Rinehart Legal Blow Could Cost Billionaire Dearly

Hancock Prospecting would be required to pay royalties, interest and costs, which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to two mining corporations.

Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting Executive Chair, speaks during the News Corp Bush Summit at Perth Mess Hall in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 14, 2023. AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, could be made to share hundreds of millions of dollars from her iron ore riches after two rival mining dynasties won parts of a bitter legal stoush with the billionaire.

The battle pitted Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, against the heirs of mining pioneer Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes amid allegations of decades-old contract breaches.