Hancock, Wright descendants prepare for legal showdown

Descendants of two Western Australian mining pioneers are gearing up for a legal battle more than a decade in the making over iron ore royalties believed to be worth billions of dollars.

Lawyers for Hancock Prospecting, led by Gina Rinehart, and Wright Prospecting will be starting a trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Monday, scheduled to be heard by Justice Jennifer Smith over three months.

The dispute goes back close to 10 years when Wright Prospecting, run by descendants of Lang Hancock’s former business partner Peter Wright, sought to make a claim for royalties in the Hope Downs region discovered in the 1960s. 

The complex legal proceedings stem from the ‘HanWright’ partnership agreement struck between Mr Wright and Lang Hancock in the 1980s, designed to divide the ownership of assets between Wright and Hancock companies.

Wright’s descendants, including Angela Bennett, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, are seeking to find out whether the Hope Downs tenements are covered by the HanWright partnership agreement and if Wright Prospecting is entitled to royalties.

Gina Rinehart’s children, Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock, joined the proceedings as defendants in 2016.

John and Bianca are making their own claims of ownership over their mother’s shares in Hancock Prospecting and Roy Hill tenements, which includes the same ones the Wright descendants are claiming.

Mrs Rinehart and her children have been in dispute over John and Bianca's stakes in the business in a separate arbitration in the Federal Court of Australia.

At the nucleus of the Hancock and Wright dispute are tenements in the Pilbara, collectively referred to as Hope Downs, which are currently owned via a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting. 

Wright Prospecting will argue that it should have part ownership over what is referred to as East Angelas tenements, within Hope Downs, through the HanWright partnership, likely worth billions of dollars.

The state government had ownership of the East Angelas tenements for some time, before it was reacquired by Hancock Prospecting.

In 2005, Hancock and Rio Tinto entered into a 50-50 joint venture to develop on the East Angelas tenements.

DFD Rhodes Pty Ltd, a family office currently run by descendants of Don Rhodes, a WA prospector responsible for discovering some of Pilbara’s largest iron ore deposits, launched its own proceedings against Hancock Prospecting in 2013.

Rhodes is also claiming royalties from an iron ore project in one of the Hope Downs tenements.

The parties are not seeking to pin down costs but rather determine who is entitled to both the land ownership and royalties.