SANTIAGO, July 15 (Reuters) - Chile's CMF financial

regulator rejected an appeal from China's Tianqi Lithium on

Monday over the entity's ruling that a major lithium tie-up

between state-run Codelco and lithium miner SQM can proceed

without shareholder approval.

Tianqi, which owns about a fifth of SQM, has repeatedly

called for the planned partnership to be put to a shareholders'

vote. Codelco and SQM in May finalized the

terms of the deal, which would end up diluting Tianqi's share in

the world's second-largest lithium producer.

Tianqi did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

If the company wishes to contest the CMF, it has ten

days to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals in Santiago,

the CMF said in a resolution published on its website.

Codelco and SQM previously said they expected final

regulatory approvals to come through within the first few months

of 2025, allowing the joint venture to proceed. The partnership

would grant SQM the ability to extract lithium in the prized

Atacama salt flat through 2060, while giving Codelco, the state

copper giant, a major role in Chile's lithium industry.