BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian
multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
that is headquartered in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded on 16 July 1885 in the mining town of
Silverton, New South Wales
Silverton is a small village at the far west of New South Wales, Australia, north-west of Broken Hill. At the , Silverton had a population of 50.
The town sprang up after the discovery of rich silver deposits, although it was soon eclipsed by ...
. By 2017, BHP was the world's largest mining company, based on market capitalisation, and was Melbourne's third-largest company by revenue.
BHP Billiton was formed in 2001 through the merger of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) and the Anglo–Dutch Billiton plc trading on both the
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
and
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
s as a
dual-listed company
A dual-listed company or DLC is a corporate structure in which two corporations function as a single operating business through a legal equalization agreement, but retain separate legal identities and stock exchange listings. Virtually all DLCs ar ...
.
In 2015, some BHP Billiton assets were demerged and rebranded as
South32
South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock E ...
, while a scaled-down BHP Billiton became BHP. In 2018, BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc became BHP Group Limited and BHP Group plc, respectively. In the 2020
Forbes Global 2000
The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by ''Forbes'' magazine. "The Global 2000" annual ranking is assembled by ''Forbes'' using a weighted assessment of four metrics: sales, profi ...
, BHP Group was ranked as the 93rd-largest public company in the world. In January 2022, BHP relinquished its London Stock Exchange listing, becoming a solely Australian Securities Exchange listed company. As of 2022, BHP is the largest company in Australia, and the largest mining company in the world, both as measured by market capitalisation.
History
Billiton
Billiton Maatschappij was founded 29 September 1860, when its articles of association were approved by a meeting of
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
s in the ''Groot Keizershof'' hotel in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, Netherlands.
Two months later, the company acquired
mineral rights
Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfac ...
to the Billiton (''
Belitung
Belitung ( Belitung Malay: ''Belitong'', formerly Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers , and had a population of 309,097 at the 2020 Census. Administratively, it forms two regencies (Bel ...
'') and
Bangka Island
Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is administered under the province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, being one of its namesakes alongside the smaller island of Belitung across the Gaspar Strait. The 9th largest island in In ...
s in the
Netherlands Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
off the eastern coast of
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
.
Billiton's initial ventures included tin and lead
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
in the Netherlands, followed in the 1940s by
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
mining in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
. In 1970,
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard ou ...
acquired Billiton.
Billiton opened a tin smelting and refining plant in
Phuket, Thailand
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
, named Thaisarco (for Thailand Smelting And Refining Company, Limited).
In 1994, South Africa's
Gencor Gencor Ltd was a South African based mining company. It was formed in 1980 after the merger of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and the Union Corporation. Parts of the company are now owned by Gold Fields and BHP.
History
Gencor has its ...
acquired the mining division of Billiton excluding the downstream metal division. Billiton was divested from Gencor in 1997, and was amalgamated with
Gold Fields
Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Sto ...
in 1998. In 1997, Billiton plc became a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
and in 2001 Billiton plc
merged
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
with the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) to form BHP Billiton.
Broken Hill Proprietary Company
![BHP Logo (vector)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/BHP_Logo_%28vector%29.svg)
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP), also known by the
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
"the Big Australian", was incorporated on 13 August 1885, operating the silver and lead mine at
Broken Hill
Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
, in western
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia. The Broken Hill group floated on 10 August 1885.
[Jay, Christopher. (1999) ''A Future More Prosperous: The History of Newcastle Steelworks 1912–1999'', The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited, Newcastle. p. 30.] The first consignment of Broken Hill ore (48 tons, 5 cwt, 3grs) was smelted at the Intercolonial Smelting and Refining Company's works at
Spotswood, Victoria
Spotswood is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Spotswood recorded a population of 2,820 at the .
The su ...
, a suburb of Melbourne.
Historian Christopher Jay notes:
The resulting 35,605 ounces of silver raised a lot of interest when exhibited at the City of Melbourne Bank in Collins Street Some sceptics asserted the promoters were merely using silver from somewhere else, to ramp up the shares.... Another shareholder, the dominating W. R. Wilson had had to lend William Jamieson, General Manager, a new suit so he could take the first prospectus, printed at Silverton near Broken Hill on 20 June 1885, to Adelaide to start the float process.
