Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting royalties must be shared with Peter Wright’s heirs, Supreme Court rules
Updated ,first published
The heirs of iron ore pioneer Peter Wright have claimed victory in their decades-long legal battle against Gina Rinehart’s mining company; The spoils from a lucrative iron ore project in Western Australia’s Pilbara should be shared with family businesses, a High Court judge has ruled.
Judge Jennifer Smith ruled Wednesday morning that Wright Prospecting is entitled to half of past and future royalties from the Hope Downs mines, estimated to be worth more than $1 billion, and more will flow.
However, Smith judged the decision to be “half win for Wright Prospecting and half win for Hancock Prospecting,” and Wright Prospecting’s claim for partial ownership of part of the mining project was rejected.
The High Court case, one of the longest and most expensive in Australian history, pitted the country’s richest man against the grandchildren of his father Lang Hancock’s business partner and members of his own family.
Wright’s heirs, including billionaire Angela Bennett and her nieces Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, argued that Wright Prospecting had a 1.25 per cent royalty on the Hope Downs iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Hancock Prospecting operates the lucrative mines with Rio Tinto.
Tenements were first fixed by Hancock and Wright in the 1940s, and in 1982 the iron ore pioneers reached an agreement to split the assets to prevent their grandchildren from squabbling over ownership in the future.
Despite their efforts, the assets sparked a courtroom battle between the descendants that lasted more than a decade, making the matter one of the longest-running and expensive civil cases in Australian history.
The apartments at the center of the dispute were seized by the state government but returned to Hancock Prospecting after Wright died.
Wright’s descendants argued that the apartments were still part of the partnership agreement signed by Wright and Hancock in the 1980s and that they were entitled to a share of the equity and royalties.
Rinehart’s children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, also claimed they should have inherited the site under a family trust their grandfather Lang established before his death.
Their fight for the property was rejected, but the legal battle over their inheritance continues in a separate private arbitration case.
Hancock Prospecting managing director Jay Newby said in a statement that the court’s decision confirmed rightful ownership of the minerals.
“The central issue in this case is the ownership of the apartments at Hope Downs and East Angelas,” he said.
“HPPL welcomes the WA Supreme Court decision, which completely rejects John, Bianca and Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd’s unsubstantiated claims of ownership, unequivocally confirming HPPL’s title to these properties.
“Justice Smith’s decision, dismissing John and Bianca’s claims of ownership of the flats at Hope Downs and East Angelas, shows that… previous media reports, including false claims of fraud regarding the ownership of Hope Downs and East Angelas, are patently false.
“The court ruled that these apartments belong solely to HPPL.”
John Hancock said in a statement that he and his sister did not expect to gain anything from today’s decision.
“Firstly, it is important to note that Bianca and I were joined by the Wright and Rhodes parties in 2016 regarding claims to housing at Hope Downs; we have not otherwise chosen or felt the need to become involved as a party,” he said.
“His Honor Judge Smith found that the Wright and Rhodes parties failed on this claim.
“Second, Bianca and I were not asserting any claims in this case, so we did not expect any relief. Our claims were referred to private arbitration.”
More to come.
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