Gina Rinehart
Australian mining heiress and Chairman of Hancock Prospecting group Gina Rinehart prepares to award medals to competitors at the Australian Synchronised Swimming Championships in Sydney, Australia, April 25, 2015. Rinehart's company is a sponsor of the event. REUTERS/Jason Reed Reuters/Jason Reed

Except for the inhumane way cattle from Australia is butchered in some Vietnamese and Indonesian abattoirs, export of live animals appears to be a thriving business. With the weak commodity market expected to last at least a decade, it makes sense for Australia’s richest person to invest more in cattle.

The Australian reports that Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting acquired two more pastoral stations in the Northern Territory, covering over 550,000 hectares. The Riveren and Inverway stations have a combined herd of 40,000 cattle.

Rinehart has three other cattle investments in Fossils Downs, Liveringa and Nerrima stations in Kimberley, Western Australia. Her new acquisitions were owned by an Indonesian company since 2011.

With her expanding livestock portfolio, Rinehart is the largest owner of prime Wagyu cattle in Australia. Her interest in the cattle industry goes beyond meat or live animal export because the mining magnate plans to put up one of Australia’s biggest dairy farm that would manufacture infant formula for the export market, reports Yahoo Finance.

More Hancock purchases are expected as Garry Korte, the company’s chief executive, says Rinehart plans to further grow Hancock’s herd numbers on its cattle stations and would start to develop the 2GR beef brand to get more additional value.

Rinehart is not the only miner who is diversifying into cattle. In June, Andrew Forrest bought for $7 million the Minilya cattle station in WA’s Gascoyne region, bringing to five his cattle stations. The four others are in Minderoo, Nanutarra and Uaroo in Pilbara and Brickhouse in Gascoyne.

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