Australia orders firms to sell stakes in rare earths miner

"Australia ordered the shareholders linked to China to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals, a company that is developing a rare earth mine. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he had issued orders on Monday following concerns that Chinese investors had tried to take control of Northern Minerals. The Australia-based mining company is developing its Browns Range project in the far north of the state of Western Australia to mine significant reserves of dysprosium and terbium. The six companies are to sell their stake within two weeks."

"Chalmer's decision aims to protect the country's national interest and to ensure compliance with its foreign investment framework, he said in a statement. "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," he said."

"Dysprosium and terbium are heavy rare earth elements critical for heat-resistant high-performance magnets. These are used in clean energy applications, such as hybrid vehicles and wind turbines, as well as in specialist defense applications. China currently almost completely dominates the world's dysprosium market. It mines around 60% of the raw materials and refines an estimated 95%-98% of global supply. That gives it a near monopoly on processed commercial dysprosium."

"Northern Mineral's rare earths are slated to be processed at a new refinery being built in Australia. When both projects go online, Australia would become the first significant non-Chinese source of processed dysprosium. Western nations, including Australia and the United States, are seeking to limit Chinese investment in critical minerals."

Australia ordered six China-linked shareholders to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals within two weeks after concerns about Chinese attempts to take control. The company is developing the Browns Range rare earth mine in far north Western Australia, targeting significant reserves of dysprosium and terbium. The Treasurer said the action protects national interest and ensures compliance with Australia’s foreign investment framework, with further action possible if needed. Dysprosium and terbium are heavy rare earth elements used in heat-resistant, high-performance magnets for clean energy technologies such as hybrid vehicles and wind turbines, and for specialist defense applications. China dominates dysprosium mining and refining, giving it near monopoly power over processed supply. Processing in Australia could create a major non-Chinese source of processed dysprosium.

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