A proposed acquisition of the company by a Chinese state owned mining firm in 2012 was thwarted by resource nationalism in Mongolia.

By 2012, Ivanhoe Mines had come under the influence of its largest shareholder Rio Tinto, which wanted to sell non-core assets, which included SouthGobi.

[5] In the same year, Ivanhoe Mines attempted to sell its 57.6% of SouthGobi to Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) for $889 million.

Chalco called off the deal in September 2012 after estimating "chances for obtaining approval from the Mongolian government were slim".

During and after the sale process, the Mongolian government jailed SouthGobi employees and suspended its mining license for several months.

[11] The aggressive actions of the Mongolian government against SouthGobi succeeded in blocking the deal with Chalco but had the effect of terrifying foreign investors, resulting in a large slump in investment to Mongolia that continued for several years after 2012.

[3] In March 2015, Novel Sunrise Investments, a private Chinese firm from the Novel Group of companies, became SouthGobi's largest shareholder.