{"id":1757705,"date":"2022-12-01T06:30:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T11:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1757705"},"modified":"2022-12-01T06:33:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T11:33:20","slug":"china-may-obtain-primary-ownership-of-u-s-lithium-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-may-obtain-primary-ownership-of-u-s-lithium-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"China May Obtain Primary Ownership of U.S. Lithium Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-may-obtain-primary-ownership-of-u-s-lithium-mine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1757705&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/WORLD-NEWS-CHINA-CONGRESS-ABA-e1666638984189.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019s largest shareholder, a Chinese firm. The mining company is going through with an effort to dilute this Chinese ownership, but concerns remain about China\u2019s potential influence over the critical mineral mine at a time when China is seeking to overtake the U.S. as a dominant global power.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2014 including from Native American and environmental groups \u2014 but the Republican politicians are also honing in on the mining company\u2019s largest shareholder: China-based Ganfeng Lithium Co Ltd.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s lithium resources and has a commanding position over the electric battery supply chain. Bloomberg Law <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/environment-and-energy\/race-for-us-lithium-hinges-on-fight-over-mine-in-nevada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported <\/a>the U.S. currently only has one lithium mine in operation at Albemarle\u2019s Silver Peak in southwestern Nevada.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the concern, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cotton.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/cotton-demands-answers-on-partially-chinese-owned-lithium-mine-potentially-receiving-us-funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said <\/a>Ganfeng is partly owned by China\u2019s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Free Beacon <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/this-foreign-company-wants-to-mine-massive-amounts-of-lithium-in-nevada-first-it-must-overcome-its-china-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported <\/a>Ganfeng currently owns a more than 10 percent stake in Lithium Americas.\u2019 Earlier this month, Lithium Americas announced a corporate restructuring that it told the Washington Free Beacon it hopes will ease the \u201cgeopolitical\u201d concerns surrounding Ganfeng\u2019s ownership stake.<\/p>\n<p>On Nov. 3, Lithium Americas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lithiumamericas.com\/news\/lithium-americas-announces-intention-to-separate-into-two-leading-lithium-companies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced <\/a>it would split into two independent public companies. The Canadian company had primarily been focused on mining projects in Argentina and announced that the split-off company Lithium International would assume Lithium Americas\u2019 Argentine mining assets, while Lithium Americas would keep the Thacker Pass project and the company\u2019s other North American investments.<\/p>\n<p>Ganfeng holds direct ownership stakes in some of the Argentine mining assets and, by splitting off that part of the company, Lithium Americas could dilute its Chinese ownership in the Thacker Pass project. The Washington Free Beacon reported some Republican figures are still concerned about the Lithium Americas split, because the current Lithium Americas shareholders will receive stakes in both Lithium International and Lithium Americas after the split goes though, in direct proportion to their current holdings in Lithium Americas.<\/p>\n<p>While the Lithium Americas\u2019 split will compartmentalize the Argentine mining projects where Ganfeng holds a direct ownership stake, the Chinese firm will still have a key financial interest in the part of the entity that will own the Nevada lithium mine. Ganfeng\u2019s ownership stake in the Thacker Pass mine would continue unless Ganfeng divested from Lithium Americas entirely.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the Washington Free Beacon, Pompeo called the Lithium Americas\u2019 split a \u201chalf measure\u201d that he said is \u201cnowhere near enough to guarantee that the CCP will not have any amount of control over a key source of America\u2019s lithium supply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pompeo told the publication that the U.S. Treasury Department \u2014 which is reviewing the proposed mining deal \u2014 should not approve the Thacker Pass mine until <\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil we know that no CCP-controlled shareholder is involved in this project, the Treasury Department should not allow it to move forward,\u201d Pompeo\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the U.S. Treasury potentially approving the Thacker Pass mining project, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) may also provide funding for the Nevada lithium mine. In December of last year, President Joe Biden\u2019s White House announced the DOE\u2019s Loan Programs Office (LPO) would manage $17 billion worth of government loans for electric vehicle batteries.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Washington Free Beacon, a DOE loan for the Thacker Pass mine would cover \u201cthe majority\u201d of the Nevada lithium mine\u2019s cost.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Cotton called on Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to provide information about the DOE\u2019s potential funding of the Thacker Pass mine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. government should apply strict oversight regarding potential federal funding of CCP-owned or -controlled entities,\u201d Cotton said at the time. \u201cDOE\u2019s loan for the Thacker Pass mine would be substantial and reportedly cover the majority of the project\u2019s capital costs. It is critical that DOE ensure taxpayer funding does not go to corporations with CCP ties and does not increase U.S. mineral dependence on China.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the Canadian government <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmilitarynews.com\/2022\/11\/canada-orders-3-chinese-firms-to-divest-from-mining-companies-over-security-concerns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ordered three Chinese firms to divest from Canadian lithium and rare metals mining companies.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1757708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1757705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1757705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1757708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1757705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1757705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1757705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}