Information on Diamonds and Specialty Products mining operations for BHP

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This excerpt taken from the BHP 20-F filed Sep 14, 2009.

Information on Diamonds and Specialty Products mining operations

The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with the production (see section 2.3.2) and reserve tables (see section 2.14.2).


Name, location, mineralisation style, type of mine and access	Ownership, operation and title/lease	History	Facilities and power source
DIAMONDS

EKATI Diamond Mine 310 km northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada Eocene age kimberlite pipes-dominantly volcaniclastic infill Fox is an open-cut mine and Panda and Koala are underground mines. The mines are accessible year round by contracted aircraft. Road access is available for approximately 10 weeks per year via an ice road.	We own an 80% interest in the Core Zone joint venture, which includes the existing operations. The remaining 20% interest is held by two individuals. We also own a 58.8% interest in the Buffer Zone joint venture, made up predominantly of exploration targets. We are the operators of the mines. Tenure is secured through ownership of mining leases granted by the Government of Canada. Mining leases have been granted for reserves until 2017.	Construction began in 1997 and production from the first open-cut was initiated in 1997. The mine and processing plant began operation in mid 1998. In October 2001, we acquired Dia Met Minerals Ltd, bringing our interest in the Core Zone and Buffer Zone joint ventures up to 80% and 58.8% respectively. Current active mines include one open-cut (Fox) and two underground mines (Panda and Koala).	The processing plant consists of crushers, washers/scrubber and grinder and heavy media separator. The diamond recovery process makes use of magnetics and X-ray sorters. All the electric power is generated by our Company-owned and operated diesel power station. In addition, there is storage for approximately 90 million litres of diesel fuel on-site.

TITANIUM MINERALS

Richards Bay Minerals RBM has four beach sand dredge mines located 10 to 50 km north of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Quaternary age coastal dune deposits-heavy mineral sands concentrated by wave action and aeolian processes	RBM comprises two legal entities, Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Richards Bay Iron and Titanium (Pty) Ltd. Our share is 51% and 49.45% respectively. The remaining 49% and 50.55% are held by Rio Tinto. The overall net	Richards Bay Minerals was formed in 1976 to mine and beneficiate the sands in the coastal dunes. The mining operations were expanded to five, with the last mine added in 2000. In 2006, this	Mining is conducted largely by sand dredge mining, with minor supplementary dry mining. Gravity separation is then utilised to produce a heavy mineral concentrate. This concentrate is then

Name, location, mineralisation
style, type of mine and access

Ownership, operation and
title/lease

History

Facilities and power source

The mines are accessible via public rail, road and port.

The rail between the mine site, harbour and shipping facilities are owned by Spoornet and Portnet (both government business enterprises supplying services on behalf of the state). The roads accessing the smelter are government-owned.

income is shared equally.

RBM management independently operates the joint venture on behalf of the shareholders.

RBM holds long-term renewable leases from the state of South Africa.

These leases are subject to the South African Mining Charter and an application has been lodged for a conversion to a New Order Mining Rights (see section 2.7, ‘Government regulations’).

was reduced to four, with the closure of one mining pond.

trucked to a central processing plant to produce the finished products, being rutile and zircon and the ilmenite for smelter feed.

The smelter processes the ilmenite to produce titanium dioxide slag, with a titanium dioxide of approximately 85% and high-purity iron.

The nominal titanium slag capacity is 1.06 mtpa.

The power for the operation is purchased from the South African grid.

Development projects

This excerpt taken from the BHP 20-F filed Sep 15, 2008.

Information on Diamonds and Specialty Products mining operations

The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with the production and reserve tables.


