Fortescue ends bitter green iron battle with Element Zero

Ben Graham · Novembro 26

Australia’s Fortescue (ASX: FMG) has agreed to settle its high-stakes lawsuit accusing former executives of stealing company data to build their green iron start-up Element Zero.

The iron ore miner had claimed that former chief scientist Bart Kolodziejczyk and former technology development lead Bjorn Winther-Jensen used green iron technology they helped develop while at Fortescue to form Element Zero.

Company lawyers argued the work was tied to Fortescue’s broader push for hydrogen-based solutions in its pursuit of what it called the green ore holy grail. Element Zero chief executive Michael Masterman, also a former Fortescue employee, was named in the case.

The spat intensified as Fortescue used private investigators who produced surveillance reports that included photographs of children and private homes, details taken from rifled mail and tracking of family members. The company also won court approval for raids on the homes and offices of Element Zero principals, leading to the seizure of about 9 million documents.

Hole in the pocket

Fortescue hit a major setback last month when Federal Court Justice Brigitte Markovic rejected its push to access all of Element Zero’s work, something the miner’s own counsel had argued in September was needed to run the case.

“We are delighted to put this episode behind us,” Masterman said in a statement. “We can now focus all of our deep and capable technical resources on rapidly advancing our iron-ore-to-iron technology and developing our manufacturing sites in the Pilbara heartland of Port Hedland and in the US.” Element Zero said each side would cover its own expenses.

The start-up’s $10 million in funding has been heavily depleted by its legal defence, leaving it in need of far more capital to prove commercial viability and build its planned manufacturing sites. The outcome raises the question of whether Fortescue would have been better off taking a stake in the venture instead of dragging its former executives through court.