Australia’s Richest Person Gina Rinehart Takes Stake in Son’s Company
Synopsis
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is investing $8.7 million in White Cliff Minerals, becoming the explorer’s largest shareholder as copper discoveries attract industry interest.
Key Highlights
- White Cliff Minerals secures $8.7 million investment from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting
- The copper explorer will grant Hancock Prospecting a 13.5% interest through the investment
- Hancock Prospecting will become the largest shareholder of the company following Rinehart’s investment.
- New high-grade copper drill hole returns AU$ 1.39 million in resources from a Copper Project in Northern Canada
Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart has spent $8.7 million acquiring a large stake in ASX-listed explorer White Cliff Minerals, where she joins her estranged son John Hancock as a substantial stakeholder.
Hancock Prospecting, owned by Gina Rinehart will buy a 13.5% stake in White Cliff at 1.7 cents per share. It will make Hancock Prospecting the explorer’s biggest shareholder, taking over the top spot from John Hancock.
The acquisition comes as White Cliff earns increasing global attention over its copper exploration initiatives in Northern Canada.
Hancock Prospecting Expands Copper Investments
For the past 10 years, Hancock Prospecting has been searching outside of its traditional Pilbara iron ore interests by increasing copper exposure and lesser-known critical minerals.
White Cliff is the latest investment by the company in this wider strategy. Copper is a base industrial metal in demand for electricity networks but also construction, renewable energy and electric vehicles such that new discoveries are growing rarer and thus more valuable to meet Global growth requirements.
The size of the potential resources at White Cliff’s projects has not yet been established. Spurred by the recent drilling results, major players in the industry have taken notice, as a number of long copper intersections suggest that the respective projects could be very promising.
White Cliff Turns Heads with Strong Drilling Results
White Cliff reported big drilling results last month including 175 metres at 2.5 per cent copper, showcasing the strength of its exploration results.
Its ongoing exploration work is aimed at getting a better grip on the tenor and extent of its discoveries. Although not a defined mineral resource, the results have already added to White Cliff’s profile among investors and major miners.
Describing Hancock Prospecting’s investment as an endorsement of White Cliff’s exploration effort, managing director Troy Whittaker said: The funds also give White Cliff a significant shareholder with deep expertise in the resources sector.
Rinehart and Hancock Remain Estranged
The investment has also drawn attention in light of a since-resolved, family feud between Rinehart and son John Hancock that dates back to the decade-long waiting period before Gilt-Edged was awarded its initial mining licences.
The case comes almost 40 years after Rinehart and Hancock became embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over who would control Hancock Prospecting. The dispute, which involves Bianca Rinehart too, is still being mediated.
In May, Hancock had called for the “reunification” of the family after a Western Australia Supreme Court ruling narrowed elements of his claims against his mother. That said, however, there is no definitive sign that White Cliff investment marks a thaw in the ice between the two sides.
Hancock has been a non-executive director of White Cliff for more than one year, establishing a direct link between the two shareholders.
What the Investment Represents for White Cliff
Hancock Prospecting's investment gives White Cliff access to a major resources investor as demand for copper projects continues to gather industry attention. The firm can now continue to advance its Canadian exploration assets as it aims towards the establishment of resources.
In early morning trade, White Cliff shares were up 0.1 cents to 1.9 cents each; The agreement gives investors a new indication of confidence in the explorer’s copper prospects, although the projects are only at an exploration stage and their future commercial value is still being established.
Source: The Australian
At Inspirepreneurs Magazine, covering entrepreneurship, business failures, and the human stories behind the world's most ambitious founders. She writes at the intersection of strategy and storytelling.