The geographic Broken Hill, for which the town was named, was discovered and named by Captain
Charles Sturt
Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
, stirring great interest among prospectors. Nothing of note was discovered until 5 November 1883, when
Charles Rasp
Charles Rasp, born Hieronymous Salvator Lopez von Pereira, Local Factbook > Charles Rasp">Broken Hill Visitor Information Centre > About Broken Hill > Local Factbook > Charles RaspAccessed 22 May 2014. (7 October 1846 – 22 May 1907) is known a ...
,
boundary rider
Boundary rider is a long-established (1864) Australasian term for a cattle or sheep station employee whose duties entail a regular tour (by horse, camel or motor vehicle) of the outer perimeter (boundary) of the property, checking condition of f ...
for the surrounding
Mount Gipps Station
Mount Gipps Station most commonly known as Mount Gipps is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in north west New South Wales.
It is situated about north of Broken Hill and north east of Mannahill in the outback of New South ...
, pegged out a 40-acre claim with contractors David James and James Poole.
Together with a
half-dozen backers, including station manager
George McCulloch
George McCulloch (February 22, 1792 – April 6, 1861) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
George McCulloch was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Upon the death of his ...
(a young cousin of Victorian Premier
Sir James McCulloch), Rasp formed the Broken Hill Company staking out the entire Hill. As costs mounted during the ensuing months of fruitless search, three of the original seven (now remembered as the
Syndicate of Seven
The Syndicate of Seven is the name given to the original members of the Broken Hill Mining Company formed in 1883, who lodged applications for mining leases along the Line of Lode at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Aus ...
) sold their shares, so that, on the eve of the company's great success, there were nine shareholders, including Rasp, McCulloch, Philip Charly (aka Charley), David James, James Poole (five of the original syndicate of seven, which had previously included George Urquhart and G.A.M. Lind), Bowes Kelly, W. R. Wilson, and William Jamieson (who'd bought shares from several of the founders).
John Darling, Jr. became a director of the company in 1892 and was chairman of directors from 1907 to 1914.
Strongly encouraged by the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Minister for Public Works,
Arthur Hill Griffith
Arthur Hill Griffith (16 October 1861 – 1 November 1946) was a politician, teacher and patent attorney in New South Wales, Australia. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1894 until 1917 and held a number of min ...
, in 1915, the company ventured into steel manufacturing, with its operations based primarily in
Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...
. The decision to move from mining ore at Broken Hill to opening a steelworks at Newcastle was due to the technical limitations in recovering value from mining the lower-lying sulphide ores. The discovery of
Iron Knob
Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. At the 2006 census, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its prox ...
and Iron Monarch near the western shore of the
Spencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...
in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, combined with the refinement, by BHP metallurgists
A. D. Carmichael
Archibald Drummond Carmichael (born 24 February 1859) was an industrial chemist who made important advances in processing mine tailings to recover valuable metals.
History
Carmichael was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and educated in Glasgow. He s ...
and
Leslie Bradford
Leslie Bradford (9 March 1878 – 20 June 1943) was a mining engineer in Australia credited with several important inventions in the treatment of metal-bearing ores.
History
Bradford was born in India, a son of George A. Bradford, Minister of Sal ...
, of the
froth flotation
Froth flotation is a process for selectively separating hydrophobic materials from hydrophilic. This is used in mineral processing, paper recycling and waste-water treatment industries. Historically this was first used in the mining industry, wher ...
technique for separating zinc sulphides from the accompanying
gangue
In mining, gangue () is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. It is thus distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or materials overlying an ore or mineral body t ...
and subsequent conversion (Carmichael–Bradford process) to oxides of the metal, allowed BHP to economically extract valuable metals from the heaps of
tailings
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
up to high at the mine site. In 1942, the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
targeted the BHP steelworks during the largely unsuccessful
shelling of Newcastle
The Shelling of Newcastle was conducted by the Japanese submarine ''I-21'' in the early hours of 8 June 1942. The bombardment followed the attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May, and was conducted shortly after ''I-24'' shelled the Eastern Suburbs o ...
.
