Article by Daniel Newell courtesy of the West Australian.
Gina Rinehart has moved to shake up the leadership team behind her money-spinning iron ore interests in the Pilbara.
Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will reportedly install a single boss to oversee both her Roy Hill and Atlas Iron interests, with current Roy Hill chief executive Gerhard Veldsman to become chief executive of group operations.
Atlas chief executive Sanjiv Manchanda will take on the new role of chief executive of growth projects at Hancock and Roy Hill’s first boss, Barry Fitzgerald, will become technical director for iron ore, the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday.
It was revealed last week that Mrs Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, pocketed a $225 million dividend from her Atlas Iron, despite weaker iron ore prices sending the company’s profits tumbling last year.
It was the first dividend from the miner since it was taken over by Hancock for $427m in 2018 after a three-way tussle with Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group and Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources.
Most of the billionaire’s mining wealth is drawn from her 70 per cent-owned Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara, but Atlas Iron has also proved a lucrative cash-cow, particularly when iron ore prices topped $US230 a tonne in early 2021.
Hancock told the AFR the changes to the leadership team would optimise operations, particular as Mrs Rinehart and Mr Ellison join forces to develop new port facilities at Port Hedland as each look to expand iron ore exports.
The pair formed an agreement late last year to develop a new export facility at Stanley Point Berth 3 at South West Creek. Under the terms of the deal, Roy Hill would develop and operate the project, providing rail haulage and port services.
The changes will take effect from the end of January.
Cashed-up Hancock has also been busy shoring up its interests away from iron ore, with big plays in the gas and rare earths industries.
Hancock is now the frontrunner in an intensified bid for Warrego Energy after gazumping an offer from fellow suitor Beach Energy.
It was also revealed on Monday that Hancock had taken a 10 per cent stake in Arafura Rare Earths with a cornerstone investment of $60m in a $121m capital raising.
Arafura is advancing the Nolans Creek project, north of Alice Springs, which is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earths projects with an existing JORC compliant resource of 56 million tonnes at 2.6 per cent total rare earth oxides with 26.4 per cent neodymium-praseodymium enrichment.
