Wednesday 14 October 2026
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Australia

Nationalisation 'an option' for rare earths miner as China-linked investors defy divestment orders

Resources Minister Madeleine King says the Browns Range project is vital to national security

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
Sources2 outlets
Resources Minister Madeleine King has said nationalising the Perth-based heavy rare earths company Northern Minerals is an option for the government, as China-linked investors continue to defy federal orders to sell their stakes in the strategically sensitive miner.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Ms King said the government was weighing how to respond to investors who had failed to divest from the company. In May, Treasurer Jim Chalmers ordered six investors holding about 17 per cent of Northern Minerals to divest by July 2. The company, which is developing the Browns Range project in Western Australia's east Kimberley region, told the ASX in July that the investors still held most of the shares they had been ordered to sell.

Ms King said the uncertainty was "holding up" development of a deposit she described as "one of the most significant heavy rare earth deposits on the face of the Earth", and vital to national interest and national security. The project is a source of dysprosium and terbium, critical minerals used in renewable energy infrastructure and advanced military technology. Northern Minerals is already on track for about $500 million in funding from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and is seen by both Washington and Canberra as a key player in efforts to break China's stranglehold on the critical minerals supply chain.

When asked whether the government would be willing to nationalise the company, Ms King said: "I guess it is one option, but I wouldn't want to advance on any decision we're making there." She also appeared to confirm that the companies had failed to pay fines imposed by the federal government, saying "failure to follow through or pay respects, quite frankly, to Australian government decisions, is a very serious matter we are looking at".

The comments follow a rolling series of government interventions. In 2023, Mr Chalmers blocked the China-linked Yuxiao Fund from boosting its stake, and in 2025 he ordered another five companies linked to China to divest. Earlier this year, one of those investors launched an unsuccessful bid to topple the company's leadership.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The dispute will help determine who controls one of the world's most significant heavy rare earth deposits, with direct implications for the US-Australia push to reduce reliance on China for critical minerals.
  • A nationalisation would be a major intervention by the Australian state in a listed company and could reshape how foreign investment rules are enforced.
  • Continued defiance by the investors risks undermining the credibility of Treasury and FIRB divestment orders.

Background

Rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium are essential for clean energy technologies and defence systems, and China dominates global supply. Western governments have been actively seeking alternative sources. Northern Minerals' Browns Range project is one potential Western source, and the US has committed significant funding support. Australia's foreign investment framework allows the government to block or unwind investments that pose national security risks, but enforcing those decisions is now being tested in a high-profile case.

Key Perspectives

Australian Government: Treats the project as critical to national security and the economy, and insists foreign investors must comply with FIRB and divestment decisions. Nationalisation is being discussed as one option, though no decision has been made. China-linked investors: Have kept most of their shares despite the orders, and one investor attempted to oust the company's leadership earlier this year. Their reasons for resisting have not been detailed in the reporting. Critics and observers: Nationalisation could raise sovereign risk concerns for foreign investors in Australia, and the prolonged uncertainty is already holding up development of the project.

What to Watch

  • Whether the government escalates to nationalisation or pursues other enforcement measures.
  • Any action related to the unpaid fines and outstanding divestment orders.
  • Whether the dispute affects the planned US Export-Import Bank funding for the Browns Range project.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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