Name, location, type of mine and access	Ownership, operation and title/lease	History	Facilities and power source
Titanium Minerals
Richards Bay Minerals Four beach sand dredge mines 10 to 50 kilometres north of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa The mine is accessible via public rail, road and port. The rail between the mine site, harbour and shipping facilities are owned by Spoornet and Portnet (both government business enterprises supplying services on behalf of the state). The roads accessing the smelter are government-owned.	RBM comprises two legal entities, Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Richards Bay Iron and Titanium (Pty) Ltd. Our share is 51% and 49.45% respectively. The remaining 49% and 50.55% are held by Rio Tinto. The overall net income is shared equally. RBM management independently operates the joint venture on behalf of the shareholders. RBM holds long-term renewable leases from the state of South Africa. These leases are subject to the South African Mining Charter and must be lodged for a conversion to a New Order Mining Right by no later than 30 April 2009 (refer to section 2.8 ‘Government regulations’).	Richards Bay Minerals was formed in 1976 to mine and beneficiate the sands in the coastal dunes. The mining operations were expanded to five, with the last mine added in 2000. In 2006, this was reduced to four, with the closure of one mining pond.	Mining is conducted largely by sand dredge mining, with minor supplementary dry mining. Gravity separation is then utilised to produce a heavy mineral concentrate. This concentrate is then trucked to a central processing plant to produce the finished products, being rutile and zircon and the ilmenite for smelter feed. The smelter processes the ilmenite to produce titanium dioxide slag, with a titanium dioxide of approximately 85% and high-purity iron. The nominal titanium slag capacity is 1.06 mtpa. The power for the operation is purchased from the South African grid.

Development projects

Corridor Sands

We are working on a pre-feasibility study for the Corridor Sands titanium minerals project in the Gaza province of southern Mozambique, which we acquired in the WMC transaction.

Potash

We are working on a pre-feasibility study for the Jansen project, a potentially substantial greenfield potash mine in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The Jansen project envisages the development of an underground mining operation, processing plant and associated infrastructure. While we are conducting the Jansen pre-feasibility study, we plan to pursue other potash projects in the region.

EKATI expansions

We are working on pre-feasibility and concept studies for developments at EKATI. Because of the nature of the kimberlite pipes in which diamonds are found, individual pipes are relatively short-lived, so we are continually working on options to bring new pipes on-stream.

This excerpt taken from the BHP 20-F filed Sep 26, 2007.

Information on Diamonds and Specialty Products mining operations

Detailed descriptions of our producing assets are listed in the table below. This table should be read in conjunction with the production and reserve tables.


Name, location, type of mine and access	Ownership, operation and title/lease	History	Facilities and power source
Diamonds
EKATI Diamond Mine 310 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada Beartooth and	We own an 80% interest in the Core Zone joint venture, which includes the existing operations. The remaining 20% interest is held by two individuals. We also own a 58.8% interest in the Buffer Zone joint venture, made up predominantly of exploration	Construction began in 1997 and production from the first open-cut was initiated in 1997. The mine and processing plant began operation in mid 1998. In October 2001, we acquired Dia Met Minerals Ltd, bringing our interest in the Core Zone and Buffer Zone joint ventures up to 80% and 58.8% respectively.	Major facilities at the mine include camp accommodation, a truck maintenance shop with office complex, an equipment-warming shed and the process plant. The processing plant consists of primary, secondary and tertiary crushers, washers/scrubber and grinder and heavy media separator. The diamond recovery process makes use of wet high-intensity


Name, location, type of mine and access	Ownership, operation and title/lease	History	Facilities and power source
Fox are open-cut mines and Panda is an underground mine. The mines are accessible year round by contracted aircraft. Road access is available for approximately 10 weeks per year via an ice road.	targets. We are the operators of the mines. Tenure is secured through ownership of mining leases granted by the Government of Canada. Mining leases have been granted for reserves until 2017.	Current active mines include two open-cut (Beartooth and Fox) and one underground mine (Panda), with a second underground mine currently under construction (Koala).	magnetics, wet and dry particle X-ray sorters, drier and grease table. Nameplate capacity is 9,000 tonnes of ore per day at a 1mm screen size cut-off. Major underground infrastructure, which includes access portal and ramps, underground conveyor and material handling systems and development headings, in place to facilitate mining of the Panda Underground and Koala Underground (currently in development). All the electric power is generated by our Company-owned and operated diesel power station. In addition, there is storage for approximately 90 million litres of diesel fuel on-site.
Titanium Minerals
Richards Bay Minerals Four beach sand dredge mines 10 to 50 kilometres north of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa The mine is accessible via public rail, road and port. The rail between the mine site, harbour and shipping facilities are owned by Spoornet and Portnet (both government business enterprises supplying services on behalf of the state). The roads accessing the smelter are government-owned.	RBM comprises two legal entities, Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Richards Bay Iron and Titanium (Pty) Ltd. Our share is 51% and 49.45% respectively. The remaining 49% and 50.55% are held by Rio Tinto. The overall net income is shared equally. RBM management independently operates the joint venture on behalf of the shareholders. RBM holds long-term renewable leases from the state of South Africa. These leases are subject to the South African Mining Charter and must be lodged for a conversion to a New Order Mining Right by no later than 30 April 2009 (see ‘Government regulations’).	Richards Bay Minerals was formed in 1976 to mine and beneficiate the sands in the coastal dunes. The mining operations were expanded to five, with the last mine added in 2000. In 2006, this was reduced to four, with the closure of one mining pond.	Mining is conducted largely by sand dredge mining, with minor supplementary dry mining. Gravity separation via spiral is then utilised to produce a heavy mineral concentrate. This concentrate is then trucked to a central processing plant where magnetic, electrostatic and gravity techniques are used to produce the finished products, being rutile and zircon and the ilmenite for smelter feed. The smelter processes the ilmenite to produce titanium dioxide slag, with a titanium dioxide of approximately 85% and high-purity iron. The nominal titanium slag capacity is 1.06 mtpa. The power for the operation is purchased from the South African grid.