Newcastle operations were closed in 1999, and a 70-ton commemorative sculpture, ''
The Muster Point
''The Muster Point'' is a monumental public sculpture in Newcastle, Australia that commemorates the Newcastle Steelworks of BHP and its workers. The plant closed after 84 years in operation. One former worker estimated that "from 1915 to 1961 ove ...
'', was installed on Industrial Drive, in the suburb of
Mayfield, New South Wales
Mayfield is a north-western suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, which takes its name from Ada May (born 1874) a daughter of the landowner there, John Scholey. Its boundaries are the Hunter River to the north, the Main Northern railway line t ...
. The long products side of the steel business was spun off to form
OneSteel
Arrium was an Australian mining and materials company, employing nearly 10,000 workers,
that went into voluntary administration in 2016 with debts of more than $2 billion. In 2017 it was acquired by British-owned Liberty House Group.
Hist ...
in 2000.
In the 1950s, BHP began
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
exploration, which became an increasing focus following oil and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
discoveries in
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
in the 1960s.
BHP began to diversify into a variety of mining projects overseas. Those included the
Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea, where the company was successfully sued by the indigenous inhabitants because of the
environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...
caused by mining operations. BHP had better success with the giant
Escondida
Escondida is a copper mine at elevation in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile.
Geology
The Escondida deposit is one of a cluster of porphyry coppers in an elongated area about 18 km north–south and 3 km east–west a ...
copper mine in Chile, of which it owns 57.5%, and at the
Ekati Diamond Mine
The Ekati Diamond Mine ("Ekati") is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine. It is located north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras. Until 2014 Ekati was a joint ventur ...
in northern Canada, which BHP contracted for in 1996,
began mining in 1998,
and sold its 80% stake in to
Dominion Diamond Corporation
Arctic Canadian Diamond Company (formerly known as Dominion Diamond Mines, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Harry Winston, and Aber) is a Canadian specialist diamond mining company. Aside from its corporate office in Calgary, Arctic Canadian also has ...
in 2013 as production declined.
BHP Billiton
![BHPB Iron Ore 4303 + 4346 (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/BHPB_Iron_Ore_4303_%2B_4346_%282%29.JPG)
In 2001, BHP
merged
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
with the Billiton mining company to form BHP Billiton.
In 2002, flat steel products were demerged to form the publicly traded company BHP Steel which, in 2003, became
BlueScope
BlueScope Steel Limited is an Australian flat product steel producer that was spun-off from BHP Billiton in 2002.
History
BlueScope was formed when BHP Billiton spun-off its steel assets on 15 July 2002 as BHP Steel. It was renamed BlueScope ...
.
In March 2005, BHP Billiton announced a US$7.3
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...
agreed bid for
WMC Resources
WMC Resources Limited was an Australian diversified mining company.
History
Western Mining Corporation (WMC) was formed in 1933, when William Robinson, the Australian-born London-based managing director of Broken Hill Associated Smelters, wa ...
, owners of the
Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia, nickel operations in Western Australia and Queensland, and a Queensland fertiliser plant.
The takeover achieved 90 per cent acceptance on 17 June 2005, and 100 per cent ownership was announced on 2 August 2005, achieved through compulsory acquisition of the remaining 10 percent of the shares.
On 8 November 2007, BHP Billiton announced it was seeking to purchase rival mining group
Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...
in an all-share deal. The initial offer of 3.4 shares of BHP Billiton stock for each share of Rio Tinto was rejected by the board of Rio Tinto for "significantly undervaluing" the company.
It was unknown at the time whether BHP Billiton would attempt to purchase Rio Tinto through some form of
hostile takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
.
A formal hostile bid of 3.4 BHP Billiton shares for each Rio Tinto share was announced on 6 February 2008;
The bid was withdrawn 25 November 2008 due to
global recession
A global recession is recession that affects many countries around the world—that is, a period of global economic slowdown or declining economic output.
Definitions
The International Monetary Fund defines a global recession as "a decline i ...
.
On 14 May 2008, BHP Billiton shares rose to a record high of
A$48.90 following speculation that Chinese mining firm
Chinalco
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (, known as Chalco), is a Chinese company listed in Hong Kong and in New York. A multinational aluminium company, its headquarters are in Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is the world's second-largest ...
was considering purchasing a large stake.
