Sydney  – Iron ore tycoon Andrew Forrest could finish the week as Australia’s richest man after a 40-per-cent lift in the share price of Fortescue Metals Group since the start of the month.

Friday could see him regain top ranking if the dizzy climb continues into a fifth trading day.

His personal stake has been rising at the rate of 50 million Australian dollars (40 million US dollars) per trading hour – or over 800,000 Australian dollars a minute.

Forrest was the nation’s richest man a year ago with 9.4 billion Australian dollars in personal wealth but fell to eighth last month as the global downturn clobbered Fortescue and other resources companies.

His change of fortune came last week when top iron ore producer Rio Tinto Ltd scrapped a deal that would have doubled the shareholding of Chinese aluminium giant Chinalco and instead formed an iron ore joint venture with arch rival BHP Billiton Ltd.

That marriage made Fortescue the last big suitor for Chinese companies looking to lock up supplies of Australia’s iron ore.

When the stock market opened for its final trading day of the week Forrest was worth 4.2 billion Australian dollars – just short of the 4.3 billion valuation put on Visy Industries cardboard king Richard Platt, Australia’s richest man. (dpa)