Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s lawyers have rubbished two rival mining dynasties’ multi-million greenback authorized claims for iron ore riches from a challenge half-owned by Rio Tinto.
The complicated court stoush that began in July pits Mrs Rinehart’s firm, Hancock Prospecting, towards the heirs of mining pioneer Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes over the large Hope Downs mining complicated.
Noel Hutley SC mentioned there have been a number of points with DFD Rhodes and Wright Prospectings’ instances as he started Hancock Prospecting’s closing submissions within the NZ Supreme Court on Tuesday.
He mentioned most of these centred round their interpretation of authorized agreements between Mrs Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock and his enterprise accomplice Mr Wright and DFD Rhodes.
Mr Hutley additionally attacked the best way Wright and Rhodes introduced their instances, saying that they had led with details earlier than making an attempt to deal with the agreements, which is “an strategy at odds with the authorities”.
“The closing submissions for the Rhodes events deal with the development of the 1969 settlement … only a few of these paragraphs referred to proof of occasions, circumstances or issues exterior to that settlement aside from two early agreements,” he mentioned.
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Mr Hutley mentioned Wright’s lawyers’ closing submissions additionally addressed partnership agreements and “once more, only a few of these paragraphs confer with proof surrounding circumstances aside from some paperwork utilizing the time period Hope Downs.
“Many of the factual controversies are introduced as in some way related to various claims, particularly claims for breach of fiduciary responsibility. However with respect neither (Wright) nor the Rhodes events have defined exactly how their various claims may succeed if the agreements are construed as we are saying they have to be,” he mentioned.
“If (Wright Prospecting) or Rhodes celebration or each of them should not entitled to royalties, on the right development of the agreements or a specific royalty, which they declare, fiduciary relationship can’t be superimposed to confer any entitlement which the events by apotheosis objectively by no means attended.”
The Hope Downs mining complicated close to Newman is certainly one of Australia’s largest and most profitable iron ore initiatives, comprising 4 open-pit mines.
Wright Prospecting has demanded a share of unmined and mined Hope Downs tenements and royalties, amid a declare that Hancock Prospecting breached Eighties partnership agreements.
DFD Rhodes is claiming a 1.25 per cent royalty share of Hope Downs’ manufacturing, over an alleged take care of Mr Hancock and Mr Wright that noticed it hand over tenements within the Sixties.
Mrs Rinehart, Australia’s richest individual, can be battling her eldest children, who declare their grandfather Mr Hancock left them a hefty share within the Pilbara mining assets he found within the Fifties.
Hancock Prospecting maintains it undertook all of the work, bore the monetary threat concerned within the improvement at Hope Downs and is the authentic proprietor of the belongings.
About two dozen lawyers and firm spin docs have packed a Auckland courtroom for the trial, which has additionally featured sensational claims towards Mrs Rinehart.
These embody that the reclusive billionaire devised an illegal scheme to defraud her children and allegedly threatened to have her father’s spouse Rose Porteous deported amid fears she would inherit shares in Hancock Prospecting.
The court has additionally been instructed Mrs Rinehart lied about her father allegedly breaching his fiduciary duties to his firm, and that Mr Hancock tried to sever ties together with his daughter earlier than he died in 1992.
Mrs Rinehart inherited her father’s iron ore discovery in NZ’s Pilbara area and cast a mining empire after he died.
She developed mines from the tenements at Hope Downs, signing a deal in 2005 with Rio Tinto, which has a 50 per cent stake within the challenge.
Her wealth is estimated to be about $36 billion and he or she is government chair of Hancock Prospecting.
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