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Canada Orders Formal Review of Chinese Bid for Arizaro Lithium Project
Ottawa will formally review China Union Holdings' plan to buy Argentum Lithium, operator of the Arizaro lithium project in Argentina, under the Investment Canada Act.
Why it matters
Ottawa is extending its national-security screening of foreign investment to a deal that involves no Canadian assets at all — a lithium project in Argentina being bought by a Chinese company — testing the outer limits of the Investment Canada Act.
Full report
Calgary-based Lithium Chile Inc. announced on September 29 that Canada's Innovation, Science and Economic Development department (ISED) has notified China Union Holdings Ltd. (CUH) it will conduct a formal review of CUH's previously announced plan to acquire all outstanding shares of Argentum Lithium S.A., under section 25 of the Investment Canada Act.
CUH told Lithium Chile it is reviewing the order and will advise the company on its intended course of action once determined.
The transaction was originally announced on December 22, 2025. Argentum's sole asset is a 62.2 percent stake in ARLI S.A., the operator of the Arizaro lithium project in Argentina's Salta Province; Lithium Chile holds 29,245 hectares on the Salar de Arizaro. On August 17, 2026, both companies received a preliminary notice under subsection 25.2(1) of the Act stating the Director of Investments had reasonable grounds to believe the sale could be injurious to national security.
Lithium Chile has disputed Ottawa's jurisdiction, arguing Argentum has no business in Canada, no Canadian offices, no Canadian employees and no domestic assets, and has criticized the seven-month regulatory silence before the August intervention as damaging to investor confidence.
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