Rinehart turns 70 at legal and lithium crossroads

Hancock accumulated most of its 19.9 per cent stake in the lithium hopeful while a $6.6 billion takeover offer from New York-listed Albemarle was on the table.

Albemarle pulled its offer in October and later quit its stake just days before Liontown revealed on January 22 that banks had pulled a $760 million funding package as lithium prices crashed.

It is understood Hancock has been in regular contact with Liontown seeking project updates and lithium market insights.

Hancock chief executive Garry Korte attended a lithium crisis meeting in Perth on January 24 that included Liontown boss Tony Ottaviano and Azure Minerals chairman Brian Thomas.

Liontown maintains its Kathleen Valley mine will be in production by mid-year. It sits next door to IGO’s now shuttered Cosmos nickel project in WA’s northern Goldfields.

In an example of beleaguered lithium and nickel miners helping one another out, Liontown is putting up some of its workers in Cosmos accommodation village and could hire some of the displaced IGO workforce.

Mrs Rinehart has at least one lithium prize – Azure – nearly in the bag after Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources agreed to sell its 13.5 per cent stake into a $1.7 billion joint takeover bid launched by Hancock and Chilean giant SQM in December.

Hancock and SQM have now locked up 73.5 per cent of the stock after their bid, pitched at $3.70 a share, earlier won the support of other major shareholders in famed prospector Mark Creasy and Delphi Group.

Unless Hancock or SQM gets cold feet, Azure shareholders should get their hands of the scheme documents in the next fortnight.

‘Wake Up Australia’ flight

Mrs Rinehart marked the 70th birthday of her father, WA iron ore industry pioneer Lang Hancock, by helping to organise his 1979 “Wake Up Australia” flight across Australia that pushed the need for pro-mining policy settings from government. When he was too sick to make the flight, she stepped up to host about 200 guests on the jumbo jet that flew over Australia’s major resources assets.

Mrs Rinehart turns 70 locked in legal disputes with two of her four children, Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock, and with no clear succession plan for a business underpinning a fortune estimated at $37.4 billion.

The legal framework around the empire stipulates that the fortune must be passed on to one of Mrs Rinehart’s direct lineage. That means one or more of her four children – John Hancock, Bianca Rinehart, Hope Rinehart Welker and Ginia Rinehart – or more than half-a-dozen grandchildren.

None of the children are currently involved in running the Hancock empire, where Mrs Rinehart has been executive chairman for 31 years.

Asked during the “Wake Up Australia” flight 45 years ago what she would like from her own children when she turned 70, Mrs Rinehart replied “a hug” in a moment captured on film.

In the courtroom at least, John and Bianca are at war with their mother.

Her two eldest children – John was born in 1976 and Bianca in 1977 – argue they are the rightful owners of Hancock Prospecting’s 50 per cent stake in the Hope Downs iron ore mines developed in partnership with Rio Tinto and, in doing so, make allegations of fraud that are disputed by Mrs Rinehart and Hancock.

Hope Downs royalties

Separate to that Supreme Court case, which will also decide whether billionaire Angela Bennett and her family are entitled to royalties and an equity stake in the Hope Downs mines, the clock is ticking on a ruling in a confidential arbitration case involving John and Bianca.

They, along with their mother, have been waiting almost a year for the findings before a panel led by former WA chief justice Wayne Martin. The arbitration revolves around the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust which holds a 23.4 per cent share in Hancock Prospecting on behalf of Mrs Rinehart’s children.

Hancock Prospecting’s latest financial results detailed dividends declared to family members of $781 million in 2022-23. The amount set aside in Hope Downs royalties to be divvied up between Mrs Rinehart and her children pending resolution of the arbitration swelled to $5.44 billion as of September 30.

It is understood the children currently stand to get about $640 million each from the $5.44 billion pool, but potentially much more depending on the panel’s decision.

A ruling in the Supreme Court case is expected within months with Justice Jennifer Smith due to retire from the bench. The judgment is almost certain to be appealed by one or more of the parties involved.

Mrs Rinehart gave away 41 prizes of $100,000, or $4.1 million, to workers in Hancock Prospecting’s mining, energy and agriculture divisions this time last year.

The 41 prizes represented one for each year Mrs Rinehart has worked at Hancock Prospecting, first under her father and, since his death in 1992, as executive chairman.

An email sent to thousands of Hancock workers, including the 3200 employed at the Roy Hill iron ore mine, at the time suggested the birthday prize draw would become an annual event.

Mrs Rinehart, who was named The Australian Financial Review’s 2023 Business Person of the Year, conducted another of her Christmas prize giveaways to rule off last year soon after handing out annual bonuses to Roy Hill workers under a longstanding profit share arrangement.

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