The West Australian Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that Hancock Prospecting would not have to pay special costs to Wright Prospecting in relation to the dispute over the high-grade Rhodes Ridge deposit.

The three judges' comments put some perspective on a drawn-out fight over legal costs in the continuation of a 17-year-long court stoush between Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting over an iron ore deposit nestled between mines operated by Rio Tinto.