About the Parent Company
Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is an Australian company that has a long and important association with the Pilbara and the iron ore sector. HPPL has significant plans for further development in both the Pilbara region of Western Australia and other areas in Australia.
Since the discovery of iron ore by the company’s founder Lang Hancock in 1952, the lifting of the Federal Government embargo on iron ore imports in 1960 and the subsequent lifting of the State Government’s embargo on pegging land for iron ore tenements, a progression of 10 world class iron ore mines (the first being Tom Price in 1966) have been developed on original Hancock deposits.
In December 1992, Hope Downs Iron Ore entered a State Agreement to gain security for the Hope Downs tenements. The Hope Downs mine commenced operations in November 2007 with 50 percent partner Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO).
The first train load of Hope Downs Ore arrived at the port of Dampier prior to Christmas 2007 and first shipments occurred early in the first quarter 2008.
The Hope Downs Project represents an important milestone for the company. For the first time, Hancock retains a significant equity stake in a developed world class project. This is the realisation of a long term vision of HPPL’s founder Mr Lang Hancock, which is shared by his daughter, Gina Rinehart, the current Chairman of HPPL.
With the capability and experience gained through the development of earlier projects and bankable feasibility studies, such as Marandoo and more recently Hope Downs, Hancock Prospecting is looking forward to a productive future. This will involve the successful development of its next major iron ore project, Roy Hill 1, its thermal coal project in Queensland and other projects currently in the HPPL group portfolio.