How Australian billionaire ‘iron lady’ Gina Rinehart built a thriving mining empire

MINING magnate Gina Rinehart, the wealthiest person in Australia, turned 70 earlier this month but she appears far from slowing down.

She remains actively involved as the chairman of her company, Hancock Prospecting, with no obvious successor in sight, and continues to make strides towards her goal of elevating the firm into a lithium empire.

With a net worth of US$30.2 billion – a slight dip from the previous year’s US$30.6 billion – Rinehart once again topped Forbes’ latest list of Australia’s 50 richest people released on Thursday (Feb 15).