BHP Billiton

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Template:Infobox Company, Template:Lse, Template:Asx)|

 foundation     = 2001 (creation of DLC)|
 location       = Melbourne, Australia (main headquarters), and London, England (secondary headquarters)|
 key_people     = Charles (Chip) Goodyear (CEO)|
 num_employees  =  36,000|
 industry       = Mining|
 products       = iron, diamonds, coal, petroleum, bauxite, copper, nickel, uranium|
 revenue        = Template:Profit$29.587 billion USD (Y.E. 30 June 2005)|
 homepage       = www.bhpbilliton.com

}} BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company. It was formed through the 2001 merger of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP), an Australian company, and Billiton, a British company with extensive operations in South Africa. They came together to form a dual-listed company. The Australian BHP Billiton Limited and the British BHP Billiton Plc are separate listed companies and have separate shareholder bodies, but they operate as one business with identical boards of directors and a single management structure. The Australian company owns around 60% of the operating business and the main headquarters is in Melbourne. The British holding company owns the other 40% and there is a secondary headquarters in London.

The company operates a wide variety of mining and processing operations in 25 countries, including iron, diamonds, coal, petroleum, bauxite amongst other metals and mined products, with a total workforce of 36,000 people.

In March 2005 BHP Billiton announced a US$7.3 billion agreed bid for another mining company WMC Resources, owners of the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia, along with nickel, mineral sands and fertiliser mines in other places. The takeover achieved 90% acceptance on 17 June 2005, and 100% ownership was announced on 2 August 2005, achieved through compulsory acquisition of the last 10% of the shares.

The group publishes its accounts in US Dollars. Its turnover for the year ended 30 June 2005 was $29.587 billion. Profit before tax was $8.741 billion and profit for the year was $6.398 billion. Both of these figures were up around 90% on the previous year as BHP Billiton benefitted from a global escalation of commodity prices.

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