Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest makes $500 million in one morning

Have you had a good Friday morning? Andrew Forrest, chief executive and founder of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group certainly has.

His company had just signed a joint venture agreement with junior miner BC Iron, sending its shares up by as much as 20% in morning trade (the shares were up 17.5% at $3.29 at 11:30 AEST).

Forrest, as the company’s largest shareholder, has watched his stake increase from $2.8 billion to $3.3 billion this morning. It has risen by $1.7 billion since the start of the year, thanks to pick up in commodity prices and China’s continued recovery.

The signing of the agreement follows a deal announced to the market last month, under which Fortescue will have a 50% interest in BC’s Iron’s Nullagine iron ore project in the Pilbara, in exchange for access to the Fortescue’s port and rail facilities.

Shares in BC Iron have leapt 40% this morning to reach 88 cents.