Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ordered six companies with ties to China to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals, a rare earth mining company, citing national interest concerns. The move aims to prevent alleged Chinese attempts to gain control over the strategic resource.

The order, issued on Monday, targets shareholders of Northern Minerals, which is developing the Browns Range project in Western Australia to mine dysprosium and terbium—heavy rare earth elements critical for high-performance magnets used in clean energy and defense applications.

The six companies have two weeks to divest their holdings. Chalmers stated that Australia operates a robust and non-discriminatory foreign investment framework and will take further action if needed to protect national interests.

China currently dominates the global dysprosium market, mining about 60% of raw materials and refining an estimated 95-98% of supply. Once Northern Minerals and a new Australian refinery become operational, Australia would become the first significant non-Chinese source of processed dysprosium.

Western nations, including Australia and the US, have been increasingly restricting Chinese investment in critical minerals. This is not the first such action: in 2024, Australia forced five investors to sell their Northern Minerals shares, and in 2025, the Treasury took an unprecedented step by suing a major shareholder for defying a sell order.

Source: www.dw.com