A Chilean court has rejected a request from China’s Tianqi Lithium to pause a planned partnership between state-run Codelco and lithium miner SQM as the court analyzes arguments against the deal, according to a court document dated Thursday.

Tianqi, which owns about a fifth of SQM, is challenging the financial regulator’s decision to allow the joint venture to move forward without a vote by shareholders, and last week asked an appeals court to suspend the regulator’s resolution while analyzing the matter. SQM and Tianqi declined to comment.