Rinehart court saga set for new chapter after Hancock lodges appeal

The long-running legal saga between the company owned by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, and the heirs of iron ore pioneer Peter Wright is set for another chapter after Hancock Prospecting lodged an appeal against the ruling handed down in WA’s Supreme Court last month.

Court documents show Rinehart’s companies Hancock Prospecting and Hope Downs Iron Ore have filed two appeal notices to the finding delivered by Justice Jennifer Smith in April.

Last month the court ruled that Wright Prospecting was entitled historical royalties from some of the Hope Downs mines, jointly operated by Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto, which were developed on tenements pegged out decades ago by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock and Peter Wright.

The financial figure is estimated by Wright Prospecting to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

However, in her judgment, Smith called the decision only a “half-win” as she rejected Wright Prospecting’s claim for part ownership of another portion of the mining project, letting Rinehart keep her place as the country’s wealthiest person with an estimated fortune of $38 billion.

The latest appeals, which were lodged on Monday, challenge several key decisions made by Smith, including that an account be taken of the royalties payable to DFD Rhodes by Hancock Prospecting on its 50 per cent share of ore produced and sold from specific sections of Hope Downs.

It also challenges the ruling that Hancock Prospecting’s claims for indemnity and contribution against Wright Prospecting, at law and equity, be dismissed.

Both appeal notices list Hancock Prospecting and Hope Downs Iron Ore as the first and second appellants, respectively.

There will be additional hearings to determine whether the Wrights will get the nearly $1 billion their camp is hoping for, or a $14 million annual payment Rinehart’s company says it owes.

At a follow-up hearing last month to decide how the costs involved in the landmark case would be divided, it was revealed that Rinehart would likely be forced to hand over years of financial records to the rival mining dynasties.

It was also revealed that Smith will likely not be the judge who oversees the ultimate decision of the royalties involved, with the Supreme Court judge expected to retire when her latest 12-month term expires next month.

Wright’s heirs, which include billionaire Angela Bennett and her nieces, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, argued that their family company was entitled to a 1.25 per cent royalty from the Hope Downs iron ore mines in WA’s Pilbara region.

Hancock Prospecting runs the lucrative mines with mining giant Rio Tinto.

The tenements were pegged by Hancock and Wright in the 1960s, and in 1982, the iron ore pioneers agreed to divide the assets that was intended to prevent their descendants from arguing over ownership in the future.

Hancock Prospecting declined to release a statement on the appeal, but referred this masthead to previous comments from company executive director Jay Newby after the Supreme Court decision in April.

“The primary issue in these proceedings is ownership of the Hope Downs and East Angelas tenements,” Newby said at the time.

“HPPL welcomes the WA Supreme Court decision which decisively confirms HPPL’s rightful ownership of these tenements firmly rejecting the baseless ownership claims of John, Bianca and Wright Prospecting in their entirety.”

Wright Prospecting has also been contacted for comment.

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