Chalice Mining chief executive Alex Dorsch claimed short-selling of critical minerals stocks should be banned “in the national interest” to ensure “geopolitical opponents” cannot hold back the development of Australian mines.

His plea to replicate a similar ban adopted by South Korea’s regulator in November, which was met with consternation from market participants, follows Chalice shares falling 72.9 per cent this year after the company disappointed the market with the results of a scoping study into its Gonneville project north of Perth.