As global nickel prices fell, on 25 November 2008, Billiton announced that it would drop its A$66 billion takeover of rival Rio Tinto Group, stating that the "risks to shareholder value" would "increase" to "an unacceptable level" due to the
global financial crisis
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
.
On 21 January 2009, BHP Billiton then announced that
Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine
The Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine is a nickel mine and hydrometallurgical processing plant located at Bandalup Hill, east of Ravensthorpe, Western Australia.
Built by BHP Billiton, it was closed in January 2009, after less than a year of operation ...
in Western Australia would cease operations, ending shipments of ore from Ravensthorpe to the Yabulu nickel plant in Queensland Australia. Yabulu refinery was subsequently sold to Queensland billionaire
Clive Palmer
Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer C ...
, becoming the
Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery.
Pinto Valley mine in the United States was also closed. Mine closures and general scaling back during the
global financial crisis
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
accounted for 6,000 employee lay offs.
As the nickel market became saturated by both spiraling economics and cheaper extraction methods; on 9 December 2009, BHP Billiton sold its
Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine
The Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine is a nickel mine and hydrometallurgical processing plant located at Bandalup Hill, east of Ravensthorpe, Western Australia.
Built by BHP Billiton, it was closed in January 2009, after less than a year of operation ...
, which had cost A$2.4 billion to build, to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
-based
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016.
First Quantum's com ...
for US$340 million. First Quantum, a Canadian company, was one of three bidders for the mine, tendering the lowest offer, and returned the mine to production in 2011. Ravensthorpe cost BHP US$3.6 billion in write-downs when it was shut in January 2009 after less than a year of production.
In January 2010, following the BHP Billiton purchase of
Athabasca Potash for US$320m, ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' reported that, by 2020, BHP Billiton could produce approximately 15 per cent of the world demand for
potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. .
In August 2010, BHP Billiton made a hostile takeover bid worth US$40 billion for
PotashCorp
The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
The company was th ...
. The bid came after BHP's first bid, made on 17 August, was rejected as being undervalued. This acquisition marked a major strategic move by BHP outside hard commodities and commenced the diversification of its business away from resources with high exposure to carbon price risk, like coal, petroleum and iron ore. The takeover bid was opposed by the Government of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
under Premier
Brad Wall
Bradley John Wall (born November 24, 1965), is a Canadian former politician who served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan from November 21, 2007 until February 2, 2018. He is the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. His so ...
. On 3 November,
Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement (born January 27, 1961) is a Canadian former federal politician and former Member of Parliament for Parry Sound—Muskoka in Ontario. Before entering federal politics, Clement served as an Ontario cabinet minister, including ...
announced the preliminary rejection of the deal under the ''
Investment Canada Act
The Investment Canada Act (ICA) is a Canadian federal law governing large foreign direct investment in Canada. The ICA was one of the first acts of Brian Mulroney's newly elected Progressive Conservative government, receiving royal assent on 20 J ...
'', giving BHP Billiton 30 days to refine their deal before a final decision was made; BHP withdrew its offer on 14 November 2010.
On 22 February 2011, BHP Billiton announced that it had paid $4.75 billion in cash to
Chesapeake Energy Chesapeake often refers to:
*Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian
* The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay
*Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula
Chesapeake may also refer to:
Populated plac ...
for its
Fayetteville shale assets, which include of mineral rights leases and of pipeline located in north central
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. The wells on the mineral leases are currently producing about 415 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. BHP Billiton planned to spend $800 million to $1 billion a year over 10 years to develop the field and triple production.
On 14 July 2011, BHP Billiton announced that it would acquire
Petrohawk Energy of the United States for approximately $12.1 billion in cash, considerably expanding its shale natural gas resources in an offer of $US38.75 per share.
![BHP office in Adelaide](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/BHP_office_in_Adelaide.jpg)
On 22 August 2012, BHP Billiton announced that it was delaying its US$20 billion (£12 billion) Olympic Dam copper mine expansion project in South Australia to study less capital intensive options, deferring its dual harbour strategy at West Australian Iron Ore and slowing down its Potash growth option in Canada.
The company simultaneously announced a freeze on approving any major new expansion projects.
