Rinehart snaffles major stake in REE-producer Lynas

Critical minerals producer Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) has added a significant investment boost to its future, with WA magnate and executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) Gina Rinehart becoming a substantial holder.

Hancock and HPPL now together own 54,432,535 shares in Lynas, giving Ms Hancock 5.82 percent voting power in the company, which has projects in Western Australia’s Mt Weld and Kalgoorlie, as well as Kuantan in Malaysia.

Ms Hancock has been building her interest in Lynas since December, when – on the 20th of that month, she purchased 346,423 ordinary shares for $2,397,663, but her investment in the company increased substantially overnight (on April 16, 2024), when she bought 6,600,000 shares for $40,293,953.

As a major player in Australian business, HPPL Group also includes Atlas Iron Pty Ltd, FerrAus Pty Ltd, and Roy Hill Iron Ore Pty Ltd, among others, but this is the first time Rinehart and her company has significantly invested in a critical minerals-focused company.

Gina Rinehart was Australia’s wealthiest person from 2011 to 2015, according to Forbes and the Australian Financial Review, based largely on her inheritance from father Lang Hancock, who founded Hancock Prospecting and discovered significant iron ore deposits in Western Australia in the 1950s.

Lynas has been trading at $6.090.