Significant transactions by foreign state-owned companies in Canada's critical minerals sectors would now only be approved on an exceptional basis.

Pending the new contracts’ finalization, the total volume of uranium successfully contracted since the beginning of 2022 is expected to be about 77 million lb.

Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith says he “remains confident" and hopes to get the majority of investors on board by the time shareholders vote on the transaction.

Joe Foster, who manages gold funds at investment firm VanEck, said the merger would create a more complex company with not much synergy.

The technology is housed in a self-contained unit and takes the lithium chloride feed produced by the company’s existing direct lithium extraction (DLE) demonstration plant.

China is Canada’s third-biggest trade partner and British Columbia’s second-largest.

Mine in British Columbia remains suspended pending an investigation into the death of a worker from contracting partner Procon.