[
Days after announcing the Olympic Dam pull-out, BHP Billiton announced that it was selling its Yeelirrie Uranium Project to Canadian ]Cameco
Cameco Corporation (formerly Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation) is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18 ...
for a fee of around $430 million. The sale was part of a broader move to step away from resource expansion in Australia.
On 19 August 2014, BHP Billiton announced it would create an independent global metals and mining company based on a selection of its aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel, and silver assets. The newly formed entity, named South32
South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock E ...
, was subsequently demerged with listings on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
the JSE and the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
.
In 2015, BHP Billiton spun off a number of its subsidiaries in South Africa and Southern Africa to form a new company known as South32.
BHP Billiton agreed to pay a fine of $25 million to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
in 2015 in connection with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.
The FCPA is applicable world ...
related to its "hospitality program" at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. BHP Billiton invited 176 government and state-owned-enterprise officials to attend the Games on an all-expenses-paid package. While BHP Billiton claimed to have compliance processes in place to avoid conflicts of interest, the SEC found that BHP Billiton had invited officials from at least four countries where BHP Billiton had interests in influencing the officials' decisions (Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
, Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
, Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
).
In August 2016, BHP Billiton recorded its worst annual loss in history, $6.4 billion.
Towards the end of 2016 BHP Billiton indicated it would expand its petroleum business and make new investments in the sector.
In February 2017, BHP Billiton announced a $2.2 billion investment in the new BP platform in the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. During the same year, as part of their plan to increase productivity at the Escondida mine in Chile, which is the world's biggest copper mine, BHP Billiton attempted to get workers to accept a 4-year pay freeze, a 66% reduction in the end-of-conflict bonus offering, and increased shift flexibility. This resulted in a major workers' strike and forced the company to declare ''force majeure
In contract law, (from Law French: 'overwhelming force', ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such ...
'' on two shipments, which drove copper prices up by 4%.
In April 2017 activist hedge fund manager Elliott Advisors
Elliott Investment Management is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist investor, activist funds in the world.
It is the management affiliate of American hedge funds Elliott Associates L.P. and Elliott I ...
proposed a plan for BHP Billiton to spin off its American petroleum assets and significantly restructure the business, including the scrapping of its dual Sydney-London listing, suggesting shares be offered only in the United Kingdom, while leaving its headquarters and tax residences in Australia where shares would trade as depository instruments. At the time of the correspondence Elliott held about 4.1 per cent of the issued shares in London-listed BHP Billiton plc, worth $3.81 billion. Australia's government warned it would block moves to shift BHP Billiton's stock listing from Australia to the United Kingdom. Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...
said the move would be contrary to the country's national interest and would breach government orders mandating a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. BHP Billiton dismissed the plan saying the costs and risks of Elliott's proposal outweighed any potential benefits.
BHP
In May 2017, with much of the former Billiton assets having been disposed of, BHP Billiton began to rebrand itself as BHP, at first in Australia and then globally. It replaced the slogan "The Big Australian" with "Think Big", with an advertising campaign rolling out in mid May 2017. Work on the change began in late 2015 according to BHP's chief external affairs officer.
In August 2017, BHP announced that it would sell off its US shale oil and gas business. In July 2018, the company agreed to sell its shale assets to BP for $10.5 billion. BHP indicated its intention to return funds to investors. On 29 September 2018, BHP completed the sale of its Fayetteville Onshore US gas assets to a wholly owned subsidiary of Merit Energy Company.
In August 2021, BHP announced plans to exit the oil and gas industry by merging its hydrocarbon business with Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (formerly Woodside Petroleum Ltd) is an Australian petroleum exploration and production company. Woodside is the operator of oil and gas production in Australia and also Australia's largest independent dedicated oil an ...
, Australia's largest independent gas producer. It also announced its intention to delist from the London Stock Exchange and consolidate on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
. This occurred in January 2022.
Corporation
Until January 2022, BHP was a dual-listed company
A dual-listed company or DLC is a corporate structure in which two corporations function as a single operating business through a legal equalization agreement, but retain separate legal identities and stock exchange listings. Virtually all DLCs ar ...
