Lang Hancock exaggerated his role in WA mining history, court told
Pilbara icon Lang Hancock exaggerated his role in the development of the West Australian mining industry and minimised the contribution of his associates, a court has been told.
The claim was made by a lawyer representing the descendants of Don Rhodes, a little-known business associate of Mr Hancock in the early days of the state’s iron ore industry. The company he founded, DFD Rhodes, is seeking a 1.25 per cent stake in the billions of dollars in mining royalties that have flowed from Hancock Prospecting mines in the Hamersley Range.
WA’s trial of the century: Left to right: Bianca Rinehart, Gina Rinehart, Angela Bennett, Peter Wright, Lang Hancock and John Hancock.
Their claim opened the second week of the high stakes Supreme Court battle pitting Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting against the families of her father’s former business partners. DFD Rhodes’ lawyers on Monday used a trove of 60-year-old letters, memoirs and other documents to outline their case.
Rhodes has been described as a forgotten pioneer of WA’s mining industry in a history dominated by Hancock and his business partner Peter Wright, whose family is now seeking an equal share in royalties from the Hope Downs mining operations.
Among the new documents aired in court was a May 1972 letter from Hancock to Rhodes, which DFD Rhodes’ barrister Jeremy Stoljar SC said was a bid to “set the record straight” after the mining magnate had ruffled some feathers at a meeting a day earlier.
Mr Stoljar said Hancock had “shot his mouth off” at a meeting with his business associates, and “trodden on a few toes” by overemphasising his own involvement in the development of the Pilbara, while downplaying the role others, including Rhodes, had played.
DFD Rhodes chief
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