Australia’s wealthiest person Gina Rinehart must part with some of her riches, a court has ruled in a high-profile dispute over her mining empire.
Worth an estimated A$38bn (£20bn; $27bn), Rinehart inherited the iron ore ventures of her father in 1992, before going on to develop mines in the mineral-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA).
Two of her children and the heirs of her late father’s business partners argued they were entitled to a significant share of royalties and mining rights.
On Wednesday, more than 13 years after the legal battle began, a Supreme Court judge ruled that Rinehart must pay past and future royalties to her rival heirs but that the mining rights remain hers.
The legal battle centres around Hope Downs, one of Australia’s largest and most lucrative iron ore projects.
