Australia orders firms to sell stakes in rare earths miner

Australia ordered the shareholders linked to China to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals, a company that is developing a rare earth mine. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he had ‌issued ⁠orders on Monday following concerns that Chinese investors had tried to take control of Northern Minerals. 

The Australia-based mining company is developing its Browns Range project in the far north of the state of Western Australia to mine significant reserves of dysprosium and terbium. 

The six companies are to sell their stake within two weeks. 

Chalmer's decision aims to protect the country's national interest and to ensure compliance with its foreign investment framework, he said in a statement.

"We operate a robust and non-discriminatory foreign investment ‌framework, and will take further action if required to ⁠protect our national interest in relation ⁠to this matter," he said.

Why are dysprosium and terbium so important?

Dysprosium and terbium are heavy rare earth elements critical for heat-resistant high-performance magnets. These are used in clean energy applications, such as hybrid vehicles and wind turbines, as well as in specialist defense applications.

China currently almost completely dominates the world's dysprosium market.

It mines around 60% of the raw materials and refines an estimated 95%-98% of global supply. That gives it a near monopoly on processed commercial dysprosium.

Northern Mineral's rare earths are slated to be processed at a new refinery being built in Australia. 

When both projects go online, Australia would become the first significant non-Chinese source of processed dysprosium.

Western nations, including Australia and the United States, are seeking to limit Chinese investment in critical minerals. 

Ongoing saga of mysterious Chinese investors in Northern Minerals 

Chinese investors have sought to take sizeable positions in Northern Minerals in recent years. 

In regards to Chalmer's most recent disposal order, three of the six shareholders had addresses in China, two in Hong Kong and one was listed in the British Virgin Islands.

But Australia had already used foreign takeover laws back in 2024 to force five investors to sell their shares in Northern Minerals.     

In 2025, the Treasury took the unprecedented move of taking one of the biggest shareholders to court, saying it defied the sell-order and instead transferred shares into the name of its own director. 

Edited by: Wesley Dockery