; the Australian ''BHP Billiton Limited'' and the British ''BHP Billiton plc'' were separately listed with separate shareholder bodies, while conducting business as one operation with identical boards of directors and a single management structure. The headquarters of BHP Billiton Limited and the global headquarters of the combined group were located in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. The headquarters of BHP Billiton plc are located in London, England. Its main office locations are in Australia, the U.S., Canada, the UK, Chile, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The company's shares trade on the following exchanges:
BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc were renamed BHP Group Limited and BHP Group plc, respectively, on 19 November 2018.
Senior management
In 1998, BHP hired American Paul Anderson to restructure the company. Anderson successfully completed the four-year project with a merger between BHP and London-based Billiton. In July 2002, Brian Gilbertson of Billiton was appointed CEO, but resigned after just six months, citing irreconcilable differences with the board.
Upon Gilbertson's departure in early 2003, Chip Goodyear
Charles Waterhouse "Chip" Goodyear IV (born January 18, 1958) is an American businessman and the former CEO of BHP Billiton. He is a member of the Goodyear family that had extensive business interests in lumber and railways, as well as signific ...
was appointed the new CEO, increasing sales by 47 percent and profits by 78 percent during his tenure. Goodyear retired on 30 September 2007. Marius Kloppers
Marius Jacques Kloppers (born 26 August 1962) is a South African-born Australian businessman and former CEO of BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. He was also Executive Director and Chairman of the Group Management Committee from 2 ...
was Goodyear's successor. Following Kloppers' tenure, Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive of Non-Ferrous, assumed the role of CEO in 2013. Australia mining head Mike Henry succeeded Mackenzie on 1 January 2020.
Operations
BHP has mining operations in Australia, North America, and South America, and petroleum operations in the U.S., Australia, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
, the UK, and Algeria.
The company has four primary operational units:
* Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
* Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
* Iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
* Petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
The company's mines are as follows:
Algeria
*Ohanet
Ohanet is an industrial village in the commune of In Amenas, in In Amenas District, Illizi Province, Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 = ...
gas field
*ROD gas field
Australia
New South Wales
*Mount Arthur Coal mine
Queensland
* Blackwater Mine (50%) BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is an Australian coal mining company operating in Central Queensland. The largest coal producer in Australia, it is a joint venture with BHP and Mitsubishi each owning 50%. It was established in 2001.
The BMA ...
*Broadmeadow (50%) BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
* Goonyella (50%) BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
*Hay Point
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...
*Peak Downs
Peak Downs is a geographic area, and formerly a station, in the vicinity of Clermont, Central Queensland. The morphology of this region consisted of numerous distinct peaks of basalt-capped sandstone erupting from a plane, and the area has been ...
(50%) BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
*Poitrel Metallurgical Coal Mine (Jointly owned with Mitsui
is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...
)
* Saraji (50%) BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
South Australia
* Olympic Dam
Victoria
*Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
(50%)
*Minerva offshore (90%)
Western Australia
*Area C mine
The Area C mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 92 kilometres west-north-west of Newman.
The mine is majority-owned (85 percent)[Eastern Range mine
The Eastern Range mine is an iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 10 kilometres south-east of Paraburdoo.
The mine is partly owned and operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore and is one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates ...]
*Jimblebar mine
The Jimblebar mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 41 kilometres east of Newman.
The mine is fully owned and operated by BHP, and is one of seven iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara.
*Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
*Kambalda
Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...
* Kwinana
*Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
* Mount Keith
* Mount Whaleback
* Nickel West operations
*Nimingarra Iron Ore Mine, Jointly owned with Itochu
is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.
It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descend ...
and Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
)
*North West Shelf Venture
The North West Shelf Venture, situated in the North West Shelf, north-west of Western Australia, is Australia's largest resource development project. It involves the extraction of petroleum (mostly natural gas and Natural-gas condensate, condens ...
, (16.67% LNG phase, 8.33% domestic gas phase.)
*Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine
The Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine, part of BHP's Eastern Ridge hub and officially referred to as the Newman East operation, is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 8 kilometres east of Newman.
The mine is majority- ...
*Port Hedland
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
*Yandi mine
The Yandi mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-west of Newman. It should not be confused with Rio Tinto's nearby Yandicoogina mine, which is also sometimes shortened to Yandi.
The m ...
*Yarrie mine
The Yarrie mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-east of Marble Bar.
