Interesting article.
Billionaire Miner Fights Rivals to Halt Digs on His Ranch
By Elisabeth Behrmann & Joe Schneider - Feb 17, 2013 8:00 AM ET
Andrew Forrest, Australia’s richest man who made his fortune digging up iron ore, is fighting bids to exploit the mineral wealth under his own half-a-million acre family ranch in the nation’s remote northwest outback.
Forrest, 51, founder and executive chairman of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., the biggest seller of high-yield debt in the mining industry, sued to block attempts to search for uranium on his Minderoo ranch and last month failed in a bid to halt sand mining on the property. It was established in 1878 by his great great uncle, Sir John Forrest, first premier of the state of Western Australia, and his brothers Alexander and David.
A decade-long mining boom in Australia, the world’s biggest shipper of iron ore and coal, is set to earn the nation $189 billion this fiscal year. Forrest, who’s amassed a $5.7 billion fortune supplying China’s steel mills, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is almost two years into what are likely to become even more protracted legal proceedings over the ranch, almost double the size of New York City.
“In Australia, by law, you only own the top meter, everything underneath, that is owned by the people of Australia,” Peter Strachan, a resources analyst at Perth-based StockAnalysis, said in a phone interview. “If someone puts in a request to explore on your land, you have to deal with that and make sure you’re compensated for access.”
much more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-17/billionaire-miner-fights-rivals-to-halt-digs-on-his-ranch.html
DO SOMETHING!
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