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Minerals Australia update and Olympic Dam briefing
BHP Billiton Plc
Registration number 3196209
Registered in England and Wales
Share code: BIL
ISIN: GB0000566504
Issued by: BHP Billiton Plc
Date: 28 November 2017
To: London Stock Exchange
JSE Limited
For Release: Immediately
Contact: Helen Ratsey +44 (0) 20 7802 7540
BHP – Minerals Australia update and Olympic Dam briefing
UK Listing Authority Submissions
The following document has today been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism
and will shortly be available for inspection at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do:
* Minerals Australia update and Olympic Dam briefing
The document may also be accessed via BHP’s website - www.bhp.com
BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
LEI 549300C116EOWV835768
Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: Nova South, 160 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5LB United Kingdom
A member of the BHP Billiton Group which is headquartered in Australia
NEWS RELEASE
Release Time IMMEDIATE
Date 28 November 2017
Location Melbourne
Release Number 36/17
Minerals Australia Briefing
BHP Minerals Australia President, Mike Henry, today outlined plans to grow
value and improve returns on capital across the Company’s Australian
operations.
Speaking to investors and analysts at a briefing in Adelaide, Mr Henry said
BHP’s large, long-life, low-cost Australian assets underpin current margins and
future optionality.
“The quality, scale, concentration and location of our assets support
improvement initiatives, compelling latent capacity options, efficient technology
deployment and attractive investment opportunities.
“By sharing knowledge and replicating best practice across our global portfolio,
we’ve been able to substantially reduce unit costs at our Australian mining
operations over the last five years. But we have further to go. We can make
ourselves safer and even more productive, and expect to lower our unit costs
by a further 10 per cent over the medium-term.
“Through strengthening our maintenance capability and processes, including
by bringing in expertise from other industries, and through better leveraging
technology, our global Maintenance Centre of Excellence is enabling a step-
change in maintenance performance across BHP. With our global technology
initiatives and asset-level programs to unlock resources and lower costs, we
expect our Australian mining operations to deliver US$1.6 billion of additional
productivity gains over the next two years,” Mr Henry said.
“We also have a suite of attractive medium-term investment opportunities.
While these remain subject to our strict Group-level capital allocation
framework tests, with average returns potentially exceeding 40 per cent, they
are well placed to compete for capital.”
Mr Henry highlighted the Brownfield Expansion option (BFX) at Olympic Dam
as an example of a project with the potential to deliver sustainable returns to
shareholders, government and the local community.
Also speaking at the briefing, Olympic Dam Asset President Jacqui McGill, said
the BFX option could provide a capital efficient path to increased capacity
through accelerated development into the Southern Mine Area.
“As we move into the Southern Mine Area we expect to see the copper grade
increase to 3 per cent by financial year 2023, which we believe would coincide
with a structural deficit in the copper market.
“If approved, the BFX option could lift production capacity to 330 ktpa and
move Olympic Dam into the first quartile of the cost curve, which is where we
strive to be with all our assets at BHP. Any investment however, must compete
for capital against all other options, including returns to shareholders.”
Ms McGill also outlined longer-term development options that had the potential
to significantly increase the volume of copper produced, including the use of
heap leach technology.
Combined, these plans create significant value and support improved returns
both at Olympic Dam and across BHP’s minerals operations in Australia.
Presentations will be webcast live at https://edge.media-
server.com/m6/p/3vman8qu and all materials be available on our website at
http://www.bhp.com/-/media/documents/media/reports-and-
presentations/2017/171128_mineralsaustraliaupdateandolympicdambriefing.pd
f.
Further information on BHP can be found at: bhp.com
Sponsor: UBS South Africa (Pty) Limited
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Email: media.relations@bhpbilliton.com Email: investor.relations@bhpbilliton.com
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LEI WZE1WSENV6JSZFK0JC28 LEI 549300C116EOWV835768
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