Chariot has made the first hard rock lithium discovery by drilling in Wyoming, US.
Chariot corporation limited (Chariot) recently announced the first discovery of hard rock lithium in Wyoming, US. The initial results from the Companyâs first three drill holes at its flagship Black Mountain project had assays returning individual lithium (Li) and tantalum (Ta) values of up to 3.79% Li2O and 230 ppm Ta2O5. These are strong early results from Chariotâs Phase 1 drill programme, which will be completed by March 2024, and indicate the presence of hard rock lithium with further drilling focused on determining the scope of the resource.
The United States is rapidly accelerating the exploration and development of American lithium resources to meet the anticipated demand from over 224 GWh of expected battery manufacturing capacity due to be online by 2025¹ (and significantly more thereafter). The US Government has also taken significant first steps to incentivise and encourage local investment across the lithium-battery supply chain, including $3.5bn to expand domestic advanced battery and battery materials manufacturing capacity from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Chariot appears uniquely positioned to benefit from these efforts by being one of the largest landholders of lithium assets in the US. The company has a diversified strategy of holding both hard rock and claystone exploration claims focused in the US. The Black Mountain project (hard rock) and the Resurgent project (claystone) form the companyâs core projects. Chariot also holds a dominant land position in Wyoming, with six additional hard rock lithium projects featuring extensive outcropping pegmatite swarms in geological settings similar to the Black Mountain project.
Why Wyoming?
The exceptional assay results from the first three holes of the Black Mountain project show the assetâs potential and, together with the companyâs six additional Wyoming projects, position Wyoming to become an important source of critical minerals for the US electric vehicle market (see Fig. 1).
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Fig. 1: Chariotâs Wyoming hard rock lithium projects
Wyoming is a tier 1 mining jurisdiction with a long history of mining gold, uranium, coal, and industrial minerals, accounting for 21% of the stateâs GDP. In 2020, Wyoming was ranked second on the Fraser Instituteâs policy perception index, demonstrating strong government policy support for ongoing mining exploration and development. Moreover, the stateâs infrastructure is well-developed, with extensive experience transporting minerals within and out of state.
Chariotâs Wyoming lithium portfolio is entirely located in areas with no known land use encumbrance. It is hosted in metasedimentary rocks in Archean-aged geological systems, ideal conditions for LCT pegmatite discovery.
Black Mountain project
Chariotâs core project, the Black Mountain project (Black Mountain), is located in Natrona County, Wyoming, US and comprises 134 unpatented lode mining claims. Chariot has intersected significant zones of strong lithium-tantalum mineralisation in the first three holes of the maiden drill programme at Black Mountain.
These drill results confirm the potential of the Black Mountain lithium caesium tantalum (LCT) pegmatite swarms with notable results, including: â¢Â  BMDDH23_01 15.48m @ 1.12% Li2O and 79 ppm Ta2O5 from 2.74m, including 4.27m @ 2.46% Li2O and 128ppm Ta2O5 from 9.94m â¢Â  BMDDH23_02 14.33m @ 0.84% Li2O and 61 ppm Ta2O5 from 1.83m, including 2.29m @ 3.09% Li2O and 138 ppm Ta2O5 from 10.67m â¢Â  BMDDH23_03 18.81m @ 0.85% Li2O and 98ppm Ta2O5 from 45.26m, including 5.79m @ 1.08% Li2O and 105 ppm Ta2O5 from 47.55m â¢Â  High-grade potential with individual grades downhole of up to 3.79% Li2O and 230 ppm Ta2O5
This is the first hard rock lithium discovery, through drilling, in Wyoming, US.