Development projects

Koala Underground

In June 2006, we approved the development of the second commercial underground mine at the EKATI Diamond Mine in Canada. In addition to the mine development, the investment provides for mine ventilation systems, an underground conveyor connecting to the existing Panda Underground conveyor, and minor surface infrastructure and mobile equipment. The project is designed to deliver a total of 7.1 million dry tonnes of ore to the process plant and recover 6.5 million carats of high-quality Koala diamonds. Total project life is expected to be 11 years. Total development costs are estimated at US$250 million (our share US$200 million). First production is expected in the second quarter of FY2008.

Corridor Sands

We own 90 per cent of Corridor Sands Ltd, the joint venture company that holds the Corridor Sands mineral tenement. The other 10 per cent equity is owned by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd.

Currently, the project is in the pre-feasibility phase to study the options to exploit undeveloped ilmenite deposits near the town of Chibuto, 190 kilometres north of Maputo and 50 kilometres inland from Xa Xai in the Gaza Province, Southern Mozambique. A world-scale integrated open-cut mining, concentration and smelting operation is envisaged to produce titania slag and high-purity iron, as well as the minerals rutile and zircon.

We have a Prospecting and Research Licence (Mineral Tenement) on land that incorporates the Corridor Sands mineral sands project, which we can convert to a mining title upon committing to a development plan.

TiGen

We own a 100 per cent interest in TiGen, another significant ilmenite orebody, located at Moebase in northern Mozambique. We are in the process of divesting TiGen.

Potash

We have acquired access to substantial acreage in the world’s largest mineable potash basin in Canada. We plan to progress the concept study in 2008.

This excerpt taken from the BHP 20-F filed Sep 25, 2006.

Information on Diamonds and Specialty Products mining operations

A detailed description of our producing assets is listed in the following tables. These tables should also be read in conjunction with the production table and reserves table below.


Name, location and type of mine and access	Ownership, operation and title/lease	History	Facilities and power source
Diamonds EKATI Diamond Mine 310 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada Beartooth and Fox are open-cut mines and Panda is an underground mine. The mines are accessible year round by contracted aircraft. Road access is available for approximately 10 weeks per year via an ice road.	We own an 80% interest in the Core Zone joint venture which includes the existing operations. The remaining 20% interest is held by 2 individuals. We also own a 58.8% interest in the Buffer Zone joint venture made up predominantly of exploration targets. We are the operators of the mines. Tenure is secured through ownership of mining leases granted by the Government of Canada. Mining leases have been granted for reserves until 2017.	Construction began in 1997 and production from the first open-cut was initiated in 1997. The mine and processing plant began operation in mid 1998. In October 2001, we acquired Dia Met Minerals Ltd, bringing our interest in the Core Zone and Buffer Zone joint ventures up to 80% and 58.8% respectively. Current active mines include 2 open-cut (Beartooth and Fox) and 1 underground mine (Panda), with a second underground mine under construction (Koala).	Major facilities at the mine include camp accommodation, a truck maintenance shop with office complex, an equipment-warming shed and the process plant. The processing plant consists of primary, secondary and tertiary crushers, washers/scrubber and grinder and heavy media separator. The diamond recovery process makes use of wet high intensity magnetics, wet and dry particle X-ray sorters, drier, and grease table. Nameplate capacity is 9,000 tonnes of ore per day. All the electric power is generated by our Company-owned and operated diesel power station. In addition, there is storage for approximately 90 million litres of diesel fuel on site.

