Mineral Resources Takes Share Price Hit as Founder Faces Tax Allegations

Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF) has been making headlines since the Australian Financial Review’s October 18 investigative report on alleged transgressions of its founder Chris Ellison.

Ellison has admitted to “failing to properly disclose revenue from his overseas entities to the Australian Taxation Office,” Reuters reported on Monday (October 21). However, he also said he has fully repaid all outstanding tax, penalties and interest that should otherwise have been paid, and that the matter has been settled with the Australian Tax Office.

The same day, Mineral Resources shared a press release responding to numerous media reports, saying that it is conducting an investigation regarding the allegations and that Ellison is cooperating.

“Since its IPO in 2006, payments made by MinRes to offshore entities connected with Mr Ellison related to pre IPO sales contracts that were recognised as liabilities in the company’s financial statements at the time,” the firm said.

The company also posted its annual report for 2024 on Monday.

Mineral Resources’ share price declined on the news, closing at AU$36.50 on Wednesday (October 23). That's a decline of about 20 percent from October 18, when the news about Ellis was reported by the Australian Financial Review.

Company shares are down nearly 50 percent year-to-date, also hampered by weaker lithium and iron ore prices.

Last month, Mineral Resources completed the sale of its 49 percent stake in the Onslow Iron haul road, a major transaction with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners amounting to AU$1.3 billion.

No further statements or updates have been disclosed about the investigation at the time of this writing.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.