Mrs Gina Rinehart AO, Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting, received the highly acclaimed ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Mines and Money Resourcing Tomorrow Outstanding Achievement Awards on 5 December 2024.
The prestigious mining awards ceremony held their annual gala event at the Guildhall in London, bringing together the most prominent figures in the industry for an informative evening on the final night of the Mines and Money conference.
Closing this influential international mining event, Resourcing Tomorrow, the Resourcing Tomorrow Outstanding Achievement Awards celebrates outstanding contributions to the mining industry – from visionary leaders and CEOs to industry deals and exploration projects.
Mrs Rinehart was honoured this year with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognises one ‘truly special’ individual of outstanding calibre. Huge congratulations to Mrs Rinehart on this hard-earned recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Australian mining sector.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises Mrs Rinehart’s significant history and achievements over a lifetime of business endeavours. Under her leadership, Hancock Prospecting has become the most successful private company in Australia’s history, and one of the most successful private mining companies globally.
Mrs Rinehart’s contributions extend beyond the mining and agricultural industries, more recently into providing reliable energy for Australians, and into iconic Australian brands Rossi, Kidman and Driza-Bone. In addition, Mrs Rinehart’s significant contributions to Australia’s Olympic teams were on display this year at the Paris Olympic Games, and she has been recognised for her philanthropic efforts toward veterans, rural aid, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, long stay patients in private hospitals across Australia, and others in need.
Executive Director Tad Watroba said: “On behalf of all of us at Hancock Prospecting (HPPL), huge congratulations to our truly incredible Executive Chairman, Mrs Rinehart, for her outstanding lifetime achievement awarded tonight. Mrs Rinehart has worked with immense dedication for more than 30 years to build Australia’s most successful private company ever. When Mrs Rinehart became Executive Chairman in 1992, HPPL was nothing like the company it is today, HPPL then had very few assets, most of which were either facing litigation or heavily mortgaged. It was a far cry from the remarkable success story that it is today, indeed such success was not thought possible. Instead huge challenges and risks formed the path ahead, and lots of work! It has been my great pleasure to work beside this patriotic and very hard working Australian for more than three decades, and I couldn’t be more proud of the company that has been built. I’d like to thank Mines and Money for recognising our exceptional Chairman!”
HPPL CEO Garry Korte added: “This lifetime achievement award, one of several Mrs Rinehart has been honoured with, recognises the decades of dedicated effort that Mrs Rinehart has put into building HPPL into the nation-building and contributing company it is today. Along the way she has become one of Australia’s most outstanding advocates for the mining industry, if not the most outstanding. She writes articles, gives speeches and founded Australia’s National Mining and Related Industries Day, held every 22 November. Keep going please Mrs Rinehart, our company, mining industry and country need you! Warmest congratulations Mrs Rinehart!”
HPPL’s CEO Operations Gerhard Veldsman stated: “We are delighted that Mrs Rinehart has been recognised with this award. Mrs Rinehart has led and helped to build a mining company that our staff say is the best mining company, and we have been awarded ‘best mining company in Australia’ three times. Our excellent safety record and our very low by industry standards turnover confirm this special title. Mining contributes more than all other industries combined to the national tax revenue, and we are proud of the contribution that our fantastic company makes to our nation! Thank you, Mrs Rinehart and warmest congratulations, from all your team.”
About the awards from Resourcing Tomorrow:
“These awards showcase the excellence inherent in the mining industry across its many different mediums: from trailblazers carving out new, untrodden paths to excellence in ESG, to groundbreaking discoveries – and the 2024 nominees have been no exception.
The awards ceremony will serve as the grand finale of Europe’s most influential mining event, which will unite over 2,000 industry professionals in London from 3-5 December. The lavish gala dinner, held on Thursday 5 December at the stunning Guildhall, promises to be an evening of magical festivities and celebration.
Adding a further dimension of excitement and honour, all awards this year are sponsored – the sponsors themselves some of the best the mining industry has to offer.
At the close of another challenging yet triumphant year for the mining industry, these awards are the final opportunity in 2024 to celebrate victories across the board, as well as commemorate the individuals, companies and initiatives revolutionising the industry today to properly resource tomorrow.”
