Iron ore price hits five-week low as traders fret about Chinese demand
Iron ore has slumped 29% this year, hurt by the prolonged slowdown of China’s economy.
Australian billionaires Gina Rinehart and Angela Bennett are fighting Rio Tinto in court for iron ore royalties they say they are owed, reports Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph.
Lawyers for the two families appeared in Australia’s Supreme Court Monday to pursue the case.
The two heiresses claim the giant miner owes at least $200 million to their families as a result of a deal made in 1970 with their now deceased fathers — Lang Hancock and Peter Wright — who were partners in the iron ore business.
The agreement covers the rights to iron ore still in the ground at the highly-profitable Channar and the Eastern Range mines, both in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Rio Tinto argues, since it didn’t control the land continuously since the deal was made, it’s not liable for the payment.
Rinehart is Hancock’s daughter, while Bennett is Wright’s daughter. The two women are also in a separate legal battle against each other about ownership stake the country’s most lucrative mine Hope Downs, an iron ore venture also partially owned by Rio Tinto.
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