The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that critical minerals player Solaris Resources has called off its financing deal with China's Zijin Mining Group after failing to receive regulatory approval from Ottawa, which had been vetting the transaction on national security grounds. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Solaris in January said that Zijin intended to pay $130-million for a 15-per-cent equity stake in the company. Solaris had planned to use the funds to advance its early-stage Warintza copper project in Ecuador. If the deal had been approved, Zijin would have been entitled to a seat on Solaris's board. Copper, along with nickel, lithium and graphite, is used in electric-vehicle batteries and other low-carbon energy sources. Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in late 2022 that he would only allow Chinese companies to finance Canadian critical minerals companies on an exceptional basis. Ottawa tightened the rules in large part because China has become so powerful in controlling the supply chain of many critical minerals, particularly battery metals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite. On Tuesday, Vancouver-based Solaris criticized the government's handling of the matter.