Aussie Iron Ore Billionaires Go For Gold As The Price Soars

Andrew Forrest and his family have a net worth of $14.4 billion, but they couldn’t easily earn $500 million thanks to a timely investment in gold, which also attracted Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Forrest and Rinehart, who both have an estimated net worth of $26.4 billion, made their fortunes mining iron ore but are diversifying their portfolios as demand for the steel-making material peaks and prices fall.

Last week, Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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Despite their differences, energy appeals to both.

Forrest prefers investing in wind and solar to provide green energy, as well as attempts to master green hydrogen that have largely failed.

Reinhardt prefers conventional energy, with large and growing investments in oil and gas and highly profitable investments in rare earths in Australia and the United States

Gold was added recently, partly because prices have been rising strongly over the past three years, but also because it comes naturally to them, given their family’s deep roots in Western Australia, Australia’s main gold-producing state.

Nearly $500 million

Forrest made a quick $500 million by exercising an option to increase his stake in the relatively new miner Greatland Gold, which acquired the massive Telfer mine from US-based Newmont 18 months ago when gold was trading around $2,400 an ounce.

At the time of the Telfer acquisition, Wyloo, one of the Forrest family companies, owned about 9 per cent of Greatland and had an option to buy a further 9.9 per cent from Newmont for US$2 (A$3) a share.

When Forrest exercised his Wyloo option last week, Greatland was trading at $9, resulting in an immediate profit of $500 million.

Like all gold mining companies, Greatland’s gold price has more than doubled to $4,987 since the Telfer acquisition.

Wyloo chief executive Luca Giacomazzi said he believed there was more value in Telfer and the nearby Haviron gold mine.

Rinehart’s gold investments took two steps forward last week, first by investing in emerging Australian gold explorer Ballard Mining, which raised $40 million in new funding for its Mt Ida project in Western Australia.

But her 5.1% interest in Ballard, held through her family’s company Hancock Prospecting, is less interesting than an investment in gold exploration in Saudi Arabia with Saudi state investment company Maaden.

Hancock subsidiary Midana Exploration has secured five exploration licenses with Maaden covering 9,300 square miles of the Nabita Ad-Duwayhi gold belt in Saudi Arabia.

Reinhart said she was excited about Saudi Arabia’s ambition to build a world-class mining industry, which is reflected in its pro-mining policies.