The lawyer representing West Australian prospectors DFD Rhodes has begun opening statements within the large civil case in opposition to Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL).
It’s the second week of a months-long trial in opposition to HPPL, as quite a lot of entities attempt to declare a share of profitable mining royalties from Hancock-owned iron ore mining websites.
Rhodes lawyer Jeremy Stoljar SC started his opening statements earlier than the WA Supreme Court on Monday, and continued on Tuesday, arguing Rhodes is entitled to a 1.25 per cent share of iron royalties from six Pilbara mining tenements.
His argument hinges on a 1969 settlement made between Rhodes founder Don Rhodes and Hanwright – a portmanteau of Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting (WPPL) when each corporations labored in tandem.
“The elements of (the 1969 agreement) have been met, and therefore Hanwright owe a royalty to Rhodes,” Mr Stoljar advised the courtroom.
“The fact that ore is being produced from the very ground identified in the 1969 agreement means that it is ore that is susceptible to the royalty obligation.”
Mr Stoljar advised Justice Jennifer Smith the function that Mr Rhodes had within the discovery and improvement of the iron ore mines within the area, close to the city of Newman, had been understated and downplayed by HPPL in addition to WPPL founder Peter Wright, whose billionaire socialite daughter Angela Bennett can also be concerned within the case.
Mr Stoljar spent a lot of Tuesday’s listening to making an attempt to choose aside arguments that can be made by attorneys representing the eldest kids of Ms Rinehart, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, in coming weeks.
The Rinehart kids are embroiled in a bitter authorized battle with their mom over management of the Hancock household belief, over which the elder Ms Rinehart has management and into which royalties from the Hope Downs miming advanced are paid.
Mr Stoljar advised the courtroom on Tuesday that he refuted John and Bianca’s claims that royalty sharing agreements between Ms Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock and Mr Wright had been “winding down” previous to Mr Wright’s loss of life in 1985.
At this stage, none of the particular events represented have personally appeared in courtroom.
The case is being held in Perth’s David Malcolm Justice Centre, the place the Supreme Court has a courtroom massive sufficient to accommodate greater than 30 attorneys concerned within the matter.
Also represented is Rio Tinto, the WA mining giants that personal a 50 per cent share of a number of the Hope Downs tenements.
The arguments within the case largely hinge on correspondence and loosely made agreements between Lang Hancock and his business companions previous to his loss of life in 1992.
Evidence put to the courtroom within the trial’s opening week by WPPL attorneys declare Ms Rinehart, who was an govt with HPPL till the mid-Nineteen Eighties, had express data of partnership agreements between Mr Hancock and Mr Wright.
The six tenements are named Hope Downs 1 via 6 – 4, 5 and 6 are often called the East Angelas tenements.
The case continues and is predicted to run into November on the earliest.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
