Five things we know about Georgina Rinehart after investing in Sirius Minerals potash project

With the news hitting the mining industry that the richest woman in Australia has invested around £245m into the biggest potash mine development in the UK, we ask the question, what do we know about Gina Rinehart?

The Australian has invested in the £2.4bn potash mine from Sirius Minerals, which we have kindly profiled on Mining Global here.

Here’s five things we know about Australia’s richest woman:

One of the most powerful women in the world

Mrs Georgina Rinehart currently sits at number 51 on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women in the world with a net worth of $11.7 billion. Which quite frankly, makes her investment look like pocket change.

Chairman of the board

She is the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting. The Australian company has a long and important association with the Pilbara and the iron ore sector. She took over the company from her father (more on him in a minute) Lang Hancock in 1992. One of her key focuses has been on the Hope Downs Iron Ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 

Following in her father’s footsteps

Mrs Rinehart is the daughter of Lang Hancock, an iron ore magnate who played a key role in the iron sector of Australia. Hancock is famously known for the discovery of the largest deposit of iron ire in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 1952. Years later in the mid-sixties, Hancock negotiated a deal with Rio Tinto Group to develop the iron ore find and called it Hope Downs after his wife – Hope Langcock. To this day Rio Tinto still operate at the Hope Downs mine site.

Hope Downs and Roy Hill
Rinehart’s other major focus is the Roy Hill project. The massive iron ore deposit, located around 340 kilometres south east of Port Hedlan in Australia, has a 55 million tonne per annum iron ore mining output. In December 2015, Roy Hill loaded its first shipment of iron ore for export which paved the way for shipments to Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan.

Significant investment

In July 2015, Rinehart purchased the 400,000-hectare Fossil Downs cattle station for around $30million. The property makes up part of a growing agricultural portfolio, which includes a stake in WA-owned dairy company Bannister Downs, a $25-million herd of wagyu beef cattle, and a 50% stake in two other Kimberley cattle stations, Liveringa and Nerrima, which was purchased for $40 million the year before.

The October issue of Mining Global Magazine is live!

Follow @MiningGlobal

Get in touch with our editor Dale Benton at [email protected]