Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has issued binding divestment orders compelling six investors linked to China to sell their entire 17.5% stake in Northern Minerals, the ASX-listed developer of a strategically critical rare earths project in remote Western Australia, over national security and foreign investment rule compliance concerns. The forced sale, which impacts nearly 1.68 billion shares valued at around AU$40.4 million, marks the latest escalation in a months-long regulatory battle over control of the Browns Range project, which is set to produce heavy rare earth elements critical to global semiconductor manufacturing, defense supply chains, and clean energy technologies. The investors subject to the orders include three companies registered in Beijing, Hong Kong, and the British Virgin Islands, as well as two individual Chinese citizens, all of whom have been given a 14-day deadline to complete the full divestment of their holdings. In a public statement released Monday, Chalmers emphasized that Australia maintains a rigorous, even-handed foreign investment regulatory framework designed to protect core national interests. “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,” Chalmers said. Northern Minerals, which has already received full regulatory approval to bring the Browns Range mine into production, paused trading on the Australian Securities Exchange shortly before market open on Monday before publishing full details of the divestment orders in an official filing an hour later. When operational, the project will produce two of the most strategically vital heavy rare earths globally: dysprosium, where China controls roughly 60% of total global supply, and terbium, where China dominates approximately 90% of global refining capacity. Both elements are irreplaceable components in high-strength permanent magnets used for everything from electric vehicle motors to advanced defense weapons systems. Breakdown of the required divestments, as outlined in Northern Minerals’ ASX filing, shows the largest single stake to be sold is the 619 million shares held by British Virgin Islands-registered Real International Resources, which accumulated the holding between 2023 and early 2025. Hong Kong-based Qogir Trading and Service Co. is ordered to offload 523.5 million shares, while Beijing-registered Vastness Investment Group and Chinese national Chuanyou Cong have each been directed to sell 130 million shares. Hong Kong’s Ying Tak must dispose of 93 million shares it acquired last November, and a second Chinese national, Zhongxiong Lin, has to sell 39.8 million shares. This latest action builds on prior regulatory enforcement against non-compliant foreign investors in the project. Back in June 2025, Chalmers took two other investors to the Federal Court of Australia over alleged breaches of the country’s Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act. One of those entities, Indian Ocean International Shipping and Service Company, and its sole director, Chinese national Jing Tian, had already been ordered to divest their Northern Minerals stake a year prior, but failed to comply. The Federal Court ultimately imposed a combined AU$14 million fine for the violation, one of the largest penalties ever issued for foreign investment non-compliance in Australia. Vastness Investment Group, which already holds a 7.7% stake in Northern Minerals, escalated tensions earlier this year when it called for an extraordinary general meeting to vote on the removal of independent director Adam Handley. The legality of that move has been contested in court, with a ruling requiring the meeting to be held no later than June 30, 2025. The ongoing regulatory dispute dates back to 2024, when Chalmers issued his first round of divestment orders covering 613 million Northern Minerals shares. In April 2025, Northern Minerals disclosed to the ASX that roughly 60% of those ordered shares had been transferred to Ying Tak, prompting Chalmers to immediately issue a separate order barring the company from recognizing Ying Tak’s voting rights on any of its holdings.
Treasurer orders investors dump shares of WA rare earths miner over Chinese control fears
