Nigeria: Australian Firm Gets Six Lithium Mining Licences in Nigeria - allAfrica.com
The licences include four exploration permits and two small-scale mining licences, previously held by Continental Lithium Limited.
An Australian mining company, Chariot Resources Limited, now has permission to mine lithium in Nigeria after the country's mining regulator approved six licences for its operations.
The Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) approved the transfer of the licences to C&C Minerals Limited, a Nigerian subsidiary of Chariot. The licences include four exploration permits and two small-scale mining licences, previously held by Continental Lithium Limited.
In a recent statement, the company said the approvals cover the Fonlo and Gbugbu exploration projects, as well as small-scale mining interests at the Saki project in Kwara and Oyo states.
Chariot's Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Shanthar Pathmanathan, described the development as a landmark moment.
"These approvals are monumental for the company and indeed the global lithium sector," he said.
"They mark the first entry of an ASX-listed lithium company into the high-potential lithium sector in Nigeria, which hosts lithium pegmatites that are already producing spodumene for the Chinese market but remain almost entirely undrilled."
The six licences consolidate Chariot's control over key exploration and mining assets in Nigeria. Four additional licences -- three at Saki and one at the Iganna project are still awaiting final MCO approval.
Continental Lithium retains the remaining 33.3 per cent. The company said it expects to complete the full acquisition by May 2026, subject to remaining conditions and shareholder approvals.
The company said an independent laboratory analysis by the University of British Columbia confirmed the presence of high-value spodumene across all six sampled sites from the Fonlo and Iganna projects.
Spodumene accounts for between 28.4 per cent and 75.3 per cent of crystalline content at the sites.
The mineral is considered one of the most commercially viable lithium-bearing minerals because it is easier to process than alternatives such as lepidolite, which was not found in any of the samples.
Lithium oxide grades from the six samples ranged from 2.66 per cent to 5.96 per cent, indicating high-grade mineralisation. Elevated caesium values were also recorded, with pollucite reaching up to 9.5 per cent in one Iganna sample. This points to strong lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite potential at the site.