A company controlled by the Chinese government has withdrawn its bid to buy majority control of a small Nevada gold mining operation after Obama administration officials, pointing to a nearby Navy air station, raised national security concerns about the deal, Eric Lipton writes in The New York Times. The decision by the company, Northwest Nonferrous International Investment Company, averts a showdown over its proposed $26 million purchase of a 51 percent stake in the Firstgold Corporation. The Treasury Department was prepared on Monday to recommend that President Obama block the sale.