take their names..., page-35

this article spoooked me into selling..
remember, Gina Rhinehart was the 1st person who sought an extention on the lease a few days after caz nailed it... (not rio)
She, wright and bhp initially objected to Caz's claim..
By What name was Shovelanna known while under Rio's thumb?????



By Mark Drummond
January 16, 2006

MINING giant Rio Tinto has effectively taken control of the Gina Rinehart company which is developing the $2 billion Hope Downs iron ore project through a $500 million security charge.

Documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reveal that Rio Tinto Finance registered a fixed charge with a maximum liability of $500 million over Hope Downs Iron Ore Pty Ltd on July 1 last year.

The charge provides the first insight into the confidential joint venture signed that day by Rio and Ms Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting to develop the Hope Downs iron ore deposit.

The landmark deal, which delivered Rio a 50 per cent stake in Hope Downs and operational control of the project, involved the immediate payment by Rio of $231.4 million to Kumba Resources to buy out the South African mining group's interest in the iron ore project. The charge registered over all the assets and undertakings of Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Hope Downs Iron Ore gave Rio security for the that payment to Kumba.

Kumba distributed about half those proceeds to its shareholders as a special dividend.

Neither Rio nor Hancock Prospecting was prepared to discuss those security arrangements yesterday.

While the Hope Downs joint venture was struck more than six months ago, the development plan submitted by Hope Downs Iron Ore is still awaiting approval from the State Development Minister, Alan Carpenter. Those approvals will enable the Rio board to sign the joint venture agreement, the financial terms of which have not been disclosed.

A Rio spokesman said the government approvals were expected in the first quarter of this year, enabling production at Hope Downs to begin in early 2008.

Ms Rinehart gave some insight into the rationale behind the Rio deal in a recent speech to an international iron ore conference, when she suggested soaring construction costs and Rio's existing infrastructure in the Pilbara influenced her surprise decision.

"There are very positive benefits for Hope Downs with Rio's involvement, in particular in this time of rapidly increasing costs for building major projects in our north and shortages of human resources and shortages of many materials required to bring a new project on stream," Ms Rinehart said in her speech.

"Rio have immense procurement relationships that are extremely important, especially today given the shortages and uncertainties new projects face … and they have the infrastructure, lessening the need to build our own in this record high cost environment and enabling us to get our ore to market the quickest way realistically possible."

Documents obtained by The West Australian last November revealed that Hancock Prospecting received $18.4 million in Hamersley iron royalties from Rio Tinto in the 2005 financial year. The same amount was paid to Wright Prospecting, which is owned by Voyager Estate winery owner Michael Wright and his sister Angela Bennett.

The West Australian