(Aug 10): Australia has stepped in again to try to force some Chinese investors out of a rare earths mining firm, telling two parties that they will also need government approval before selling their holdings to ensure the shares aren’t sold to any related parties.

Six China-linked investors were told in May to sell their shares in Northern Minerals Ltd, but failed to do so, which led the government to freeze some of those holdings in July. Two of the companies have now been told that before they sell any shares they must get the approval of the Australian government to ensure that the sale isn’t to a related party, Northern Minerals said in a stock exchange filing Monday.

The move is the latest step in the long-running attempt by the government to force the Chinese investors to sell out of Northern Minerals — an effort that has now dragged on since 2024. Despite the government suing some of them, it has so far proven impossible to force all the investors to sell their shares to unrelated entities.

Northern Minerals’ shares were up as much at 7.7% in Sydney trading.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja