Australia's richest man, Andrew Forrest, and its wealthiest woman, Gina Rinehart, are battling over the right to mine one of the nation's largest undeveloped iron ore deposits.
Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group today teamed with Cazaly Resources to apply for prospecting licences over the Rhodes Ridge project in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting owns the mining rights in a joint venture with Rio Tinto and Wright Prospecting.
Cazaly, which last year failed in a court bid to win control of another untapped Rio deposit, more than doubled after saying it had started legal action to strip Rinehart and her partners of the right to develop the project.
Companies are spending more than $18 billion expanding iron ore projects in the state to tap demand from China that has driven prices to a record.
"The iron ore sector is hot,'' John Veldhuizen, a resources analyst at BBY said today. Fortescue "have obviously done their homework so it must have some basis for the claim'', he said.
Rio has fully complied with all aspects of the lease, spokeswoman Amanda Buckley said today. "We are confident that the title and agreements that we enjoy with the support and consent of the state are valid and binding.''
The iron ore boom has caused a surge in the personal wealth of Forrest and Rinehart. Forrest is worth $9.4 billion, up from $3.9 billion a year earlier, and a record for an Australian, according to this year's BRW rich 200 list. Rinehart's personal wealth was $4.4 billion, the magazine said.
Her fortune may rise more than $500 million a year because of the development of the Hope Downs iron ore mine in Western Australia, BRW said.
Cazaly lost a High Court appeal in April seeking to overturn a lower court decision rejecting its claims to another iron ore deposit also owned by Rio Tinto.
The state's Mining Warden will hold a hearing to consider the right to occupy the Rhodes Ridge land, Cazaly said today.
"Cazaly believes that the hearing will confirm that the land is open for mining and that there is no reason why the tenement applications cannot be granted,'' the company said in the statement.
"The land the subject of the Rhodes Ridge Project is recognised as containing one of the largest undeveloped iron ore resources in Western Australia.''
Rio Tinto and the project's partners signed an agreement with the state to develop the project by 1982 at the latest, Cazaly said. The land appeared to have been "warehoused' by the Rio joint venture for the past 35 years, it said.
"Should Cazaly be successful in gaining exploration and development rights, Fortescue will provide development, marketing and financial assistance towards the ultimate sale of any mined iron ore from the project area,'' Perth-based Fortescue said today in a separate statement.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
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