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Dr Edward Max Baker, Chariotâs Chief Geologist,³ said: âWeâve got stunning initial results amid the North American winter. The targeted hard rock lithium system has been intersected in multiple holes. Still, we need to come back in the North American summer for a 5,000 â 10,000m drill programme to better handle the resource potential. The base metalsâ sulphide mineralisation is also very promising and indicates the potential for base metals and/or gold mineralisation, separate from the lithium mineralisation.â
The drill intercepts reported from the first three holes confirm the lithium potential of the Black Mountain LCT pegmatite (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), as indicated by the Chariotâs earlier surface rock chip sampling results.â´ In addition, Chariot is optimistic it may have intersected the peripheral portion of a potentially larger base metal mineral system, with selected intervals grading up to 0.6% (6,012 ppm) copper (Cu), 1.0% (9,931 ppm) zinc (Zn), and 15.4% (154,412 ppm) lead (Pb).
Fig. 2: Drill Core sample from BMDDH23_01 from 10.6m showing some of the spodumene mineralisationFig. 3: Pegmatite intersection in BMDDH23_02 from 9.6m (31.5ft.) to 14.5m (47.5ft.)
Two diamond core drill holes (BMDDH23_01 and BMDDH23_02) were drilled to test the outcropping pegmatites in the central Northwest swarm area (Northwest Area), whilst a third diamond drill hole (BMDDH23_03) was drilled in to test outcropping pegmatites in the central southeast swarm area (the Southeast Area)(see Fig. 4).
Fig. 4: Plan View of the Black Mountain Project, showing the pegmatite outcrops (dark red) and interpreted folded geometry (in light red) along with the Northwest and Southeast Cross-Section Lines and Drill Collars. The rock chip and soil geochemistry results are also shown. Refer to the Prospectus for the complete set of rock chip assay results²
The Northwest Area comprise steeply dipping limbs of a tightly folded package of dikes, where the fold is now interpreted to be more open than initially anticipated before drilling. The dikes to the west of BMDDH23_01 and BMDDH23_02 are expected to dip westward at a dip approximately parallel to the pegmatite intercepted by BMDDH23_01. BMDDH23_01 and BMDDH23_02 both intersected the same pegmatite (see Fig. 5).
Fig. 5: A â AA cross-section (see Fig. 1) through the Northwest Area showing BMDDH23_01 and BMDDH23_02 drill traces with the intersected pegmatite shown in red
The pegmatite dike swarms in the Southeast Area comprise a complex fold-hinge, which, based on the location of the intercept of pegmatite in BMDDH23_03, appears to dip moderately steeply to the southeast (see Fig. 6).
Fig. 6: B-BB cross-section through the Southeast area showing BMDDH23_03 drill trace with the intersected pegmatite shown in red
Chariot also engaged ERM Australia Consultants Pty Ltd (previously CSA Global) and ERM Sustainable Mining Services (CSA Global) to provide technical guidance for the development of the Black Mountain exploration plan and have completed an independent review of the data, geological interpretations and exploration results to date. CSA Globalâs scientific and technical disclosures review confirms Chariotâs drilling results.
Phase 1 drill programme
The Phase 1 maiden drilling programme consisting of 10-15 holes was designed to test under outcropping pegmatite dike swarms with anomalous Li rock chip values to determine the geometry of the dikes and to confirm the hard rock lithium potential ahead of a comprehensive resource drill-out in Q3 2024.
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Major Drilling Group International Inc. (Major Drilling) has been contracted to drill oriented triple tube HQ-sized diamond drill core (drill core) using a Boart Longyear LF90 Surface Diamond Core Drill Rig (the drill rig) (see Fig. 7). Drill core from Black Mountain is transported to Chariotâs core handling and storage facility in Jeffrey City, Wyoming, where each drill core is photographed, logged, and measured for density and recovery (see Fig. 8). Drill core samples are being assayed by American Assay Labs in Reno, Nevada.
Fig. 7: Drill rig at Black MountainFig. 8: Chariot Senior Project Geologist Willis Blakeslee, inspecting drill core
The Phase 1 programme was limited to the currently permitted seven drill pads due to the five-acre limit on disturbance under the Notice of Intent, which applies to both access roads and the drill pads.
Chariot plans to apply for an Exploration Plan of Operations (EPO) to increase the area of disturbance from five acres under the Notice of Intent to up to 2,500 acres for the Phase 2 resource drill programme commencing in Q3 2024.
