Hancock Prospecting

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is an Australian-owned mining and agricultural business run by Executive Chairwoman Gina Rinehart and CEO Garry Korte. At various stages of its trading history, the company has been known as Hancock Prospecting Ltd, Hancock Resources Ltd, Hanwright Pty Ltd, Hancock & Wright Ltd, and Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is owned by Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%). The company was founded in 1955 by Rinehart's father, the late Lang Hancock. Hancock Prospecting holds the mineral rights to some of the largest Crown land leases in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Gina Rinehart has disputed accusations that she is an heiress. Through Rinehart's spokesperson and chief financial officer at Hancock Prospecting, Jay Newby, Rinehart has claimed that upon assuming the role of the Executive Chairwoman, she took over a company that was in a perilous financial position with significant debt and major assets mortgages and under threat of seizure.