Editing Lang Hancock (section)

==The Pilbara discovery==
[[File:Regions of western australia nine plus perth.png|right|thumb|Hancock struck iron ore in the Pilbara region, in north-west WA]]
On 16 November 1952, Hancock claimed he discovered the world's largest deposit of iron ore in the [[Pilbara region of Western Australia]]. Hancock said he was flying from [[Nunyerry, Western Australia|Nunyerry]] to Perth with his wife, Hope, when they were forced by bad weather to fly low, through the gorges of the [[Turner River]].  In Hancock's own words,<ref name="chronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.hancockprospecting.com.au/lgh%20achievements.pdf|title=Lang Hancock Chronology: 50 Years Commemoration |publisher=Hancock Prospecting |accessdate=5 September 2005 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050616170435/http://hancockprospecting.com.au/lgh%20achievements.pdf |archivedate=16 June 2005 }}</ref>
{{quote|In November 1952, I was flying down south with my wife Hope, and we left a bit later than usual and by the time we got over the [[Hamersley Range]]s, the clouds had formed and the ceiling got lower and lower. I got into the Turner River, knowing full well if I followed it through, I would come out into the Ashburton.  On going through a gorge in the Turner River, I noticed that the walls looked to me to be solid iron and was particularly alerted by the rusty looking colour of it, it showed to me to be oxidised iron.}}

The story is widely accepted in modern descriptions of the discovery, but one biographer, [[Neill Phillipson]], disputes Hancock's account.  In ''Man of Iron'' he argues that there was no rain in the area of the Turner River on 16 November 1952 or indeed on ''any'' day in November 1952, a fact the [[Australian Bureau of Meteorology]] confirms.  Hancock returned to the area many times and, accompanied by prospector Ken McCamey, followed the iron ore over a distance of {{convert|112|km|mile|abbr=on}}.  He soon came to realise that he had stumbled across reserves of iron ore so vast that they could supply the entire world, thus confirming the discovery of the geologist [[Harry Page Woodward]], who after his survey asserted:
{{quote|"[t]his is essentially an iron ore country. There is enough iron ore to supply the whole world, should the present sources be worked out". – ''Annual General Report of the Government Geologist, 1890'' But overseas demand at that time was negligible and development of the formations was uneconomic.<ref name="20030303-HANSARD">{{cite web |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/HANSARD/reps/dailys/dr030303.pdf | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20111124154244/http://aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr030303.pdf| archivedate=24 November 2011|url-status=dead|title=Private Members Business: Hancock, Mr Lang |work=House of Representatives, Hansard |date=3 March 2003|pages=11959–11964 |accessdate=5 September 2005 }}</ref><ref name=Legend>{{cite news | url=http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/holes-in-the-fabric-of-the-hancock-legend/338/ | title=Holes in the Fabric of the Hancock Legend | work=[[The Global Mail]] | date=3 September 2012 | accessdate=14 January 2015 | author=Lagan, Bernard | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907013541/http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/holes-in-the-fabric-of-the-hancock-legend/338/ | archivedate=7 September 2012}}</ref><ref name=Report>{{cite web |url=https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/static/FullTextFiles/007648.pdf |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20210921050914/https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/static/FullTextFiles/007648.pdf |archivedate=21 September 2021 |url-status=live|title=Mineral Resources of Western Australia |work=Department of Mines |date=1980|pages=27–28 |accessdate=23 November 2021}}</ref>}}

After 1920 development of the [[Yampi Sound]] deposits started but exports to Japan were curtailed by the [[Commonwealth Government]] in 1938. Prospecting and exploration of other ore deposits continued until 1952 where an agreement between the [[Government of Western Australia]] and BHP to build a steel mill and smelter in [[City of Kwinana|Kwinana]] was established. All other iron ore, known or unknown, was reserved to the Crown for 9 years. Representations were made to the Commonwealth Government to have the embargo lifted and in 1960 limited approval was granted for the export of iron ore from non-BHP deposits. This sparked a wave of intensive prospecting and exploration concentrated in the North West, the Hamersley Ranges in particular, where formation had been known but ore bodies not yet delineated. At this time Hancock revealed his discovery. Hancock had lobbied furiously for a decade to get the ban lifted and in 1961 was finally able to reveal his discovery and stake his claim.<ref name=Legend/><ref name=Report/>

In the mid-1960s Hancock turned once more to Peter Wright and the pair entered into a deal with mining giant [[Rio Tinto Group]] to develop the iron ore find.  Hancock named it "Hope Downs" after his wife.  Under the terms of the deal Rio Tinto set up and still administer a mine in the area. Wright and Hancock walked away with annual royalties of [[Australian dollar|A]]$25 million, split evenly between the two men.  In 1990, Hancock was [[BRW Rich 200|estimated]] by ''[[Business Review Weekly]]'' to be worth a minimum of A$125 million.<ref name="brw-worth">{{cite news |title=Lang Hancock |work=[[Business Review Weekly]] |date=6 April 1990 |location=Australia }}</ref>