A multibillion-dollar legal battle between Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart, her children and two rival mining dynasties over iron ore riches from a project half owned by Rio Tinto is a step closer to a verdict.
, her children and two rival mining dynasties over iron ore riches from a project half owned by Rio Tinto is a step closer to a verdict.pits Rinehart's company, Hancock Prospecting, against Wright Prospecting and the heirs of engineer Don Rhodes over the massive Hope Downs mining complex.
Lawyer Julie Taylor said the tenements were sought for the partnership using the men's company's goodwill and staff, and Hancock Prospecting could not claim to have applied for the exploration licences on its own.She said letters and memos using the partnership's letterhead were not an accident and staff was attempting to develop the resources on behalf of both men.
Taylor reminded Justice Jennifer Smith about a 1987 partnership agreement - which Hancock Prospecting has allegedly breached - saying Hancock and Wright had worked for years to obtain the tenements and "received the opportunity to apply for [them] in the course of its business activities". The court has been told Gina Rinehart lied about her father, Lang Hancock, allegedly breaching his fiduciary duties to his company.
Rinehart inherited her father's iron ore discovery in WA's Pilbara region and forged a mining empire after he died. Wright Prospecting has demanded a share of unmined and mined Hope Downs tenements and royalties, amid a claim that Hancock Prospecting breached 1980s partnership agreements.
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