Rinehart legal saga reignites, Hancock lodges appeal
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, will battle elements of a complex court ruling that found two rival mining dynasties were entitled to a share of the spoils from the billionaire’s valuable iron ore holdings.
The Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled last month that the wealthy heirs of mining pioneer Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes were entitled to part of their claims to royalties from the massive Hope Downs mining complex operated by Rio Tinto in Western Australia’s ore-rich Pilbara region.
Hancock Prospecting, where Ms Rinehart is chairman, this week filed an appeal against most of the court’s rulings in the ruling, including findings about decades-old partnership agreements between her company and Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes.
Ms. Rinehart also resists a finding that Wright Prospecting was entitled to seek damages for breaches of contract and that Hope Downs was entitled to an order to turn over years of financial records relating to revenues and royalties from the rich ore deposits.
In Judge Jennifer Smith’s 1,655-page decision, it was stated that Hancock Prospecting would have to pay royalties, damages, interest and costs that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
At the center of the issues raised during the 51-day hearing were agreements made decades ago between Ms Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes, who were friends and colleagues at the time.
Judge Smith rejected Wright Prospecting’s request for a half share of some of Hancock’s iron ore deposits worth billions of dollars.
Wright had sought a share of Hope Downs’ mined and unmined leasehold properties and royalties over Hancock’s alleged breach of a 1980s partnership agreement.
DFD Rhodes also claimed a share of royalties from the construction of Hope Downs due to an alleged agreement with Mr Hancock and Mr Wright in the 1960s under which tenements were transferred.
The trial also drew Ms Rinehart’s children over an earlier claim by John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart that their grandfather had left them a large share of the Pilbara mineral resources he discovered in the 1950s.
Rio Tinto has also entered the fray as a joint venture partner at Hope Downs.
Ms Rinehart inherited her father’s iron ore discovery in the Pilbara region and built a mining empire after his death in 1992.
It developed mines in the tenements at Hope Downs and in 2005 signed a deal with Rio Tinto, which has a 50 percent stake in the project.
The Hope Downs mining complex near Newman is one of Australia’s largest and most successful iron ore projects, with multiple open-pit mines.
Hancock Prospecting denied the claims of Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes during the hearing; He maintained that he undertook all the work, assumed the financial risk associated with the development, and was the legal owner of the assets.
Ms. Rinehart’s fortune is estimated at approximately $40 billion.
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