Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has issued interim directions stripping three foreign entities of all voting rights and shareholder powers at Perth-based rare earths developer Northern Minerals Limited (ASX: NTU) after they failed to divest their stakes by the 2 July deadline.
The directions target Hong Kong Ying Tak Limited, Real International Resources Limited, and Qogir Trading & Service Co., which collectively hold about 1.24 billion shares representing 13 per cent of Northern Minerals.
The three entities were among six foreign shareholders ordered by the Treasurer in May this year to dispose of their holdings in the company on national security grounds.
Chalmers issued the order on the basis of "protecting our national interest and ensuring compliance with our foreign investment framework".
The interim directions prohibit the three entities from exercising any rights attached to their shares, including voting at shareholder meetings, and will remain in force indefinitely until they comply with the original disposal orders.
Northern Minerals itself has been directed to refuse to recognise any vote or exercise of rights by the non-compliant shareholders.
The May disposal orders covered a total of 1.68 billion shares, or about 17.58 per cent of Northern Minerals, spread across six foreign shareholders.
Hong Kong Ying Tak was ordered to divest 95.33 million shares, Real International Resources 619 million shares and Qogir Trading & Service Co. 523,4 million shares.
The Treasurer found that a majority of the shares subject to the May orders remained registered in the names of the non-compliant entities as at the 2 July deadline.
The shares held by the six shareholders named in the May disposal orders were collectively worth just under $41 million.
Northern Minerals executive chair Adam Handley today welcomed the Treasurer's interim directions.
"A review of Northern Minerals' share register following 2 July 2026 showed that a majority of the shares the subject of the May disposal orders remained registered in the names of the persons the subject of those orders, and the company referred those matters to FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board)," says Handley.
"The Federal Treasurer's interim directions provide that the shares held by HKYT, Real and Qogir in contravention of the May disposal orders cannot be voted at company shareholder meetings."
The Northern Minerals saga has been characterised as part of a broader campaign by Chinese state-linked interests to gain covert control of Northern Minerals, which is developing the Browns Range heavy rare earths project in Western Australia's Kimberley region.
The resource is one of the few high-grade deposits outside of China containing dysprosium and terbium with the heavy rare earths critical inputs for defence and advanced technology applications.
The July directions are the latest in a series of escalating enforcement actions by the government.
The Treasurer first ordered foreign shareholders to divest their stakes in Northern Minerals in 2024, and Federal Court penalties totalling $14 million have already been imposed for failure to comply with those earlier orders.
Separate interim directions covering an additional 361.5 million Hong Kong Ying Tak shares, representing 3.79 per cent of the company, also remain in effect.
Those directions relate to suspected contraventions of the 2024 disposal order through share transfers from Black Stone Resources, Xi Wang, and Ximei Liu, and are unaffected by the latest orders.
ASIC has granted Northern Minerals until 30 September this year to hold its delayed 2025 annual general meeting.
Help us deliver quality journalism to you.
As a free and independent news site providing daily updates
during a period of unprecedented challenges for businesses everywhere
we call on your support