Chariot lands pivotal Nigerian lithium licence for free

Chariot Resources has firmed up the company’s Nigerian lithium acquisition deal by adding a key lease in its Fonlo project area at no extra purchase cost, while extending the deal timetable. The company has also boosted its regulatory spend by converting three short-dated and small-scale mining licences into broader mining leases, offering a longer, more secure tenure and wider mining rights over those areas.

The newly picked-up lease is a small-scale mining lease within the broader Fonlo tenure and covers the company’s main geological lithium focus.

Importantly, Chariot says the lease covers ground where spodumene-bearing pegmatites have been reported previously, making it a key acquisition, particularly as it was added at no extra cost. Spodumene is a key ore mineral for lithium.

The company and the vendor, Continental Lithium, have executed a third deed of variation to the deal, lifting the Nigerian portfolio to 11 mineral titles and extending Chariot’s total of prospective ground position to 257.1 square kilometres across the Fonlo, Gbugbu, Iganna and Saki clusters in Nigeria’s Kwara and Oyo states.

Those assets have a history of significant artisanal lithium mining and represent one of the biggest portfolios of lithium assets in the country. 

Just as important as the new ground at Fonlo is the company’s tenure strategy. Continental has agreed to convert three small-scale mining leases, one at Fonlo and two at Saki, into full mining leases before transferring them to C&C Minerals, Chariot’s joint venture vehicle.

That strategy matters because mining leases in Nigeria can run for up to 25 years and carry broader commercial mining rights than small-scale mining leases, potentially giving those project areas greater security and a firmer long-term footing.

There is a trade-off, however. The extra regulatory work has pushed the long-stop date for settlement out from 5 August 2026 to 5 May 2027, while the original cap on transfer, conversion and regulatory costs has more than doubled, increasing from US$425,000 (A$590,000) to US$925,000 (A$1.28M).

Chariot’s latest update builds on progress flagged late last month, when the company said five licences had already been re-issued under the name of C&C Minerals and that the parties were still working through the transfer of the remaining titles. In March, the company raised $2.15M to help fund the acquisition and kickstart exploration.

With shareholder approval for 24M consideration shares due later this month and the conversion process now well underway, Chariot appears ready to turn its revised Nigerian package into a more bankable form. 

If the company pulls it off, Chariot will have stitched together one of the largest positions in an emerging West African hard-rock lithium district, wrapped in a cleaner and potentially more valuable tenure structure. 

The savvy move could prove to be more than administrative housekeeping, converting paperwork into stronger project security, longer mine-life potential and accelerated exploration momentum.

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