Global Lithium Resources, a lithium explorer backed by billionaire businessman Chris Ellison, is attempting to delay its annual shareholder meeting for what it says is a breach of the foreign ownership rules.

The West Australian group said on Friday that it feared that minority shareholder Liaoliang “Leon” Zhu was attempting to seize control of the company and its lithium assets near Kalgoorlie by nominating for the board and attempting to limit the number of directors to three.

Mark Wembridge covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Perth. He formerly worked for the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at [email protected]

Peter Ker covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Melbourne. Connect with Peter on Twitter. Email Peter at [email protected]