Iron Ore looking good despite the problems in th USA.Lets hope ARH can do it for us.
Red dirt accounts for bulk of fortunes Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Andrew Trounson | January 10, 2008 WINDFALL profits from the worldwide mining boom has created a new breed of millionaires, and even billionaires, all over Australia, including mining entrepreneurs, starry-eyed geologists, canny accountants, lucky inheritors and even amateur investors.
As is true of almost all mining booms, contractors out providing the picks and shovels are also out making a killing.
In an inaugural resource investment richlist from magazine ResourceStocks, John Grill and Bill Paterson of contracting and resource services giant Worley Parsons rank third and fourth, respectively, with an estimated worth of $1.5 billion and $913 million. Chris Ellison, one of the founders of Western Australian mining services and contracting company Mineral Resources, chimes in at 19th with $210 million.
Iron ore heiress Gina Rinehart heads the list with a net worth of $5.5 billion, but it was published before the December run-up in the share price of iron ore developer Fortescue, which lifted founder Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest to the top of the resources heap. His stake in Fortescue is now worth about $6.6 billion.
For a brief time over Christmas Mr Forrest, was Australia's richest man, overtaking media and gambling tycoon James Packer, whose wealth has been estimated by BRW magazine at $7.2 billion.
Iron ore is the foundation for no less than half the top 10 rankings. Clive Palmer, who backed Joh Bjelke-Petersen's failed push for the prime ministership in 1980s, is worth $1.1 billion and ranks fourth courtesy of his stake in another WA iron ore developer, Australasian Resources.
Michael Wright and Angela Bennett, the children of Mr Hancock's business partner, Peter Wright, clock in at $650 million each courtesy of their inherited royalties, ranking them seventh and eighth.
Iron ore, which is little more than iron-rich red dirt, is one of the easiest of minerals to mine and process, and it blankets WA's Pilbara region. A key feedstock for the booming global steel industry, iron ore prices have jumped 140 per cent in the past five years and are set to rise by as much as 50 per cent this year. Also in the top 10 are Queensland coal magnate Ken Talbot with $664 million and Monaco-based WA coal tycoon Ric Stowe with $600 million.
At number 10 is colourful nickel miner Kerry Harmanis, who this year made a deal to sell his Jubilee WA nickel mining company to global giant Xstrata for $3.1 billion, allowing him to pocket almost $500 million. Mr Harmanis, a lawyer turned prospector, famously sold fish out of a van on the beach in Perth to help fund his prospecting.
You don't have to be out digging in the dirt or have rich parents to make a killing in the boom.
According to ResourceStocks, the resources portfolio of Dubbo builder Robert Healy and his wife Helen is valued at $417 million, ranking them 12th.
The cornerstone in the Healy fortune is their faith in uranium miner Paladin, in which they invested in
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