Keypoints:
- Chinese partners to fund 1,500m drilling
- Potential trial mining capped at 240,000 tonnes
- Deal remains subject to due diligence
CHINESE-LINKED companies are moving deeper into Nigeria’s emerging lithium industry after Australia-listed Chariot Resources agreed a framework covering funded exploration, potential trial mining and an offtake arrangement for one of three prospective projects.
The proposed transaction could connect Chinese financing and mining capability with Nigerian lithium extraction if the programme proceeds. But the deal remains at an early stage: the widely cited 240,000-tonne figure is a maximum contractual ceiling for possible trial mining, not a production target or forecast.
Chinese capital moves closer to extraction
According to Chariot Resources’ August 18 ASX announcement, the company has entered a term sheet with C&D (Hainan), Hong Kong ZhongNuo Energy and C&C Minerals covering one project to be selected from Fonlo, Iganna and Saki.
The parties have agreed to a 90-day exclusivity period during which C&D and ZhongNuo will inspect the sites, select a preferred project, conduct due diligence and seek to negotiate a definitive agreement.
C&D has paid Chariot a refundable $100,000 exclusivity fee.
If the transaction advances, ZhongNuo would finance and undertake at least 1,500 metres of diamond drilling across a minimum of three pits. Samples would then undergo independent laboratory testing before any decision on trial mining.
The structure gives the proposal significance beyond a conventional exploration arrangement. Chinese-linked partners would potentially be involved at several stages — financing exploration, operating trial mining and purchasing qualifying ore.
That comes as Nigeria reports growing lithium potential and seeks to turn discoveries of battery minerals into a larger domestic mining and processing industry.
240,000 tonnes is not a forecast
The headline number attached to the agreement requires careful qualification.
Potential Phase 1 trial mining would be limited to a maximum of 240,000 tonnes of direct shipping ore, or DSO. Chariot specifically states that the figure is a contractual cap rather than an estimate of expected production.
There is currently no Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve estimate for the Fonlo, Iganna or Saki projects, and the term sheet establishes no minimum quantity that must be mined, supplied or purchased.
Trial mining would therefore begin only if drilling and assay results justify proceeding and the parties choose to activate that stage of the agreement.
Chariot’s acquisition of the Nigerian lithium portfolio must also be completed, while mineral titles, regulatory approvals and other conditions must be satisfactorily confirmed.
The distinction is important. The agreement creates a possible route towards production; it does not establish a new 240,000-tonne lithium mine.
China-linked buyer secures potential offtake
If Phase 1 proceeds, C&D would buy qualifying DSO produced under the programme.
C&D Hainan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xiamen C&D, the Chinese commodities and supply-chain group. Chariot says Xiamen C&D recorded RMB671.27bn (about $99.5bn) in operating revenue in 2025 and handles nearly 1.9m tonnes of lithium-battery raw materials annually.
Those figures are supplied by Chariot and underline the commercial scale of the prospective buyer.
Pricing for qualifying ore would be calculated through a formula linked to the Shanghai Metals Market price for battery-grade lithium carbonate. No shipment would be required if the resulting DSO value fell below $150 per dry metric tonne.
C&D would also make a $500,000 interest-free prepayment to Chariot if a definitive agreement is signed, with the money recoverable against future ore invoices.
The arrangement fits a broader pattern in which Chinese companies are expanding their position across Africa’s lithium sector, from exploration and mine development to processing and supply-chain agreements.
Nigeria’s processing policy shapes deal
Nigeria’s government is simultaneously attempting to ensure that growing demand for its minerals produces more domestic value rather than simply increasing exports of unprocessed ore.
Abuja has been pushing mining investors towards local processing and beneficiation, making the eventual structure of lithium developments increasingly important.
That policy gained further momentum with the commissioning of a Chinese-developed lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State.
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information said the Diamond New Energy facility represented an investment of about $250m and had capacity to process around 6,000 tonnes a day.
The project illustrates how Chinese investment in Nigeria’s lithium industry is extending beyond access to raw mineral deposits towards processing infrastructure.
Chariot’s announcement says ZhongNuo has represented that it has access to existing processing facilities in Nigeria, although those arrangements still require verification and documentation.
If confirmed, that could help determine how the proposed trial-mining programme fits Nigeria’s push for more minerals to be processed domestically.
What happens next?
The immediate milestone is the 90-day exclusivity period.
C&D and ZhongNuo must inspect the Nigerian projects, select one site and complete technical, legal and commercial due diligence before the parties can reach a definitive agreement.
Drilling and assay results would then determine whether trial mining is commercially justified.
For Nigeria, the significance lies less in the 240,000-tonne headline figure than in the commercial architecture taking shape around its lithium deposits.
Chinese-linked businesses are positioning themselves across financing, exploration, possible extraction, processing and offtake at a time when Nigeria is trying to establish a larger role in the global battery-minerals supply chain.
Whether the Chariot transaction develops into commercial mining remains uncertain. But it provides another indication that competition for Nigeria’s emerging lithium industry is moving from geological promise towards concrete investment structures.
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