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For a man who had spent decades socialising with the Kardashians and other members of the Hollywood A-list, celebrity photographer Russell James could have been forgiven for being underwhelmed by the company at the Perth dinner he had found himself with.

It was 2021, and James, sporting long blond hair, had returned from the United States and found himself working for Chris Ellison. There he was, at Lamont’s Wine Store in Cottesloe, on the other side of the table from his billionaire employer and former foreign minister Julie Bishop, at the time an ambassador for Ellison’s Mineral Resources. Beside her was Paul Rider Boon, a Broome didgeridoo player who goes by the stage name Groovylips.

The New Zealand mining magnate had hired James, a police officer before becoming a glamour photographer, to capture sumptuous black and white portraits of MinRes staff. The photographic series, I am MinRes, was an unusual move for a company specialising in contracting and lithium and iron ore mining. How was it that someone best known for appearing in America’s Next Top Model was now MinRes’ brand director?

Lucky for James, he stuck around. It wasn’t quite hanging out with Kylie Jenner, but the new social circle helped deliver the photographer a handsome windfall only three years later when he became one of a select few of Ellison’s family, friends and employees to make a seriously lucky bet.

That bet was Kali Metals, a lithium mining hopeful and the hottest ticket in town, with a massively oversubscribed $15 million float early last year. James snagged a decent holding. Within hours of trading, MinRes was buying up Kali shares, more than tripling the value of the stock. James, and plenty of others close to Ellison, MinRes’ managing director, made a fortune.

Within three days, Kali’s market capitalisation jumped from $36 million to $112 million. Among those who held shares, and sold out, were James, Ellison’s long-time business partner, Tim Roberts, and Rod Jones, another big wheel in Perth and the founder of education business Navitas. Inexplicably, Ellison’s mother-in-law, Jennifer Robinson, a mining novice, was briefly the company’s fifth-largest shareholder. She also sold.