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Far from Washington’s trade battles and Beijing’s export bans, Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has turned a global minerals tug-of-war into a personal windfall. The mining magnate, a vocal admirer of Donald Trump, is now profiting handsomely from the world’s push to break its reliance on China’s rare-earth supply chain.From her Perth headquarters, Rinehart has quietly built the largest portfolio of rare-earth investments outside China, as per a Bloomberg report. Two decades after her first fortune in iron ore, she’s now worth $32.9 billion, her holdings in four listed rare-earth companies alone valued at $1.8 billion. The numbers place her among the world’s ten richest women, behind India’s Savitri Jindal and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.Her rise coincides with a global scramble to diversify mineral supply chains. China still produces 70% of the world’s rare earths and controls about 90% of the magnets they’re used in — essential components for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced weaponry. When Beijing restricted exports earlier this year in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs, the move jolted markets and exposed just how reliant the world had become.Rinehart, who began investing in rare earths years before this round of trade tensions, is now the face of that shift. “She and the Hancock team get the long term and the sector better than anyone else,” said Dylan Kelly of Terra Capital in Sydney to Bloomberg.Also read: The new great game over rare earthsLive Events Through her company, Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart has become a pivotal -- if often unseen -- figure in the Western rare-earths industry. She’s one of the biggest investors in MP Materials Corp., which operates the only rare-earths mine in the United States, and is the second-largest shareholder in Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths Ltd., the world’s other major non-Chinese producer. MP Materials recently secured a $400 million equity investment from the US Department of Defense, effectively tying Rinehart’s business to America’s strategic minerals program. The timing couldn’t be better. Her holdings in rare-earth firms across Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, and the US have more than tripled in value since January, as per the report. And in September, Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to co-invest at least $1 billion in critical minerals, an endorsement that sent the sector soaring. Rinehart’s interest in the field began well before it was fashionable. Hancock Prospecting says it started investing in Lynas in 2020, years before China’s export restrictions reignited the rare-earths boom. Her stake-building spree since then -- from Arafura Rare Earths in Australia to Brazilian Rare Earths Ltd. -- has made her the single largest private investor in the global rare-earths network. Not everything she’s touched has turned to gold. Her foray into lithium, for instance, has been hampered by falling demand for EVs and a supply glut. Liontown Resources, where Hancock owns 16%, has seen its share price collapse more than 60% from its peak. Even so, Rinehart’s diversification appears deliberate: iron ore profits may have plateaued, but critical minerals now offer a new growth story. Rare earths themselves are not rare, but they’re difficult and costly to extract. China has dominated because it invested early, tolerated the environmental cost, and built vast processing capacity. Lynas, backed by Rinehart, runs a major refinery in Malaysia and plans another in Western Australia. MP Materials is expanding its own refining capacity in California and Texas. Rinehart’s push comes as the US and its allies look to insulate themselves from China’s leverage. In recent months, Trump’s administration has poured hundreds of millions into MP Materials and Arafura, while companies like Apple signed long-term contracts to buy rare-earth magnets from US suppliers. The Export-Import Bank of the United States is considering another $300 million for Arafura, where Rinehart doubled her stake to 15% after the US-Australia deal. The result is a remarkable rally: MP Materials shares are up 270% this year, while Arafura’s have climbed 140%. No other private individual has a comparable footprint in the sector outside China. “Her investments are strategic, not scattergun,” said Ian Satchwell of the University of Queensland, per Bloomberg. “She might end up with a seat at the geopolitical table.” Rinehart’s growing influence has not gone unnoticed in Canberra. Emails obtained through freedom-of-information requests show a flurry of meetings between Hancock executives and senior Australian diplomats in Riyadh, Washington, and Perth this year -- though the details remain undisclosed. She has also been cultivating ties in the US. Though there’s no evidence she’s met Trump directly, Rinehart has attended his Mar-a-Lago events and even bought 250,000 shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social. Her private jet has made frequent trips to Palm Beach in recent years, according to flight records. Toni Holt Kramer, founder of the pro-Trump women’s group “The Trumpettes,” recalls meeting Rinehart at Mar-a-Lago in 2018. “We clicked,” Kramer said. “We shared the same admiration for the president.” Rinehart’s allies say her ambition is simple: to help build what Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze calls an “outside-China industry.” Lacaze said Rinehart “often exhorts us to maintain our focus on this development,” even as the company negotiates with the US, Australian, and Japanese governments on supply guarantees. Hancock Prospecting has also been expanding into the Middle East, recently winning an exploration permit in Saudi Arabia’s mineral-rich Al Hajar North zone. MP Materials, too, has partnered with the Saudi Arabian Mining Co. to develop a local rare-earths supply chain. For governments eager to secure alternative supplies, Rinehart’s investments are as politically convenient as they are profitable. Australia’s Arafura project alone could supply 5% of global rare-earth demand by 2030, Bloomberg notes. “She has many investments in this sector, and I see us as just one part of her big vision,” said Arafura chairman Mark Southey.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News ongina rinehartrare earthsrare earths australia miningchina minerals supply chaindonald trump allyhancock prospectingcritical mineralsrare earths marketglobal supply chainaustralia economy (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News ongina rinehartrare earthsrare earths australia miningchina minerals supply chaindonald trump allyhancock prospectingcritical mineralsrare earths marketglobal supply chainaustralia economy(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless
