China’s bid to lead the world in producing the batteries that power electric vehicles has led it on a global quest to buy up critical mineral supplies. In Canada, a recent decision by the government to wave through the Chinese acquisition of a fast-growing lithium miner has some worried it’s being handed an advantage on a plate.
Zijin Mining, one of China’s largest miners by market capitalization, announced in October that it would spend $770 million to acquire Toronto-listed Neo Lithium, whose assets and management are mostly based in a lithium-rich region of Argentina. Just two months later, Canada’s federal government decided the deal would not require a formal security review that is equivalent to a CFIUS national security review in the United States.
Zijin, whose biggest shareholder is a state-owned firm, will use the acquisition to diversify further into lithium, alongside its core copper and gold resources. For China Inc., it’s an incremental addition to an alrea
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