium’s TLC deposit at 10.7Mt.

While most lithium juniors battened down the hatches during the recent price slump, Chariot’s management went the other way. Under the stewardship of chief executive officer Shanthar Pathmanathan, the company used the downturn to hoover up strategic ground, consolidate Horizon and even secure a 66.7 per cent stake in one of Nigeria’s biggest hard-rock lithium portfolios.

As Pathmanathan put it: “All the money is sown in the downturn and harvested in the upturn.” 

It’s a contrarian playbook that has history on its side, and with lithium sentiment already stirring, Chariot looks well placed to reap the benefits.

With America scrambling to lock down its lithium supply, Chariot Corporation is shaping as one of the better-placed ASX juniors to ride the wave. The company’s combination of location, scale and timing could see it shift rapidly from a quiet accumulator to a frontline beneficiary of Washington’s energy security push.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au