The mine is majority-owned (85 percent)[Samarco
Samarco Mineração S.A. is a Brazilian mining company founded in 1977. It is currently a joint-venture between the Brazilian Vale and the English-Australian BHP, each one holding 50% of the company's stocks.
Structure
Samarco is hosted in B ...]
: a joint-venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with Vale
A vale is a type of valley.
Vale may also refer to:
Places Georgia
* Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Norway
* Våle, a historic municipality
Portugal
* Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...
(50% ownership each). The project led to the worst environmental disaster in the history of mining in Brazil
Mining in Brazil is centered on the extraction of iron (the second largest global iron ore exporter), copper, gold, aluminum (bauxite-one of the 5 biggest world's productors), manganese (one of the 5 biggest world's productors), tin (one of the bi ...
: the collapse
Collapse or its variants may refer to:
Concepts
* Collapse (structural)
* Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept
* Collapsing manifold
* Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects
* Collapsing user interface elements
** ...
of two iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
tailings dams
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
in Bento Rodrigues, a subdistrict of Mariana
Mariana may refer to:
Literature
* ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens
* ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
* ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz
Music
*"Mariana", a so ...
.
Canada
*Jansen potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. development project, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
Chile
*Minera Escondida
Minera Escondida (which means 'hidden' in Spanish) is a mining company that operates two open pit copper mines in the Atacama Desert, 170 km southeast of Antofagasta in northern Chile. It is currently the highest producing copper mine in the ...
Copper, gold and silver mine jointly owned with Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...
and Pan Pacific Copper
*Cerro Colorado
*Spence
Colombia
*Cerrejón
Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over the mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Lati ...
coal mine in Guajira department
La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The cap ...
(33.3%)
Mexico
*Trion
Peru
* Antamina
Trinidad & Tobago
*Angostura & Ruby oil and gas fields
United States
*Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas field (Shenzi field)
*Resolution Copper
Resolution Copper (RCM) is a joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP formed to develop and operate an underground copper mine near Superior, Arizona, U.S. The project targets a deep-seated porphyry copper deposit located under the now inactiv ...
, near Superior, Arizona
Superior (Western Apache: Yooʼ Łigai) is a town in Pinal County, Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town is 2,407. Superior was founded as a mining town for the Silver King and the later Magma mines; silver was mined ...
Controversies
Responsibility for climate damage
BHP is listed as one of the 90 fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
extraction and marketing companies responsible for two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
since the beginning of the industrial age. Its cumulative emissions as of 2010 have been estimated at 7,606 Mte, representing 0.52% of global industrial emissions between 1751 and 2010, ranking it the 19th-largest corporate polluter. According to BHP management 10% of these emissions are from direct operations, while 90% come from products sold by the company. BHP has been voluntarily reporting its direct GHG emissions since 1996. In 2013, it was criticised for lobbying against carbon pricing in Australia
A carbon pricing scheme in Australia was introduced by the Gillard Labor minority government in 2011 as the ''Clean Energy Act 2011'' which came into effect on 1 July 2012. Emissions from companies subject to the scheme dropped 7% upon its in ...
.
BHP reported total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 June 2020 at 15,800 Kt.[Alt URL]
/ref>
Ok Tedi environmental disaster
The Ok Tedi environmental disaster caused severe harm to the environment along the Ok Tedi River
The Ok Tedi is a river in New Guinea. The Ok Tedi Mine is located near the headwaters of the river, which is sourced in the Star Mountains. It is the second largest tributary of the Fly River. Nearly the entirety of the river runs through the Nor ...
and the Fly River
The Fly River is the third longest river in the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik River and Mamberamo River, with a total length of and the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its catc ...
in the Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
*Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provinc ...
of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
between around 1984 and 2013. In 1999, BHP reported that 90 million tons of mine waste was annually discharged into the river for more than ten years and destroyed downstream villages, agriculture and fisheries. Mine wastes were deposited along of the Ok Tedi and the Fly River below its confluence with the Ok Tedi, and over an area of . BHP's CEO, Paul Anderson, said that the Ok Tedi Mine was "not compatible with our environmental values and the company should never have become involved." , mine operators continued to discharge 80 million tons of tailings
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
, overburden
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tai ...
, and mine-induced erosion into the river system each year. About of forest has died or is under stress. As many as may eventually be harmed.
