Zijin Mining Group Acquired Neo Lithium From Canada For 5 Billion Yuan To Enter New Energy

最近几个月，这两家公司一直在稳步，安静，但加拿大政治家有不可避免的心理。目前，自由党是加拿大执政党，而保守党和新闻民主党则的缔约方是反对派。保守党领导者艾琳O'Toole在上周一告诉新闻发布会，她要求政府对该交易进行国家安全审查。O'Toole先生表示，审查对加拿大至关重要，以确保其供应和进入锂电片“保护我们的经济和竞争优势”，并确保加拿大矿业公司仍然领先于中国竞争对手。

On Tuesday, four Conservative lawmakers and one New Democrat sent a letter to Joel Lightbound, a Liberal lawmaker and chairman of the industry and technology committee, calling for an emergency meeting to review the deal. "The Liberal government has chosen not to conduct a national security review following the announcement of the acquisition of New Lithium Of Canadian Lithium Mining Corporation under the provisions of the Investment Canada Act," the letter said. "We are concerned that foreign acquisitions were not immediately vetted and properly due diligence conducted. Key minerals such as lithium are vital to the future prosperity of the Canadian economy and our strategic interests."

同日,发言人劳里布沙尔for the minister of Innovation, science and Industry, said that all foreign investments need to be vetted, and that key minerals will be subject to special scrutiny under current announced government policies. "The Investment Review Department works with responsible government agencies and Canada's security and intelligence community to conduct systematic and thorough reviews of investments in key minerals," she said. She added that if potential problems were identified through the review process, a national security review would be formally initiated. Canada does not hesitate to block transactions that are not in the country's best interests and will remain vigilant in protecting Canada's access to and development of critical mineral supplies.

An extraordinary meeting of the Industry and Technology Committee was held on the afternoon of 20 January. Andy Fillmore, a Liberal mp and parliamentary secretary to Francois-Philippe Champagne, the industry minister, argued that his ministry had reviewed the takeover last autumn. The review concluded that New Lithium was only an Argentine company, not a "genuine Canadian company", with directors in the UK and only three Canadian employees "on paper". The new Lithium project involves lithium carbonate, rather than lithium hydroxide, which is used to make batteries vital for electric cars. Therefore, the acquisition does not raise national security concerns and a formal national security review is unnecessary.

Ed Fast, a Conservative MEMBER of parliament, said it was "wrong" to assume that the new lithium company was not Canadian, and the company's own website described the mine as "the world's pre-eminent lithium brine asset" to meet growing global demand for electric car batteries. Although the mine is in Argentina, Canada and other "free-trading, rule-abiding Allies" have a responsibility to ensure that the world's key mineral industry is not monopolized by one country, especially one whose "interests are sometimes hostile to us".

Tory MP特蕾西灰色表示碳酸锂可以转化为氢氧化锂以用于电池。但是，填充转换过程涉及额外成本和“重大环境影响”的计数器，这就是为什么氢氧化锂优选的原因。例如，他说，“我可能会把一个适当的帽子从袜子里拿出来，但我宁愿戴帽子。”“这些是他们找到的东西，对吗？事实上，它与加拿大的国家安全利益无关，并不是一家加拿大公司。”

最后，委员会成员同意，下周（即本周）就该主题举行了两次会议。指导小组还将在未来几个月内举行委员会议程，并可决定在收购方面安排更多会议。