The Phase 1 drill programme was limited to testing the two central pegmatite swarms (of the four pegmatite swarms identified at Black Mountain) in the Northwest and Southeast areas.
Base metal mineralisation potential
The upper section of BMDDH23_01 intersected pyrite-pyrrhotite mineralisation, occurring as veinlets and dissemination within the biotite schist throughout approximately 100m. At this early stage, only several select intervals of this mineralisation were sampled and assayed with selected intervals grading up to 0.6% (6,012 ppm) Cu, 1.0% 9,931 ppm Zn and 15.4% 154,412 ppm Pb.
Based on the location of this drill hole relative to an 800m long by 150m wide zone of anomalous zinc-in-soils, the Company is optimistic that it has intersected the peripheral portion of a potentially larger base metal mineral system (see Fig. 9). The zinc and lead anomalies are situated on the contact between metabasalt to the south and metasediments to the north coincident with a two-meter-wide zone of black massive chert outcrops along the southern margin of the soil anomaly. Based on the anomalous drill intercepts, the geological setting and the extent of the zinc and lead soil anomaly, the company plans to further investigate this base metal mineralisation by extending the soil sampling programme and conducting a preliminary induced polarisation survey (IP) lines across the anomaly in Q3 2024.
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Fig. 9: Zone of anomalous zinc in soils to the north of the pyritepyrrhotite mineralisation intersected in BMDDH23_01 shown in relation to the outcropping pegmatites with soil sample locations showing Zn in ppm. Refer to Appendix 4 for the complete set of soilgeochemistry results
2024 Black Mountain exploration plans
The Phase 1 programme at Black Mountain is scheduled to continue until 1 March 2024, to determine the three-dimensional shape and near-surface grades, down to 100m, within the three major pegmatite dike zones, as shown in Fig. 1. In addition to the eight holes already drilled, another seven holes are planned for the remainder of the Phase 1 programme, which will conclude on 1 March 2024.
This information will be used to design a more extensive 5,000 to 10,000m initial resource definition drill programme expected to commence in Q3 2024 (the Phase 2 (resource drilling) programme).
Phase 2 (resource drilling) programme to commence in Q3 2024
In anticipation of the Phase 2 resource drill programme, the initial focus will consist of detailed re-logging of the Phase 1 programme drill core and a detailed petrographic study of the mineralisation, selection, and submittal of samples for initial metallurgical testing. At the same time, the existing rock chip and soil sampling programme will be extended to the north and east to close off the open lithium and base metal anomalies.
In addition, the company plans to run a preliminary IP/resistivity survey over the area of anomalous Zn-Pb soil geochemistry to assist in siting several holes to test the nature of this base metal mineralisation in Q3-Q4 2024.
The Company is currently lodging an application for an EPO (to drill) to expand the area of disturbance and increase the number of drill pads in preparation for a maiden resource drill-out. The Phase 2 (resource drill) programme is expected to commence in the North American summer in Q3 2024 or when the BLM approves the EPO.
Forging a lithium future in Wyoming
Chariot is well-positioned to take advantage of the future demand for lithium resources and the need for an American supply. Over the next twelve months, the company will report additional drill results and launch a more comprehensive drilling programme at Black Mountain. In addition, the company will continue to advance its other assets prudently. Each of these activities has the potential to be a significant catalyst for value creation at Chariot and to drive shareholder value.
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References
Source: National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries 2021-2030.
The Prospectus can be downloaded from the Company website: www.chariotcorporation.com
Dr Baker holds 7,926,860 ordinary shares in Chariot (equal to a 5.3% interest in the undiluted shares on the issue of Chariot). Dr Baker is also engaged as a consultant by Chariot.
Refer to Chariotâs initial public offering prospectus and the Companyâs announcement dated 9 November 2023 for the full set of surface rock chip sampling results.
Please note, this article will also appear in the seventeenth edition of our quarterly publication.
As a plaintiff in the 2022 lawsuit that kicked off years of legal sparring over Wyoming abortion rights, Dr. Giovannina Anthony had waited a long time for Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the state’s abortion bans.
