A Western Australian Supreme Court order compels Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to hand over financial records to rivals Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes as part of a dispute over unpaid royalties from the Hope Downs iron ore project.

Rinehart’s HPPL may be required to produce years of financial records to rival factions pursuing royalties, as parties clash over documentation and how the judgment should be implemented.

DFD Rhodes won a partial victory, securing a 1.25 percent royalty share from Hope Downs production.

The case is entering a stage focused on calculation details—royalty amounts, interest rates, and potential damages—with a referee expected to handle technical aspects.

A follow-up hearing will decide costs, with a May 1 date set to continue proceedings; the judgment is seen as a partial victory for Wright Prospecting since they did not gain ownership of another portion of the project.

The court upheld Wright Prospecting’s claim to a 50 percent share of HPPL’s past and future royalties from Hope Downs, based on an old Lang Hancock–Peter Wright partnership agreement.

Disputed issues include the appropriate interest rate for past royalties, with HPPL proposing about 2.8% and Wright Prospecting pushing for roughly 6%; final amounts to be resolved in a later hearing.

Justice Jennifer Smith awarded Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes a share of historical Hope Downs royalties, with Wright Prospecting entitled to about half of the royalties, potentially amounting to hundreds of millions.

The core dispute centers on a 1.25% royalty claim and the division of assets from the Rio Tinto-operated Hope Downs complex in the Pilbara, where Rio Tinto is the operator.

Hope Downs is a Pilbara mine co-owned 50/50 by HPPL and Rio Tinto, yielding profits since 2007.

Judge suggested that a referee may better manage the matters than a judge, and the referee’s role will be prominent as the final decision nears given the judge’s reduced availability.

The ruling reinforces Gina Rinehart’s status as Australia’s wealthiest person, with the long-running dispute tracing back to 1940s–1980s agreements between Hancock Prospecting and Wright.