Billionaire Gina Rinehart Partly Loses Iron Ore Legal Battle

Hancock Prospecting Ltd., the private company of billionaire Gina Rinehart, has partly lost a decade-long legal battle with Wright Prospecting Ltd. over royalties, but will retain ownership of a major iron ore hub in Australia.

The Supreme Court of Western Australia delivered its judgment rejecting Hancock’s argument that Wright Prospecting had no royalty rights over some iron ore tenements that include the massive Hope Downs mine that it shares with Rio Tinto Group. Wright Prospecting had a right to some royalties, it found.