29 Facts About Lang Hancock

Langley Frederick George "Lang" Hancock was an Australian iron ore magnate from Western Australia who maintained a high profile in the spheres of business and politics.

Lang Hancock was born on 10 June 1909 in Leederville, Perth, Western Australia.

Lang Hancock was the oldest of four children born to Lilian and George Hancock; his mother was born in South Australia and his father in Western Australia.

Lang Hancock spent his early childhood on his family's station at Ashburton Downs, later moving to Mulga Downs Station in the north-west after his father, George Lang Hancock, bought a farming estate there.

Lang Hancock later attended Hale School in Perth from 1924 to 1927, where he played for the school cricket and football teams.

Also in 1935, Lang Hancock took over the management of Mulga Downs station from his father.

Lang Hancock partnered with his old schoolmate E A "Peter" Wright in running the property, later boasting that no deals between the two men were ever sealed with anything stronger than a handshake.

Lang Hancock staked a claim at Wittenoom in 1934 and began mining blue asbestos there in 1938 with the company Australian Blue Asbestos.

Lang Hancock sold the remainder of his claim in 1948.

Lang Hancock was aware of the dangers of asbestos prior to selling his stake in Australian Blue Asbestos but never accepted any liability, nor have his companies since his death.

On 16 November 1952, Lang Hancock claimed he discovered the world's largest deposit of iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Lang Hancock said he was flying from Nunyerry to Perth with his wife, Hope, when they were forced by bad weather to fly low, through the gorges of the Turner River.

Lang Hancock 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:.

Lang 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.

Wright and Lang Hancock walked away with annual royalties of A$25 million, split evenly between the two men.

In 1990, Lang Hancock was estimated by Business Review Weekly to be worth a minimum of A$125 million.

Lang Hancock was a good friend and strong supporter of Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and donated A$632,000 to the Queensland National Party while Bjelke-Petersen was in charge.

Lang Hancock gave A$314,000 to their counterparts in Western Australia, but gave the Western Australian Labor Party A$985,000; because "at least they can't do any harm".

Lang Hancock had had a falling-out with Sir Charles Court and the Western Australian Liberals and was adamant that the Liberals should be kept out of power as long as possible.

Lang Hancock was a staunch proponent of small government and resented what he considered to be interference by the Commonwealth Government in Western Australian affairs.

Lang Hancock bankrolled an unsuccessful secessionist party in the 1970s, 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 Lang Hancock's death, Rose Lacson arrived in Australia from the Philippines on a three-month working visa.

Lang Hancock gave her money and investments in real estate in the Sydney area.

Porteous, in turn, helped Lang Hancock to look and act like a much younger man, belying his eight decades.

Rinehart would later claim that Lang Hancock's bride had paid little attention to his worsening health, but had instead "screeched at him for money".

Western Australian finance minister Max Evans mourned the loss of the home as the excavators moved in and recalled Lang Hancock had been bemused by his wife's desire for the sprawling mansion:.

In March 1992 Lang Hancock died, aged 82 years, while living in the guesthouse of the Prix D'Amour.

However, Lang Hancock's daughter insisted that her stepmother had unnaturally hastened his death.

The Lang Hancock Range, situated about 65 kilometres north-west of the town of Newman at, commemorates the family's contribution to the establishment of the pastoral and mining industry in the Pilbara region.