Five of the top 10 people listed on the Australian Financial Review’s (AFR) Rich List have a background in the resources industry.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has topped the list for the fifth consecutive year, with $40.61 billion in wealth.
Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, recently completed its $1.7 billion acquisition of lithium upstart Azure Minerals alongside Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM).
Since September 2023, Rinehart has been allegedly disrupting potential lithium deals in their desire to get its hands on a greater share of the critical mineral, an example being Hancock snapping up a 19.9 per cent stake in Liontown Resources.
Rinehart was also crowned AFR’s 2023 Business Person of the Year, where they were recognised as one of Australia’s top leaders, builders, pioneers and chief executive officers (CEO).
Clive Palmer came in sixth place with $22.75 billion. His company, Mineralogy, was reportedly paid $447 million in royalties last year by CITIC, the Chinese operator of the Sino Iron project, which is the largest magnetite mining and processing operation in Australia.
Both Nicola and Andrew Forrest came in seventh and eighth place respectively.
In July 2023, it was announced that Andrew and Nicola Forrest would separate after 31 years of marriage. In a statement, the Forrests’ stressed their friendship remains strong.
“There is no influence on the operations, control or direction of Fortescue, Minderoo or Tattarang,” they said.
The separation has resulted in Nicola holding $16.92 billion and Andrew $16.76 billion, with Nicola owning 50 million more shares than Andrew in Fortescue, an iron ore company that has made many moves towards decarbonisation.
A hydrogen-powered T 264 haul truck prototype developed in partnership by Fortescue and Liebherr fired up its engines for the first time in Perth last week, and a zero-emissions electric coach from Go West will aid Fortescue in improving its emissions outcomes at its Pilbara operations.
The company’s dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel, the Green Pioneer, also won the Hydrogen Transport award at the World Hydrogen 2024 Awards.
Former Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg was ranked ninth on the list, with $14.86 billion.
Glasenberg was Glencore’s CEO from 2002 to 2021. Since Glencore became a publicly listed company in 2011, Glasenberg has reportedly earned around $3.5 billion in dividends, making him the company’s second-largest shareholder. Since Glasenberg’s retirement, Gary Nagle has been CEO at Glencore.
Like Fortescue, Glencore has been making moves in the renewables space. It was announced in March that Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines operation is set to source 20 per cent of its long-term electricity needs from APA Group’s new solar farm in Mica Creek, Queensland.
More recently, it was announced that Sandvik will commence a pilot project to deploy a second-life battery energy storage system at select Glencore operations.
With half of AFR’s top 10 Rich List representing mining and resources, the industry is getting stronger and stronger.
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