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Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart has gifted 10 lucky staffers at the Roy Hill mine a $100,000 Christmas bonus after choosing employees at random out of a hat.
"Apparently last week Gina told all Roy Hill staff to stand-by for an important announcement," a source told Perth radio station 6PR Radio last week.
Well, that tip-off was confirmed to be true on Tuesday by an anonymous Roy Hill worker, as per the Daily Mail.
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Radio hosts revealed that the mine worker was 'miffed' over the bonus winners as one of the 10 lucky staffers had only been employed at the company for three months.
But you can't argue when random names are pulled out of a hat.
The Roy Hill mine is located in Western Australia's remote Pilbara region.
It's also the largest asset owned by Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting Group.
Rinehart is a mining magnate and Australia’s richest person, having acquired her wealth and renown through serving as executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting.
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Rinehart inherited Hancock Prospecting from her father, Lang Hancock, upon his death in 1992.
As of 2022, Gina Rinehart has an estimated net worth of $28.9 billion USD, according to Forbes.
After establishing her dominance in the mining industry and becoming a billionaire in 2006, Rinehart branched into other industries including agriculture and media.
In November, Rinehart revealed the $2.8billion Hancock had paid in corporate tax and state government royalties had gone on to help fund public services across the nation.
"When mining does well, Australia does well," the billionaire said in a company statement.
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"Once again, the significant contribution Roy Hill and mining in general makes to the country has been highlighted - creating jobs and opportunities, powering the economy through Covid-19 and contributing to health, defence, police, our elderly, infrastructure and more."
Hancock's success comes shortly after Rinehart pulled her AUD$15 million sponsorship for the Aussie national netball team after players kicked off about the sport being associated with fossil fuels.
The Aussie billionaire launched a scathing attack against Netball Australia after the Diamonds raised concerns over the environmental impact of the mining company.
"Hancock and its executive chairman Mrs Rinehart consider that it is unnecessary for sports organisations to be used as the vehicle for social or political causes," Hancock Prospecting said in a statement.
The statement added: "Secondly, because there are more targeted and genuine ways to progress social or political causes without virtue signalling or for self-publicity."
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They said they did not want 'to add to netball's disunity problems' as it pulled the multi-million dollar funding deal.
Rachel Lang