The pattern is now clear: anyone trying to buy a West Australian critical minerals asset should expect an eleventh hour call from one of the state’s billionaire mining magnates.

Gina Rinehart’s veiled threat on Monday to block Albemarle’s $6.6 billion takeover of Liontown Resources unless given a seat at the lithium table comes straight from the same playbook that Andrew Forrest and Chris Ellison have used to great effect over the past 21 months.