The Western Australian Supreme Court ruled on a long-running legal battle over Gina Rinehart's mining empire, involving her children and the heirs of her father's business partners. The court found that Hancock Prospecting retains ownership of the Hope Downs iron ore project and ruled that Hancock Prospecting must pay past and future royalties to Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes. It rejected Rinehart's children's claims to ownership stakes in the mining assets and found that Lang Hancock, Gina Rinehart's father, behaved fraudulently regarding the Hope Downs mine, voiding her children's claimed ownership stake. According to The Guardian - World, Justice Jennifer Smith described Lang Hancock's actions as clear and serious transgressions of ordinary standards of honest behavior.
Justice Smith ruled that half of the 2.5% royalties Rio Tinto pays to Hancock Prospecting belongs to the Wright family, and found Hancock Prospecting would be required to pay royalties, interest, and costs, which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The royalty share payable to Wright and DFD Rhodes amounts to about $18 million per year, according to Jay Newby, CEO of Hancock Prospecting. Hancock Prospecting said Rio Tinto would have to pay some of the royalties following the decision.
The court dismissed Wright Prospecting's claim for a half share of Hancock's iron ore deposits and partially granted a bid for royalties from Hope Downs by the family of Don Rhodes (DFD Rhodes). The Wright heirs claim a 2.5% royalty share of that stream, while the Rhodes family, heirs of prospector Don Rhodes, also asserts a 1.25% entitlement to parts of the contested royalties.
I want to reunite my family after a landmark court case left a long-running feud unresolved.
The court said the children's ownership claims should be determined in separate proceedings and found that Rinehart's children were at one point set to inherit 49% of her company. Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock claimed their mother moved mining rights out of a family trust to a part of the business they couldn't touch, and John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart claimed their grandfather wanted his grandchildren to have a greater stake. Rinehart's children argued she moved the mining rights to keep money from her father's second wife, Rose Porteous.
The litigation centers on tenements that Lang Hancock and his partner Peter Wright pegged out in the 1950s and 1960s and that later underpinned major mines, with at the heart of the dispute being Hope Downs, a joint venture between Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto. After 18 years a judgment is imminent in the court row that has pitted Gina Rinehart against the descendants of her father's business partner.
Wright's children argued that Rinehart breached the Hanwright agreement and owed them mining rights and royalties from Hope Downs, with the Wright family arguing Wright Prospecting never surrendered the Hanwright interests and so remains entitled to an equal share. They say those moves deprived them of tenements and a claimed 49% stake in Hancock Prospecting they should have been able to develop.
Lang Hancock's actions were 'clear and serious transgressions of ordinary standards of honest behavior' and amounted to 'a dishonest and fraudulent design'.
DFD Rhodes claimed a royalty share of Hope Downs' production over an alleged deal with Lang Hancock and Peter Wright.
Hancock Prospecting rejected Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes' claims during the trial, maintaining it undertook all the work and bore the financial risk, and says it did the work, took the commercial risk and legally owns the assets. Hancock Prospecting has rejected all claims, with the company's lawyers telling the court that Gina Rinehart moved assets back into the family company to correct what they say was an historic shuffle of assets by Lang Hancock. Rinehart's lawyers argued she moved the mining rights after growing suspicious of her father's business dealings.
Rio Tinto was a party in the battle as the joint-venture partner in Hope Downs.
We welcome the court's decision, which confirms Hancock Prospecting's ownership of Hope Downs and rejects claims by Wright's family and Rinehart's children.
According to filings, Hope Downs returned $832m in profit to Hancock Prospecting in 2025.
The ruling follows a trial held more than two years ago and will probably be appealed whatever the outcome.
The specific fraudulent actions Lang Hancock committed regarding the Hope Downs mine are not detailed in the available claims. Additionally, the exact total amount in past royalties that Hancock Prospecting must pay to Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes is unspecified. According to The Guardian - World, John Hancock described wanting to reunite his family after a landmark court case left a long-running feud unresolved. Jay Newby stated that Hancock Prospecting welcomes the court's decision, which confirms its ownership of Hope Downs and rejects claims by Wright's family and Rinehart's children. The potential grounds for appeal and the outcomes of the separate proceedings regarding Rinehart's children's ownership claims remain unknown.