Andrew Forrest hands me a pair of gloves. We’re on a mining site in the Pilbara and he explains how the region’s famous pindan dust seeps into your skin, staining it for days.

A week earlier, after months of reporting on Fortescue, I had sent a list of 50 questions to the company, some of them covering uncomfortable territory. These included claims about Forrest’s at times aggressive leadership style, the company’s troubled green hydrogen business and high executive turnover, and concerns about the board-led investigation into an alleged relationship with an employee that cleared Forrest of wrongdoing.