Lang Hancock
Langley Frederick George "Lang" Hancock (10 June 1909 – 27 March 1992) was an Australian iron ore magnate from Western Australia who maintained a high profile in the spheres of business and politics.
Famous initially for discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952 and becoming one of the richest men in Australia, he is now perhaps best remembered for his marriage to the much-younger Rose Porteous, a Filipino woman and his former maid.
The couple lived at Mulga Downs for many years, but Maley pined for city life and eventually left Hancock to return to Perth.
[3] During the Second World War, Hancock served in a militia unit, the 11th (North-West) Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps, and attained the rank of sergeant.
On 16 November 1952, Hancock claimed he discovered the world's largest deposit of iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Hancock returned to the area many times and, accompanied by prospector Ken McCamey, followed the iron ore over a distance of 112 km (70 miles).
– Annual General Report of the Government Geologist, 1890 But overseas demand at that time was negligible and development of the formations was uneconomic.
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 Kwinana was established.
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.
[12][13] 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.
In addition to his activities in the 1950s, lobbying against government restrictions on the mining of iron ore, Hancock donated considerable sums of money to politicians of many political stripes.
In 1977 he sent a Telex to the then-Treasurer of Australia Sir Phillip Lynch, telling him he needed to "stop money coming in to finance subversive activities, such as Friends of the Earth, which is a well-heeled foreign operation."
In 1969 Hancock and his partner Peter Wright commenced publication in Perth of a weekly newspaper, The Sunday Independent, principally to help further their mining interests.
Faced with strong competition, the newspaper is thought never to have turned a profit, Hancock largely relinquishing his interest in it in the early 70s and Wright selling it to The Truth in 1984.
"[16] Hancock bankrolled an unsuccessful secessionist party in the 1970s,[17] and in 1979 published a book, Wake Up Australia, outlining what he saw as the case for Western Australian secession.
In 1983, the same year as Hope Hancock's death, Rose Lacson (now Porteous) arrived in Australia from the Philippines on a three-month working visa.
As The Age put it, "Rose made Lang feel younger, sprucing up his wardrobe, dyeing his hair and getting rid of his cane.
Two successive state coroners refused to allow an inquest, but one was eventually granted in 1999 under the direction of the WA Attorney-General, Peter Foss.
[26] It resumed three months later with a smaller witness list and ended with the finding that Hancock had died of natural causes and not as a result of Porteous' behaviour.
The Hancock Range, situated about 65 kilometres (40 mi) north-west of the town of Newman at 23°00′23″S 119°12′31″E / 23.00639°S 119.20861°E / -23.00639; 119.20861, commemorates the family's contribution to the establishment of the pastoral and mining industry in the Pilbara region.