“It has been a long road,” she said. One with ups and downs, drawbacks and delays. And even though the high court ruled against the state’s abortion bans, she’s not under the illusion that the fight for abortion access is over.
“But at least today, we can claim a victory and say, it was really worth it,” said Anthony, a Jackson obstetrician. “It was worth it to go four years and keep it up and keep raising money and keep the awareness going. I’m really proud of our team. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”
In reading the Supreme Court’s decision siding with plaintiffs, Anthony said, “Clearly, this is a court that holds a lot of respect for our constitution.”
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That’s because much of the decision hinged on constitutional language.
Anthony and other plaintiffs argued that abortion is enshrined in the “right of health care access” in Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution. The clause states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”
The state’s attorneys, meanwhile, countered that abortion isn’t health care.
But in deciding what that language means in this case, “all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38,” the court’s summary stated.
As abortion rights activists in Wyoming and beyond celebrated the decision, the anti-abortion camp decried it and called for legislative action.
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“This ruling is profoundly unfortunate and sadly serves to only prolong the ultimate proper resolution of this issue,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. While the ruling may settle a legal question for the time being, Gordon said, “it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.”
Anti-abortion activists in the silent March for Life in Cheyenne in January 2020. (Nadav Soroker, Wyoming Tribune Eagle/Wyoming News Exchange)
Gordon asked the Attorney General’s office to file a petition for rehearing the decision, which it will file within 15 days.
The voters of Wyoming should settle the matter once and for all, Gordon argued. “A constitutional amendment taken to the people of Wyoming would trump any and all judicial decisions.”
He called on the Legislature to pass such an amendment during the upcoming session and deliver it to his desk. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to appear on the ballot in the following general election.
Gordon may get his wish during the Legislature’s 2026 budget session, which convenes Feb. 9.
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State lawmakers are already preparing a bill to modify the Wyoming Constitution and clear a path for another attempted abortion ban. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Republican from Hulett, said that he’s been workshopping language with Torrington Republican Sen. Cheri Steinmetz.
“I’ve got to run it by a lot of other people,” Neiman said.
Reps. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams and Chip Neiman listen during a 2023 hearing on their request to defend Wyoming’s abortion ban. (Brad Boner/Jackson Hole News&Guide/Pool)
Ideally, he added, a single constitutional amendment would be considered, although the legislative strategy is still up for discussion.
“We’ve got a little over a month before we have to be in session,” Neiman said. “That’ll give us time to kind of see which is maybe the best plan of action.”
A constitutional amendment would have to navigate the legislative process in a 20-day session geared toward passing Wyoming’s budget. Then, in the 2026 general election, more than half of Wyoming voters who cast a ballot would have to agree to the constitutional change.
Neiman struck an optimistic tone about an amendment’s prospects of passing the first hurdle during the session in Cheyenne.
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“I can’t speak for the other chamber,” he said, “but in my chamber I’ve got a lot of phone calls and a lot of texts from a lot of my legislators who are just beside themselves at what happened.”
Senate President Bo Biteman did not return a phone call before this story published.
Victorious
Chelsea’s Fund, an organization that helps pay for abortion services, was another of the plaintiffs that challenged Wyoming’s abortion bans. Executive Director Janean Forsyth said Tuesday’s decision affirms what her organization has long known: “that abortion is essential health care, and Wyoming women have a constitutional right and the freedom to make their own health care decisions, and that should be without government interference.”
Forsyth was flooded with messages and calls Tuesday, she said, especially from the community of reproductive rights organizations.
“I think that [the news is] a beacon of hope for, not only Wyoming communities and families, but also nationwide,” she said.
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Christine Lichtenfels was Chelsea’s Fund executive director when the original suit was filed and throughout much of the legal battle. Relief wasn’t quite the word to describe how she felt Tuesday, she said.
“In reading the decision, there is just a sense that, ‘Oh, there is reason in the world,” she said. “It makes me think that, yes, Wyoming is the Equality State. We can say that now without cringing.”
