Context: China dominates both mining (about 70%) and processing (about 90%) of rare earths, fueling Western efforts to diversify supply chains for strategic reasons.

The Australian government, led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, has temporarily frozen the voting and other rights of three China-linked investors in Northern Minerals to block what it views as an attempt to illegally gain control over the Browns Range rare earth project in Western Australia.

Northern Minerals welcomed the intervention, noting that most of the May-ordered shares remain with the same individuals and that the matter has been referred to the Foreign Investment Review Board, with the company’s shares rising more than 7% on the news.

The three investors are Hong Kong Ying Tank Limited, Real International Resources Limited, and Qogir Trading & Service Co. Limited; they were among six shareholders ordered to divest in May but did not comply, prompting the current protective action.

The move aligns with broader Albanese government concerns about increasing Chinese shareholdings in Australian critical minerals, including dysprosium and terbium used in magnets for motors, wind turbines, missiles, and other technologies.

Chalmers’ order aims to protect national interest and the integrity of Australia’s foreign investment framework, with the government signaling it will enforce compliance with the law.

Northern Minerals’ Browns Range project, in the East Kimberley, is viewed as a potential first significant non-Chinese source of dysprosium and could supply heavy rare earths to Australia’s first fully integrated rare earth refinery planned by Iluka Resources at Eneabba, WA.