In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, John Moolenaar, Chairman of the China Task Force of the U.S. House of Representatives, expressed serious concerns regarding the alleged connections between the mining group Ivanhoe Atlantic and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Moolenaar urged the State Department to ensure that commercial diplomacy in Africa would not lead to entanglements with the CCP.
The letter revealed that despite the close relationship between Ivanhoe Atlantic and Chinese state-owned enterprises, the company’s $1.8 billion railway project in West Africa still received support from senior State Department officials. Moolenaar pointed out that this posed a threat to the strategic goal of reducing U.S. dependence on critical mineral supply chains controlled by the CCP.
The core allegations made by Moolenaar revolve around two aspects: Chinese equity infiltration and political influence.
Moolenaar highlighted that approximately 40% of the shares of Ivanhoe Atlantic’s “sister company,” Ivanhoe Mines, are collectively held by Chinese state-owned enterprises CITIC and Zijin Mining. He warned that these ownership stakes reflect how the CCP penetrates critical mineral supply chains through indirect, minority equity investments, as part of its “dual markets, dual resources” strategy aimed at global market penetration.
Both CITIC and Zijin Mining are included on U.S. restriction lists. In 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) listed CITIC-controlled telecommunications services on the “covered list,” citing “unacceptable risks” to U.S. national security. In 2025, Zijin Mining was included on the Entity List under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act for alleged use of forced labor in China.
The letter further accused members of Ivanhoe Atlantic’s board of having connections to the CCP’s United Front system: Patrick Tsang, a board member, is a committee member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Moolenaar emphasized that the CPPCC is a systemic protective umbrella of the CCP’s United Front organization used to exert and garner political influence. Tsang also serves as the CEO and director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited.
Kenneth Lau, another board member, is also a supervisor at Chow Tai Fook, a company previously embroiled in a price-fixing investigation and reportedly linked to organized crime syndicates in China.
Ivanhoe Atlantic has denied the allegations, asserting that the company is entirely independent from Ivanhoe Mines.
CEO Bronwyn Barnes stated in a press release that the company’s iron ore project in Guinea aims to counter CCP control in the Simandou region and ensure the products are reserved for the supply chains of the United States and its allies, not exported via the “Chinese (Chinese-funded) Guinea multinational railway.”
However, Moolenaar’s letter revisited controversies faced by the company’s predecessor, High Power Exploration (HPX). In September 2024, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee blocked State Department funding originally intended to support HPX in establishing the Liberia National Rail Authority. One of the reasons cited for the fund block was that the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia “fabricated” a reason linking the project to countering the CCP, with Liberian officials acknowledging the lack of necessity for the rail authority.
Moolenaar emphasized in the letter that despite this background and controversy, the State Department publicly supported the transaction with a company linked to the CCP.
In July of this year, Ivanhoe Atlantic reached an estimated $1.8 billion agreement with the Liberian government to repair a railway connecting Guinea and Liberian ports for the transport of iron ore. Moolenaar pointed out that shortly after the negotiations concluded in April, a senior State Department official publicly expressed support for Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s initiative and urged the swift finalization of the agreement.
The letter warned that this project, supported by the State Department, could potentially receive funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the U.S. federal government.
Moolenaar concluded the letter by stating, “I agree with the State Department’s efforts to expand U.S. commercial engagement in Africa and reduce our dependence on critical mineral supply chains controlled by China (the CCP). I am willing to collaborate with the State Department to ensure that our commercial diplomacy does not become entangled with the CCP.”