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Updated ,first published
The heirs of iron ore pioneer Peter Wright have claimed victory in their decades-long legal battle against Gina Rinehart’s mining company, with a Supreme Court judge ruling the spoils from a lucrative iron ore project in Western Australia’s Pilbara must be shared with their family company.
Justice Jennifer Smith on Wednesday morning ruled that Wright Prospecting was entitled to half of past and future royalties from the Hope Downs mines, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions, with more to flow.
However, in her judgment, Smith deemed the decision as a “half-win for Wright Prospecting and a half-win for Hancock Prospecting”, with Wright Prospecting’s claim for part ownership of a portion of the mining project dismissed.
The Supreme Court case, one of the longest and most expensive in Australian history, has pitted the nation’s richest person against the descendants of her father Lang Hancock’s business partner, as well as members of her own family.
Wright’s heirs, which include billionaire Angela Bennett and her nieces Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, argued Wright Prospecting 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 Rio Tinto.
The tenements were first pegged by Hancock and Wright in the 1940s, and in 1982, the iron ore pioneers nutted out an agreement to divide the assets in order to avoid their descendants from arguing over ownership in the future.
Despite their efforts, the assets have sparked more than a decade of courtroom warfare by the descendants.
The tenements at the centre of the dispute were seized by the state government but were reinstated to Hancock Prospecting after Wright died.
Wright’s descendants argued the tenements were still part of the partnership agreement hashed out by Wright and Hancock in the 1980s and that they were entitled to a share of equity and royalties.
Rinehart’s children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, also claimed they should have inherited the site under a family trust set up by their grandfather, Lang, before his death.
Their fight for ownership was dismissed, but a legal battle over their inheritance continues in a separate private arbitration case.
In a statement, Hancock Prospecting executive director Jay Newby said the court’s decision had confirmed the rightful ownership of the mines.
“The primary issue in these proceedings is ownership of the Hope Downs and East Angelas tenements,” he said.
“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 Pty Ltd in their entirety.
“Justice Smith’s decision, which rejected John and Bianca’s ownership claims over the Hope Downs and East Angelas tenements, demonstrates … earlier media reports, including wrongful assertions of fraud in relation to the ownership of Hope Downs and East Angelas, are plainly wrong.
“The court found that these tenements belong to HPPL exclusively.”
In a statement, John Hancock said he and his sister did not expect to gain anything from today’s judgment.
“For many difficult years in the mid-1990s and early 2000’s I stood by my mother’s side as she defended the validity of the June 1988 Agreement in court, and our family company, from a multitude of litigation concerning Rose Porteous,” he said.
“I supported my mother during the inquest into my grandfather’s death. Interspersed during those difficult years were happier times of travelling with her, starting in 1993 with visits to China and later in my role at Hancock Prospecting on worldwide marketing missions for the Hope Downs project.
“At some point after the Porteous litigation was settled in 2003, Gina changed her mind and argued the June 88 Agreement was not binding, and that she was not trustee of the HFMF trust.
“When I asked her about the changes in company ownership, my mother terminated my employment at Hancock Prospecting and I had to find other employment and income. As a young man, with little access to documentation and no wealth to provide a small fraction of the extensive legal team I have constantly been up against, it was (and has since joined by my sister Bianca) an incredibly difficult fight for fairness.”
Wright Prospecting said it was pleased with the outcome of the case, with both major parties claiming the decision as a win.
“Wright Prospecting commenced this action to recover our share of royalties from the Hope Downs 1 -3 mines,” a spokesman said. That claim has been upheld.
“WPPL also sought either a proprietary interest or a royalty in the Hope Downs 4 – 6 mines and has been successful in its royalty claim.
“These proceedings were commenced in 2010 and, after many delays, we are pleased to finally receive a result in our favour. The decision is lengthy and complex.”
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