Chariot Corporation (ASX: CC9) has significantly expanded the footprint of the Black Mountain project by staking and filing with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 218 unpatented lode mining claims totalling 1,807 ha of tenure in Wyoming.
The BMX Claims are contiguous to the company’s existing Black Mountain Claims and represent a 206% increase in the footprint of Black Mountain
The BMX claims were staked as a buffer and to cover possible extensions to the pegmatite dike swarms under shallow cover at Black Mountain.
Increased Ownership
On 9 January 2024, Chariot increased its ownership of Wyoming Lithium Pty Ltd (WLPL) from 91.9% to 93.9% via a share subscription to reimburse Chariot for exploration expenses incurred at the Wyoming Lithium Projects.
The company owns seven hard rock lithium projects in Wyoming, which is a State that is poised to become an important future supplier of a critical mineral for the US. Each of the projects comprising Chariot’s Wyoming Lithium Portfolio is located in an area without any known land-use encumbrances.
Wyoming is a tier 1 mining jurisdiction with a long history of gold, uranium, coal and industrial minerals mining and production, accounting for approximately 20% of the state’s GDP in 2023.
Wyoming is currently the eighth largest oil and gas producer in the US with a well-established oil field services industry. Chariot has already engaged a number of oil field services providers to provide various services for the phase 1 drilling programme at Black Mountain and anticipates further leveraging the available local oil field services providers for future exploration and mine development activities.
In 2020, Wyoming was ranked second on Fraser Institute’s policy perception index, demonstrating strong government policy support for ongoing mining exploration and development.
Wyoming is also the least populated State in the United States, with a total population of 584,057 based on July 1, 2023 United States Census Bureau estimates, which diminishes the risk of social, community and cultural constraints for exploration and mine development there.
The state is serviced by well-maintained road, rail, water and power infrastructure. There are natural gas pipelines in the vicinity of our projects, which can be leveraged for the purposes of any future on- site gas-fired power generation requirements. Chariot’s Wyoming projects are also all expected to have adequate access to water rights.