Chariot Resources (ASX:CC9) Lands Deal with CATL Supplier: Is This Micro-Cap Lithium Stock a Buy?

Chariot Resources’ Nigeria Lithium Opportunity

Chariot Resources (ASX: CC9) has started 2026 with a bang. The company just signed a deal with Shanghai GreatPower, one of China’s biggest battery materials suppliers. If things go well, Shanghai GreatPower could buy up to 200,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per year from Chariot’s Nigerian projects. The deal also includes talks about funding support and building a processing plant in Nigeria.

Why does this matter? Shanghai GreatPower supplies battery materials to some of the world’s biggest names- CATL, LG Energy Solution, BMW, and Samsung. For a tiny company like Chariot, with a market cap of just AUD 35 million, getting attention from a player this size is a big deal. It suggests there’s something real in Nigeria worth pursuing.

But here’s the catch. This is still just a non-binding agreement. Nothing is locked in yet, and Chariot Resources doesn’t even own the Nigerian assets; that deal is still being finalised. So is this a ground-floor opportunity or a speculative punt?

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Why Shanghai GreatPower Matters

Shanghai GreatPower isn’t just any Chinese company. It runs multiple facilities producing battery-grade lithium materials, and LG Energy Solution actually owns a stake in it. When a company with these connections shows interest, it tells you something about the quality of what Chariot has found.

Under the agreement, Chariot would first ship raw ore to a collection point in Nigeria, then move to a longer-term concentrate supply. Shanghai GreatPower has also hinted at providing funding, either through loans or upfront payments against future deliveries. That kind of support could help Chariot move faster without constantly raising money from shareholders.

Perhaps most importantly, this partnership suggests Chariot’s first-mover advantage in Nigeria is real. The company claims to be the first publicly listed lithium explorer in the country, and having a major Chinese buyer at the table adds weight to that positioning.

The Risks You Need to Know

Let’s be clear about what could go wrong. The MOU is non-binding, meaning Shanghai GreatPower can walk away at any time. There’s no guarantee this turns into a real contract.

More concerning is that Chariot Resources still doesn’t own the Nigerian projects outright. The acquisition has been pushed back to May 2026. Until that closes, everything else is hypothetical. The company also has no official resource estimate yet-drilling hasn’t even started.

On the positive side, early samples from the Fonlo and Iganna projects showed strong lithium grades, and local miners have been selling hand-sorted concentrates to Chinese buyers for several years. That proves there’s demand for what’s in the ground. But at a share price of just 17 cents, this is firmly micro-cap territory. Expect volatility and thin trading volumes.

What Investors Should Watch

This is a speculative play, pure and simple. The Shanghai GreatPower deal adds credibility, but several things need to happen before Chariot Resources becomes a serious investment.

First, watch for the Nigerian acquisition to close; that’s the foundation everything else sits on. Second, look for drilling results once exploration begins. Without a proper resource estimate, it’s impossible to value what Chariot actually has.

For risk-tolerant investors comfortable with early-stage miners, Chariot Resources offers genuine upside if execution goes well. For everyone else, we’d suggest waiting on the sidelines until those key milestones are ticked off.