Australia’s Hancock Prospecting is disputing a report by the Australian Financial Review that falling shares of MP Materials (NYSE: MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) have cut the value of Gina Rinehart’s rare-earths holdings by an estimated at A$680 million ($478 million) over the past year.
The calculation doesn’t reflect the company’s full trading history or acquisition prices, Hancock said. The AFR had estimated the decline by comparing the value of certain publicly disclosed shareholdings over a 12-month period, a Hancock spokesperson said. That approach is incomplete because public disclosures don’t capture all of Hancock’s trading activity, while the timing and prices of its purchases are not fully known, he added.
Hancock began building parts of its rare earth portfolio in 2020 and has bought shares at different times and prices, including at levels below those used in the AFR’s comparison, according to the company.
The dispute follows recent weakness in two of Hancock’s largest publicly disclosed rare earth holdings. MP Materials (NYSE: MP) shares have lost almost 32% of their value over the past year, closing at $45.43 in U.S. trading Tuesday, while Lynas has fallen 19% to A$13.64.
Those share-price declines do not by themselves establish Hancock’s gain or loss on the investments because its cost base, trading history and current position are not fully public.
Beyond iron ore
Hancock has continued to build exposure to rare earths and other critical minerals beyond the iron ore business that made Rinehart Australia’s richest person. Her rare earth investments now account for roughly 10% of her estimated $25.1 billion fortune, alongside holdings in lithium and copper.
Hancock’s stake in MP Materials is worth about $834 million, based on the latest U.S. filings cited by the AFR. MP shares surged in 2025 after the company struck a multibillion-dollar agreement with the Pentagon before retreating from those gains.
The agreement included a $400 million U.S. defence department investment, a 10-year price floor for neodymium-praseodymium products and a decade-long commitment covering magnets from MP’s planned 10X manufacturing facility.
Strategic exposure
Hancock has also built positions in earlier-stage rare earth developers, including Arafura Rare Earths (ASX: ARU), which is advancing the Nolans project in Australia’s Northern Territory.
It has also backed St George Mining (ASX: SGQ), developer of the Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Brazil. Hancock invested A$22.5 million for a 6.24% interest in the company.
The investments give Hancock exposure to two of the leading rare earth producers outside China through MP Materials and Lynas, while its development-stage holdings offer greater upside but depend on financing, construction and the expansion of processing capacity.
That strategy is unfolding as rare earth supply remains a focus of U.S.-China trade discussions. Following President Donald Trump’s September meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House said the two countries continued to work on U.S. concerns about supply shortages involving rare earths and other critical minerals.
John Hancock, Rinehart’s eldest child and a director of White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN), one of his mother’s more recent investments, has backed her rare earth strategy while saying he would rank copper first among minerals positioned to benefit from rising demand.
By – https://secure.northernminer.com/news/rineharts-rare-earth-stakes-take-478m-paper-hit/1003895280/