American Military News by Ryan Morgan 11/28/2022
A Canadian company is hoping to get approval and federal funding for a new lithium mine in northern Nevada, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Republican lawmakers are raising concerns about the mining company’s largest shareholder, a Chinese firm. The mining company is going through with an effort to dilute this Chinese ownership, but concerns remain about China’s potential influence over the critical mineral mine at a time when China is seeking to overtake the U.S. as a dominant global power.
Lithium Americas, a Canadian-based company, has been trying to get approval from the U.S. federal government to proceed with its Thacker Pass mine in northern Nevada for years but is awaiting approval to begin mining. The company is already facing a variety of legal challenges to the new mining project — including from Native American and environmental groups — but the Republican politicians are also honing in on the mining company’s largest shareholder: China-based Ganfeng Lithium Co Ltd.
Lithium is a key material for electric batteries. Lithium Americas is trying to get approval for the Thacker Pass mine at a time when China controls roughly 60 percent of the world’s lithium resources and has a commanding position over the electric battery supply chain. Bloomberg Law reported the U.S. currently only has one lithium mine in operation at Albemarle’s Silver Peak in southwestern Nevada.
Adding to the concern, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Ganfeng is partly owned by China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Washington Free Beacon reported Ganfeng currently owns a more than 10 percent stake in Lithium Americas.’ Earlier this month, Lithium Americas announced a corporate restructuring that it told the Washington Free Beacon it hopes will ease the “geopolitical” concerns surrounding Ganfeng’s ownership stake.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/11/china-may-get-top-ownership-of-us-lithium-mine/
