Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting warned that Australia was falling behind in the race to attract investment in downstream minerals processing as the nation’s richest person exerts her influence on Western Australia’s lithium industry.

Hancock posted a reduced $5.04 billion annual profit driven by weaker iron ore prices for output from its Roy Hill mine in WA. Australia’s biggest private company is all but debt-free with total assets of $38 billion and borrowings of $363 million.