Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmaker John Moolenaar, the

chair of the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan select

committee focused on China, on Thursday raised concerns about

mining group Ivanhoe Atlantic's alleged ties with the Chinese

Communist Party.

"I am writing to bring to your attention information about

companies in concerning ties to the Chinese Communist Party

(CCP) that the State Department has supported. One such company

is Ivanhoe Atlantic (Ivanhoe), a company with well-documented

ties to Chinese state-owned enterprises," Moolenaar, a Michigan

Republican, wrote in a letter addressed to State Department

Secretary Marco Rubio.

Ivanhoe Atlantic's major shareholder is I-Pulse Inc., a US

company founded and chaired by Robert Friedland, according to

the company's website. Friedland is also the founder and

executive co-chair of Toronto-listed Canadian miner Ivanhoe

Mines ( IVPAF ).

Nearly 33% of Ivanhoe Mines ( IVPAF ) is owned by units of Chinese

companies CITIC Group and Zijin Mining, according to LSEG data.

In the letter, Moolenaar pointed Rubio to the U.S. Federal

Communications Commission placing CITIC's telecommunication

services on the list for posing "an unacceptable risk to the

national security of the United States or the security and

safety of United States persons."

He added that Zijin was added in 2025 to the "Uyghur Forced

Labor Prevention Act" (UFLPA) entity list due to the use of

forced labor in China.

Moolenaar linked the two companies and said the stakes in

Ivanhoe Mining "exemplify how the Chinese Communist Party

secures critical mineral supply chains through indirect,

minority-share investments in foreign mining firms as part of

two markets, two resources strategy."

Ivanhoe Atlantic and Ivanhoe Mines ( IVPAF ) did not immediately

respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In July, the U.S. Embassy in Liberia had supported the

signing of an estimated $1.8 billion agreement between Ivanhoe

Atlantic and the Western African nation to create a rail

corridor connecting Guinea and Liberia.

"I share the State Department's commitment to expanding U.S.

commercial engagement in Africa and reducing our reliance on

Chinese-controlled critical mineral supply chains. I am ready to

work with the State Department to ensure that our commercial

diplomacy is free from entanglements with the CCP," Moolenaar

wrote.