Gina Rinehart and the heirs to her father’s partner, Peter Wright, have won a High Court case against Rio Tinto over disputed royalties from two Pilbara mines.
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Rio Tinto, one of the world’s biggest mining companies, argued it wasn’t liable to pay royalties on property acquired 45 years ago from Ms. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. and Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd.-operated by the family of Peter Wright, the former partner of Ms. Rinehart’s late father Lang Hancock.
Hancock and Wright are owed royalties under a 1970 agreement in which Rio agreed to pay 2.5 percent on iron ore sales from the two areas, according to earlier hearings.
Mining giant Rio Tinto will have to pay more than $200 million in royalties and court fees after losing a legal battle with iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart.
Ben Mitchell, a Melbourne-based spokesman for Rio Tinto, declined to comment immediately on the judgment.
But in an appeal that was reduced to $89 million in royalties for the Eastern Range Mine only, prompting the High Court challenge.
But Rio argued the pits were not in their possession for all of the period and therefore the Anglo-Australian firm was not liable to pay the royalties.
Lower courts had ruled the payout should be voided due to a lapse in Rio’s control of the Channar Mine in the 1970s.
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On Wednesday, Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously against Rio Tinto.
