Hope Downs row widens
A legal showdown over the giant Hope Downs iron ore mines could become a three-way shootout after the heirs of late Pilbara prospector Don Rhodes were given the go-ahead for claims potentially worth more than $100 million.
Supreme Court judge Rene Le Miere could decide as early as next month whether litigation by family of Don Rhodes over the massive Hope Downs operations will be merged into legal battles between Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting.
The merger push comes in the wake of the Gina Rinehart-controlled Hancock Prospecting last month failing in an application for Justice Le Miere to throw out a legal action launched in 2013 by the executors Mr Rhodes' estate and by his family company DFD Rhodes.
All the legal actions cover alleged agreements dating back more than 40 years involving the late business partners Peter Wright and Lang Hancock, while the Rhodes litigation covers their alleged dealings with Mr Rhodes.
At stake in the litigation are shares of the billions being generated by Hancock Prospecting from its joint venture with Rio Tinto covering the Hopes Downs iron ore mines, which are operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore.
Wright is claiming half of Hancock Prospecting's 50 per cent stake in the Hope Downs 4 iron ore mine and royalties from the Hope Downs 1 iron ore mine.
Those claims were made in different legal actions but have been merged because of overlapping issues related to alleged deals between the late Mr Wright and Mr Hancock carving up their joint empire.
Hearings in the Wright-Hancock battle over Hope Downs are due to start on August 24 after years of preliminary legal spats, but it is unclear if that will be affected by any decision to bring the overlapping Rhodes dealings into the case.
Justice Le Miere last month threw out a claim by the Rhodes family that half of any interests that Hancock and Wright had in Hope Downs were held in trust for them.
Any alleged rights did not translate into a beneficial interest in the Hope Downs mining lease or the extraction agreement with Rio.
However, he refused to throw out the Rhodes' claim they were entitled to a 1.25 per cent royalty on Hope Downs production.
Hancock Prospecting claimed no royalty was payable because any royalty was only on ore produced by the Hanwright joint venture.
The Rhodes camp countered that the Rio-Hancock joint venture vehicle Hope Downs Iron Ore Pty Ltd was associated with both Hancock and Wright, or was it at least their agent, and associated with the mining licence held by Rio.
Justice Le Miere said the Rhodes camp had not put its case about the production of ore by Hanwright in a proper legal context, but should have the opportunity to plead a case about any associations or licences.
Neither DFD Rhodes director Ken Rhodes nor Don Rhodes' co-executor Dorothea Campbell would comment on the legal action yesterday.