In the 1990s the communities of the lower Fly Region, including the Yonggom
Yonggom is one of the Ok languages of West Papua and Papua New Guinea. It is very close to North Muyu, which is also called 'Yonggom'.
Phonology
Consonants
* /b, d/ can become fricatives , ðintervocalically in fast speech.
* /k/ can ...
people, sued BHP and received US$28.6 million in an out-of-court settlement, which was the culmination of an enormous public-relations campaign against the company by environmental groups. As part of the settlement, a (limited) dredging operation was put in place and efforts were made to rehabilitate the site around the mine. However, the mine is still in operation and waste continues to flow into the river system. BHP was granted legal indemnity from future mine related damages. Experts predict that it will take 300 years to clean up the toxic contamination.
Bento Rodrigues dam collapse
In 2015, the company was involved in the Bento Rodrigues tailings dam collapse, the worst environmental disaster in the history of the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
, Brazil. On 5 November 2015, an iron ore mine tailings dam near Mariana, south-eastern Brazil, owned and operated by Samarco, a subsidiary of BHP and Vale
A vale is a type of valley.
Vale may also refer to:
Places Georgia
* Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Norway
* Våle, a historic municipality
Portugal
* Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...
, suffered a catastrophic failure, devastating the nearby town of Bento Rodrigues with the mudflow, killing 19 people, injuring more than 50 and causing enormous ecological damage, and threatening life along the Rio Doce
The Doce River (literally the "sweet river"; pt, Rio Doce ) is a river in southeast Brazil with a length of .
The river basin is economically important. In 2015 the collapse of a dam released highly contaminated water from mining into the river ...
and the Atlantic Ocean near the mouth of the Rio Doce. The accident was one of the biggest environmental disasters in Brazil's history.
An investigation into the disaster commissioned by BHP, Vale and Samarco found the collapse was due to a variety of construction and design flaws. In June 2018, Samarco, Vale and BHP signed an agreement to drop a US$7 billion lawsuit and allow two years for the companies to address the greater US$55 billion suit seeking social, environmental and economic compensation.
Escondida and Cerro Colorado water usage issue
BHP has been accused of perpetrating irregularities with respect to drawing waters above the granted limit from the aquafiers. Due to which the water table has dropped significantly, making land-based livelihoods less viable for people of the community, many of whom have been forced to relocate to urban areas. In January 2021, the Supreme Court of Chile
The Supreme Court of Chile is the highest court in Chile. It also administers the lower courts in the nation. It is located in the capital Santiago.
In the Chilean system, the court lacks the broader power of judicial review—it cannot set bindin ...
validated the objections of local indigenous tribes about BHP's water usage and impacts on wetland areas. Later in July, the same court ordered BHP to begin the application process for Cerro Colorado operating permits from scratch.
Sexual harassment
From 2019 to 2021, BHP registered six cases of sexual assault and seventy three cases of sexual harassment. A survey of 425 workers conducted by The Western Mine Workers' Alliance, showed that two-thirds of female respondents had experienced verbal sexual harassment while working in the FIFO mining industry, with 36% of women and 10% of men having experienced some form of harassment in the last 12 months. In response, BHP terminated or otherwise permanently removed forty eight workers from its sites.
Other significant accidents
Bad weather caused a BHP Billiton helicopter to crash in Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
on 16 November 2007, killing the helicopter's five passengers. The deceased were: BHP Billiton Angola Chief Operating Officer David Hopgood (Australian), Angola Technical Services Operations Manager Kevin Ayre (British), Wild Dog Helicopters pilot Kottie Breedt (South African), Guy Sommerfield (British) of MMC and Louwrens Prinsloo (Namibian) of Prinsloo Drilling. The helicopter crashed approximately from the Alto Cuilo diamond exploration camp in Lunda Norte, northeastern Angola. BHP Billiton responded by suspending operations in the country.
See also
*Mining in Australia
Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth vi ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhp
Broken Hill, New South Wales
Coal companies of Australia
Companies based in Melbourne
Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange
Economy of Australia
Former dual-listed companies
Iron ore mining companies
Mining companies of Australia
Nickel mining companies
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1885
Uranium mining companies of Australia
1885 establishments in Australia
Iron ore mining in Western Australia