DFD Rhodes

A low-profile WA family that has amassed a $300 million fortune from iron ore royalties has come to prominence by developing a head office in West Perth.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application by Hancock Prospecting for a separate trial over ownership of lucrative iron ore tenements in the Pilbara.

Privately-owned Perth company Wright Prospecting has posted yet another extraordinarily large annual profit as it reaped the benefits of the booming iron ore market.

Mining giant Rio Tinto paid more than $1 billion in royalties to four Perth families last year as a result of deals struck by their forebears in the 1960s.

Big business and trade union support helped fill Labor's coffers in the year to June, with the party's $12.7 million haul outstripping the combined earnings of the coalition parties.

A WA mining dynasty’s move to new West Perth headquarters reflects a change in identity for the company.

Climate risks and emissions are no longer an afterthought for developers.

The Rhodes family office made a profit of $82.8 million for the year to June, with a portfolio of assets nearing half a billion dollars.

Senior journalist Claire Tyrrell talks about her recent coverage of Dorado Property.

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has failed in its bid to delay a Supreme Court trial over royalties from the Hope Downs tenements.

Business News values the assets of WA’s richest people, and explores how they’ve used that wealth in 2022.

Our updated ranking of WA’s largest and most profitable private companies has a mix of familiar and little-known names.

Mining royalties paid to all Aboriginal groups in WA are less than half the amount paid to four wealthy families, new research has found.

Moves by mining magnate Gina Rinehart to expand her company’s presence in West Perth reflect broader sentiment in the area.

A court has rejected Gina Rinehart and her company Hancock Prospecting's claims that giving her children access to certain documents would significantly prejudice the mining magnate.

Descendants of two WA mining pioneers are gearing up for a legal battle more than a decade in the making over iron ore royalties believed to be worth billions of dollars.

Dozens of lawyers have filled a courtroom for the start of a legal showdown between descendants of mining pioneers Lang Hancock and Peter Wright over billions of dollars in iron ore royalties.

The spotlight has moved to another WA mining pioneer, Don Rhodes, as DFD Rhodes makes its opening submissions during a lengthy court trial over billions of dollars in iron ore royalties.

DFD Rhodes has stood firm in its claims over royalties from the Hope Downs mines during a Supreme Court trial focusing on assets disputed by descendants of Lang Hancock and Peter Wright.

Their descendants are fighting in a costly legal showdown, but mining pioneers Lang Hancock, Peter Wright, and Don Rhodes were friends who trusted each other, the Supreme Court of WA has heard.

Bianca Rinehart backflipped on her initial resistance towards siding with her brother John Hancock to fight their mother, Gina Rinehart, the Supreme Court of WA has heard.

Hancock Prospecting has made its opening submissions during a trial over billions of dollars worth of iron ore royalties, starting off by rebutting claims made by DFD Rhodes.

Virtually unknown in WA a decade ago, the family office has become an established niche.

Lawyers for descendants of mining pioneers Lang Hancock and Peter Wright have stayed busy ironing out issues related to the ongoing trial over billions of dollars in royalties.

Lawyers have disputed Hancock Prospecting’s allegation that Wright Prospecting took more than 20 years to start its legal action, during a Supreme Court trial over mining royalties.

Nothing supports Wright Prospecting’s interpretation of mining agreements struck by mining pioneers in the 1980s, Hancock Prospecting claims in court.

In this podcast: Mark Beyer and Mark Pownall discuss opposition fracture; Perth house prices; RAC Insurance; Pioneer Credit; BGC stoppage; Hancock Prospecting; Azure Minerals, and private companies wrap.

Gina Rinehart’s eldest children have shown up to observe the Supreme Court trial disputing the ownership of assets under their grandfather’s mining empire.

WA Labor raised more than $6.7 million last financial year across the board, almost $2 million more than the Liberal Party’s state division.

New financial reports show a handful of Aboriginal groups gaining more income from mining royalties but others going backwards, while the sector as a whole remains the poor cousin.

More than $1 million has been donated to Western Australia's major political parties since new disclosure laws were introduced on July 1, ahead of the state election in March 2025.

High profile mining players David Flanagan and Jimmy Wilson have joined a team advising Viburnum on its new private equity fund, backed to the tune of $20 million by a local family office.

The WA Liberal Party has made more from donations this financial year than WA Labor, but levies and union fees have the latter’s coffers well ahead in the lead up to the state election.

There have been big shifts in the ranking of WA’s largest, and most profitable, private companies over the past year.