Gina Rinehart treated 80 bankers to an outback lunch to secure export credit funds for Roy Hill mine

(Business Insider Australia, Sydney, 4 December 2015) Yesterday Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine hit yet another snag. For a second time the first shipment of iron ore from Roy Hill was delayed following safety concerns. At a Sydney Mining Club function last night — held by Rinehart with the intention of celebrating the first shipment — Rinehart’s chief financial officer, Garry Korte, revealed how the mining magnate secured the $US10 billion funding package needed to keep the project afloat. According to Korte, Rinehart “personally” hosted a lunch in the outback, inviting around 80 bankers from around the world. “She talked to each guest individually,” he said, “which meant we secured virtually on the spot, billions of dollars of commercial bank support.” Her “personal touch” with the export credit agencies saved the project, said Korte. It is expected that this was in reference to the $7.2 billion in funding secured in March 2014 from a global consortium of banks including Australia’s majors and a group of national export-import finance banks. Korte also said Rinheart hosted a “famous” dinner with the “conservative” export credit agencies, who underpinned the finance, without which the project might not have happened. Korte also noted that: “The head of the lead export credit agency on the debt deal danced with the chairman, Mrs Rinehart, and it seemed to help his enthusiasm for the project substantially … quite unexpectedly, a few minutes later he announced at the dinner he was going to bring forward his board meeting to deal with our financing”.