Billionaire’s buying spree stretches beyond iron ore

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has made a string of investments over the past year, building exposure to rare earths, copper, gallium, antimony and precious metals as Australia’s richest person broadens her resources holdings.

The latest is an A$8.77-million ($8.6-million) investment in White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN; US-OTC: WCMLF), which would give Hancock almost a 14% stake in the Australian explorer and exposure to its Rae copper project in Nunavut.

The White Cliff deal brings to seven the number of disclosed new or increased mining and metals investments Hancock has made over roughly the past year, excluding its investment in SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) in June and longer-held positions in MP Materials (NYSE: MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC).

The transactions show Hancock deploying capital across a wider set of commodities and jurisdictions alongside its enormous Australian iron ore business. The portfolio increasingly spans minerals considered strategically important to Western supply chains, including rare earths and metals used in defence and advanced manufacturing.

Rare earths

One of Hancock’s biggest recent expansions beyond iron ore came last October, when it committed A$125 million to Arafura Rare Earths (ASX: ARU) as part of a A$475-million placement, lifting its interest to about 16%.

Hancock invested another A$85 million in May, taking its stake to about 17.5% as Arafura moved towards construction of the Nolans rare earths project in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Also in October, Hancock committed A$22.5 million to St George Mining (ASX: SGQ), which is advancing the Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The investment left Hancock with a 6.24% stake after shareholders approved the placement in November.

The expansion reached the U.S. market in May. A securities filing showed Hancock held 1.25 million shares, or 6.26%, of newly listed Rare Earths Americas (NYSE-American: REA). The company is advancing rare earths projects in the U.S. and Brazil.

Hancock also holds substantial positions in MP Materials and Lynas Rare Earths, giving Rinehart exposure to two of the leading rare earths producers outside China.

In the U.S., Hancock added defence and technology stocks including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and RTX as part of a US$133-million shift into defence, gold and rare earths stocks during the first quarter, Reuters reported in May.

The company increased its position in copper producer Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) by about 10% while exiting its listed holding in Chilean lithium producer SQM (NYSE: SQM), Reuters said.

The SQM sale didn’t end the companies’ lithium partnership. Hancock and SQM jointly own Azure Minerals, which holds 60% of the Andover lithium project in Western Australia.

Strategic metals

Hancock added another position in July by committing A$7.95 million to G50 Corp. (ASX: G50; US-OTC: GFTYF), giving it about 5.4% after a A$26.25-million placement.

G50 is advancing the Golconda gold-silver-zinc-gallium project in Arizona and the White Caps gold-antimony project in Nevada. The placement will fund drilling, geological work, gallium metallurgical testing and early permitting at Golconda, as well as exploration at White Caps.

White Cliff adds another copper exposure. Hancock’s investment will help accelerate drilling at Rae, where the explorer is working to expand the Danvers discoveries and test regional targets across the Nunavut property. White Cliff plans to seek shareholder approval at an extraordinary meeting on Oct. 19.