Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to pay hundreds of millions’ worth of royalties to rival family in ‘half loss half win’
TL;DR
Hancock Prospecting must pay Wright Prospecting half of its royalties from the Hope Downs iron ore project, amounting to hundreds of millions. The court ruled in favor of Wright Prospecting's claim for royalties but dismissed its ownership claim on other mining assets.
Key points
- Hancock Prospecting loses bid to retain royalties
- Wright Prospecting awarded 50% of royalties from Hope Downs
- Court ruling involves hundreds of millions in royalties
- Wright Prospecting's claim on other assets dismissed
- Justice Jennifer Smith delivered the landmark ruling
Mentioned in this story
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has lost its bid to retain royalties from the mammoth Hope Downs iron ore project and will be forced to pay Wright Prospecting half of its royalties from the project, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a landmark ruling in the Western Australian supreme court on Wednesday, justice Jennifer Smith said that Wright Prospecting had successfully made out its contractual claim to 50% of past and future royalties paid from the project.
But the court has dismissed Wright Prospecting’s claim to ownership in other mining assets held by Hancock Prospecting.
“It could be found that Wright Prospecting won half of its case and lost half of its case,” Smith said.
A spokesperson for Wright Prospecting said it “welcomes the decision of Justice Smith delivered in the Supreme Court today”.
“Wright Prospecting commenced this action to recover our share of royalties from the Hope Downs 1-3 mines. 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. We will review it in detail before determining if any further steps need to be taken.”
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The judgment in the case is anticipated to be more than 1,600 pages long and comes more than two years after the complex legal case went to trial in Perth in mid 2023.
Hancock Prospecting senior executives Sanjiv Manchanda and Garry Korte were in the courtroom for the hearing.
At the centre of the claim was rights to the Hope Downs mining complex near Newman in north-west Western Australia, which is a joint venture between Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto, and which delivered an $832m profit to Hancock Prospecting in 2025.
Wright Prospecting first launched legal action more than 15 years ago, arguing that the family business should share in the spoils arising from tenements that had been pegged out by prospectors Peter Wright and Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, in the 1950s.
The Wright family heirs, including billionaire Angela Bennett and her nieces Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, claimed they were entitled to an equal share of the 2.5% royalties coming from Hope Downs to Hancock Prospecting, saying Wright Prospecting never relinquished the assets to Hancock Prospecting.
Hancock Prospecting rejected the claim for past and future royalties, arguing it undertook all the work, bore the financial risk of development and is the legitimate owner of the Hope Downs assets.
More details to follow …
Q&A
What is the ruling regarding Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting?
The court ruled that Hancock Prospecting must pay Wright Prospecting 50% of the royalties from the Hope Downs iron ore project.
How much is at stake in the Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting case?
The royalties at stake are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
What did the court decide about Wright Prospecting's claims on other mining assets?
The court dismissed Wright Prospecting's claim to ownership of other mining assets held by Hancock Prospecting.
