Fortescue Metals Case Study

Overview of Fortescue Metals Group

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), an Australian global metal mining company, is the fourth largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has been in a long-standing legal dispute with The Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (YNAC) over the Solomon Hub iron ore mine, which is located 1,400 kilometers north of Perth in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. YNAC is seeking compensation for economic and cultural losses caused by mining activities.

Dispute over Solomon Hub and Damaged Sites

FMG began mining at the hub in 2013 allegedly without agreement from the YNAC and instead dealt with a breakaway group. More than 200 sites have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Yindjibarndi. YNAC took legal action in 2023 after years of alleging FMG never had permission to mine at Solomon Hub.

FMG’s Position and Legal Battle

In 2025, FMG, accused of stoking divisions, said it is not to blame for the "internal disharmony" among Traditional Owners. FMG argued the granting of its mining tenements did not cause community disharmony, as it began closing submissions in the long-running legal battle in Federal Court.

YNAC is seeking $1.8 billion compensation from Fortescue over cultural and economic loss at the Solomon Mine Hub. The Aboriginal corporation is also seeking compensation for specific destruction of sites and for the cost of healing the trauma caused by social disruption.

Closing submissions were finalized in the Federal Court in early 2025 in this landmark legal battle. FMG contends that its operations did not cause direct psychological harm to the community and that YNAC is not entitled to royalties from iron ore production. A decision on the case is expected at the end of the year or early 2026.

Financial Impacts on Fortescue

There have been costs for the company. In 2025, Fortescue reported a slump in first-half profit, missing analysts' forecasts, and said it was reconsidering the timeframes for some of its green energy projects, given policy uncertainty from the Trump administration. The miner said the unit, Fortescue Energy, was unlikely to meet its target of producing 15 million metric tons of green hydrogen by 2030.

Voices from the Yindjibarndi

Meanwhile, legal counsel for Yindjibarndi, Tina Jowett, said: “My clients' sacred sites and their dreaming tracks have been dug up by the tonne and they're being carted off — not even to another Aboriginal group's country. They're being carted off to China.”

The court heard the Yindjibarndi people carried guilt and feared consequences — such as death — for failing to protect the hundreds of culturally significant sites at the Solomon Hub project, which included caring for the land through rituals. The mine's life is positioned to run until 2045, with FMG indicating it would take a further 25 years to rehabilitate the land. A federal court decision is expected to be made at the end of the year or in early 2026.