Politics · Australia · 12 hrs ago
Australia says nationalising Northern Minerals is an option
Australia's government is considering nationalising Northern Minerals, a Perth-based rare earths company.
The company is developing the Browns Range project in Western Australia's east Kimberley region.
Six China-linked investors were ordered to sell their shares, which together amount to about 17 per cent of the company, but most of those shares remained held after the deadline.
The government says the company is strategically important because it could help Australia and the United States reduce reliance on China for critical minerals.
Its project could supply dysprosium and terbium, minerals used in renewable energy infrastructure and advanced military technology.
The uncertainty over the investors' shares is holding up development, and the minister says the government is closely monitoring the situation.
No nationalisation decision has been made, and the minister described it as one possible option.
Resources Minister Madeleine King said nationalising Northern Minerals is one option as China-linked investors fail to comply with orders to sell their shares.
The federal government ordered six investors holding about 17 per cent of the company to divest by July 2.
Northern Minerals later told the Australian Securities Exchange that the investors still held most of the shares they had been ordered to sell.
The company is developing the Browns Range project in Western Australia, which could provide alternative sources of heavy rare earths.
King said uncertainty over the shareholdings was holding up the project, which she described as important to Australia’s national interest and security.
- Who
- Resources Minister Madeleine King said nationalising Northern Minerals is one option. China-linked investors have been ordered to sell shares in the company.
- What
- The government is considering nationalisation as an option amid investors’ failure to divest.
- When
- King made the comments on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. The investors were ordered to divest by July 2.
- Where
- Northern Minerals is based in Perth and is developing the Browns Range project in Western Australia’s east Kimberley region.
- Why
- The company is considered strategically important to developing alternative supplies of heavy rare earths and to Australia’s national interest and security.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers blocked China-linked investor Yuxiao Fund from increasing its stake in Northern Minerals.
Chalmers ordered five other companies linked to China to divest from Northern Minerals.
Chalmers ordered six investors holding around 17 per cent of Northern Minerals to divest by July 2.
Northern Minerals told the Australian Securities Exchange that the investors still held most of the shares they had been ordered to sell.
King said nationalisation was one option and that no decision had been made.
- Investors ordered to divest
- Six investors holding around 17 per cent of Northern Minerals
- Divestment deadline
- July 2, 2026
- Project
- Browns Range, Western Australia’s east Kimberley region
- Rare earths
- Dysprosium and terbium
- US funding
- About $500 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States
What people are saying
I guess it is one option, but I wouldn't want to advance on any decision we're making there
It is one of the most significant heavy rare earth deposits on the face of the Earth, so it means a lot to us and our national interest and national security
failure to follow through or pay respects, quite frankly, to Australian government decisions, is a very serious matter we are looking at