Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting takes 18% stake in takeover target Azure Minerals

The news: Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting says it's built a strategic stake of 18% in critical minerals miner Azure Minerals, which is the target of a takeover bid by Chilean lithium giant SQM.

The numbers: The confirmation of Rinehart's share raid on Azure comes a day after it was announced that SQM Australia had agreed a deal to buy up 100% of Azure shares for $3.52 per share, or roughly $1.63 billion — a 44% share price premium to its last trading price of $2.44 at last Friday's close before trading was halted. In a statement, Hancock noted that Azure owns 60% of the Andover lithium project in West Australia, which has shown "encouraging results" during its exploration phase.

The context: Rinehart's move echoes her tactics in the recent derailing of US chemicals giant Albemarle's $6 billion takeover of Liontown Resources, although she has built her Azure stake at a much faster pace.

What they said: "Consistent with early stage projects that are pre-resource, while Andover shows good prospects, it has a long path and significant risks to navigate before its ultimate potential is known," Hancock Prospecting said in its statement.