WASHINGTON — Australia-listed Chariot Corp.'s early-stage strategy for lithium development in the United States involves acquiring extensive land holdings.
The company has 3,634 claims in Wyoming, Nevada and Oregon, a number it says is more than any other lithium company in the United States.
"Now, it's better to grab as much as you can," managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan told Benzinga on the sidelines of a recent Benchmark Mineral Intelligence battery metals conference in Washington, D.C.
Two of Chariot's flagship properties—Resurgent in Nevada and Black Mountain in Wyoming—have surface lithium mineralization.
That indication of potential ease of extraction makes Pathmanathan think of the early days of oil discovery in the United States where oil was close to the surface and companies that owned more land had an advantage.
In Australia—where Chariot is based and Pathmanathan has spent much of his career— once easier lithium was mined, the cost of production rose.
Owning so many claims preemptively gives Chariot the option to develop properties in the United States that might be easier to mine, or use that as a selling point for other companies that might want to take on the development task.
"We've got really high-quality assets," Pathmanathan said.
The company has already divested four properties in Nevada to POWR Lithium Corp. (OTC:PWRLF), Pan American Energy Corp. (OTC:PAANF) and Red Mountain Mining Ltd. (OTC:RMTLF) and a portfolio in Western Australia to Australia-listed St. George Mining Ltd.
Chariot also plans to sell two projects in Nevada and one in Zimbabwe.
Chariot's work in the United States comes as the nation is trying to develop a lithium supply chain that isn't dominated by China, the world's biggest lithium consumer who has helped the Australian lithium mining industry develop.
"The U.S. is about 10 years behind Australia with lithium," Pathmanathan said.
Australia is the world's biggest producer of the metal that is used in electric vehicle batteries, demand for which is expected to continue increasing in coming decades.
"We're in a supercycle for demand," Pathmanathan said.
Without Chinese lithium, the United States is probably undersupplied, he said.
That leaves U.S. battery companies and automakers without sufficient domestic upstream lithium supply to meet anticipated demand, a Chariot presentation says.
Lithium prices hit record highs in 2022, but they have fallen sharply since then as automakers have tempered their forecasts for electric vehicle demand.
Those lower prices make Pathmanathan worried about getting financing for Chariot, but the low prices also may allow the company to buy up more lithium properties, he said.
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