A colossal legal battle over Hancock Prospecting’s mining empire continues with appeal notices officially lodged, naming Wright Prospecting, DFD Rhodes, the Rinehart children, and Rio Tinto as respondents.
Gina Rinehart-led Hancock Prospecting and subsidiary Hope Downs Iron Ore have lodged appeal notices against Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes in the dispute over billions of dollars of iron ore royalties and claims of shared ownership of mining tenements in the Pilbara.
Other respondents listed in both notices include the executors of Don Rhodes’ estate, Mrs Rinehart’s children – Bianca Rinehart, John Hancock, Hope Welker, and Ginia Rinehart – and Hamersley WA, known as Rio Tinto.
As seen by Business News, the notices sought to appeal orders given by the court on May 1, relating to the method of calculation for costs and further directions before progressing to legal cost orders.
The notices were lodged in the Supreme Court of WA on Monday, well ahead of the deadline to appeal by May 22.
Hancock Prospecting sought to appeal multiple orders stemming from WA Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Smith’s 1,655-page decision, which was delivered last month.
Justice Smith took more than two years to hand down a decision over a long-running legal battle that included a three-month civil trial in 2023.
At the centre of the lengthy and complex dispute is a series of agreements signed by the state’s mining pioneers Lang Hancock, Peter Wright and Don Rhodes from the 1960s to 1980s.
THE DECISION EXPLAINED: INSIDE THE 1,655-PAGE JUDGMENT
Long after the miners’ deaths, their descendants continued to fight over the carve-up of royalties from the Pilbara land which has become home to Rio Tinto and Hancock’s iron ore operations.
In her judgment, Justice Smith found Wright Prospecting was entitled to 50 per cent of past and future royalties Rio Tinto paid to Hancock entity Hope Downs Iron Ore, over the ore produced on the contested Hope Downs reserves.
However, Wright Prospecting’s claim for proprietary interest over Hope Downs 4-6 mines was dismissed.
Justice Smith dismissed DFD Rhodes’ claims in contract for royalties but upheld part of the claim in equity for past and future royalties from Hancock’s 50 per cent share of iron ore produced from the Hope Downs reserves.
Lang Hancock and Peter Wright were once business partners focused on exploring areas in the Pilbara, but a falling out prompted the men to draft up a division of assets.
Upon Wright’s death, Lang Hancock continued to discuss the division of HanWright partnership’s assets with his children, including Angela Bennett and Michael Wright.
The state government granted the mining tenements to Hancock Mining Limited in 1989.
Wright Prospecting claims the tenements were being held on behalf of the partnership, under an agreement signed in 1987.
The mining tenements in the Pilbara, dubbed Hope Downs, were half-acquired by Rio Tinto (then Hamersley Iron) in 2005.
Wright Prospecting sued Hancock Prospecting in 2010, with DFD Rhodes launching a separate action against Hancock in 2013.
Mrs Rinehart’s four children also claimed a stake in the Hope Downs tenements, claiming their grandfather Lang Hancock gifted them shares in the family trusts before his death.
The children joined the legal proceedings as defendants in 2016.
In the recently lodged appeal notices, Hancock Prospecting named the Rinehart children as respondents.
Lawyers for the parties are scheduled to return to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, anticipating orders for legal costs.