(Disclosure: Lichtenfels is currently working with WyoFile on an unrelated legal matter.)
The Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper is pictured in December 2022, and shows signs of May 2022 arson, including boarded up windows. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)
Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Knowing the decision would directly impact the facility’s fate, Clinic President Julie Burkhart was nervous when she opened it. Reading quickly dispelled her fears, she said, as it dawned on her that the justices sided with the plaintiffs’ legal team.
“We are delighted,” she told WyoFile.
Many people questioned her 2021 decision to open an abortion clinic in such a conservative state, she said. The court decision solidifies an intuition she felt back then about Wyoming residents’ sense of what’s fair and right.
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Burkhart and colleagues expect future challenges to arise, however.
“While we celebrate today’s ruling, we know that anti-abortion politicians will continue their push to restrict access to health care in Wyoming with new, harmful proposals in the state legislature,” Burkart said in a statement. “Patients should not have to live in fear that their health care decisions will be suddenly upended at the whim of a judge or lawmaker.”
Across the state in Jackson, Dr. Anthony anticipates the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will attempt to pass laws that impose targeted restrictions against abortion providers — such as forcing patients to hear a fetal heartbeat or wait a certain time period before the procedure.
“Unfortunately, the fight’s not over,” Anthony said, “but this is a great moment for us.”
Heartache
Abortion opponents expressed sadness Tuesday and vehemently disagreed with the court’s opinion.
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State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams was lead sponsor of one of the abortion bans. The Cody Republican and chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus did not respond to a request for comment, but posted about the decision on X.
“My heart aches for Wyoming today,” Rodriguez Williams posted. “Thanks to the decision of four unelected, unchecked attorneys, it’s open season in Wyoming for innocent, preborn babies. Make no mistake: courts can get things wrong, and they sure did get this wrong. I’ll never stop fighting to protect life.”
Anti-abortion billboards can be seen along some Wyoming highways. (Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray also protested the decision, which he called “outrageously wrong” and “a leftwing activist decision totally out of touch with the Wyoming Constitution.”
Natrona County anti-abortion activist Bob Brechtel, a former Wyoming House member, also expressed frustration with the courts, criticizing the nearly two-year-long wait for a decision and saying he was “ashamed” of the outcome from the high court.
In 2011, Brechtel co-sponsored the bill authorizing a later-successful constitutional amendment ballot measure that now protects individuals’ rights to make their own health care decisions. Born out of opposition to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, what became Article 1, Section 38 caused some lawmakers to worry about potential unintended consequences.
Fifteen years later, one unintended consequence came to fruition. Reached Tuesday, Brechtel confirmed that he did not intend to protect women’s right to have an abortion in Wyoming.
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“There was nothing in the legislation about killing innocent human beings,” he said. “This whole thing has been completely regenerated into something that it was never intended to be.”
It is Week 4 in the 2026 Wyoming High School boys’ swimming and diving season. It features several medium-sized competitions. After a dual in Douglas on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are packed with meets. Jackson hosts its two-day invitational with four teams heading to Teton County. There are three-team events in Casper, Gillette, and Sheridan on Friday, plus two five-team meets at Cody and Rock Springs.
WYOPREPS BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING WEEK 4 SCHEDULE 2026
Saturday also has swim invites at Evanston, Powell, and Sheridan. The schedule for Week 4 of the prep boys’ swimming and diving season in the Cowboy State is below. The schedule is subject to change.
RAWLINS AT DOUGLAS – dual
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CASPER TRI at NCHS – Cheyenne East, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming man died Dec. 22 in a motorcycle-versus-truck collision in Laramie County.
According to a recently released incident report from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, 24-year-old Wyoming man Kyle Pandullo was headed west on a motorcycle as a van approached from the opposite direction. The WHP reports that the van attempted to turn left into a business entrance, forcing Pandullo to brake in an effort to avoid a crash. His bike tipped over onto its side, sliding into the van.
The WHP lists driver inattention as a possible contributing factor in the wreck.
This story contains preliminary information as provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The agency advises that information may be subject to change.