Titanium Minerals Richards Bay Minerals Five beach sand dredge mines 10 to 50 kilometres north of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa The mine is accessible via public rail, road and port. The rail between the mine site, harbour and shipping facilities are owned by Spoornet and Portnet (both government business enterprises supplying services on behalf of the state). The roads accessing the smelter are government-owned.	RBM comprises 2 legal entities Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Richards Bay Iron and Titanium (Pty) Ltd. Our share is 51% and 49.45% respectively. The remaining 49% and 50.55% are held by Rio Tinto. The overall net income is shared equally. RBM management independently operates the joint venture on behalf of the shareholders. RBM holds long-term renewable leases from the state of South Africa. These leases are subject to the South African Mining Charter and must be lodged for a conversion to a New Order Mining Right by no later than 30 April 2009 (see ‘Government regulations’).	Richards Bay Minerals was formed in 1976 to mine and beneficiate the sands in the coastal dunes. The mining operations have expanded to 5 with the last mine added in 2000.	Mining is conducted largely by sand dredge mining with minor supplementary dry mining. Gravity separation via spiral is then utilised to produce a heavy mineral concentrate. This concentrate is then trucked to a central processing plant where magnetic, electrostatic and gravity techniques are used to produce the finished products being rutile and zircon and the ilmenite for smelter feed. The smelter processes the ilmenite to produce titanium dioxide slag, with a titanium dioxide of approximately 85% and high-purity iron. The nominal titanium slag capacity is 1.06 mtpa. The power for the operation is purchased from the South African grid.

Name, location and type of

mine and access

Ownership, operation and title/lease

History

Facilities and power source

Fertilisers

Southern Cross Fertilisers

Phosphate Hill, approximately 150 kilometres southeast of Mt Isa, Queensland, Australia

Open-cut mine

We owned and operated Southern Cross Fertilisers during the 2005-06 fiscal year.

On 1 August 2006, we completed the sale of SCF to Incitec Pivot Limited.

Mining for phosphate rock was undertaken at the site in the 1970s and between 1981 and 1983, but ceased for economic reasons.

Mining restarted in 1999 with the construction of the ammonium phosphate processing plant at Phosphate Hill.

The previous operator was WMC.

Southern Cross Fertilisers operates a fully integrated ammonium phosphate production facility.

20-F	Sep 14, 2009

20-F	Sep 15, 2008

20-F	Sep 26, 2007

20-F	Sep 25, 2006

Name, location, type of mine and access

Ownership, operation and title/lease

History

Facilities and
power source

Diamonds

EKATI Diamond Mine

310 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Beartooth and Fox are open-cut mines and Panda and Koala are underground mines.

The mines are accessible year round by contracted aircraft.

Road access is available for approximately 10 weeks per year via an ice road.

We own an 80% interest in the Core Zone joint venture, which includes the existing operations. The remaining 20% interest is held by two individuals.

We also own a 58.8% interest in the Buffer Zone joint venture, made up predominantly of exploration targets.

We are the operators of the mines.

Tenure is secured through ownership of mining leases granted by the Government of Canada. Mining leases have been granted for reserves until 2017.

Construction began in 1997 and production from the first open-cut was initiated in 1997. The mine and processing plant began operation in mid 1998.

In October 2001, we acquired Dia Met Minerals Ltd, bringing our interest in the Core Zone and Buffer Zone joint ventures up to 80% and 58.8% respectively.

Current active mines include two open-cut (Beartooth and Fox) and two underground mines (Panda and Koala).

The processing plant consists of crushers, washers/scrubber and grinder and heavy media separator. The diamond recovery process makes use of magnetics and X-ray sorters. Nameplate capacity is 9,000 tonnes of ore per day.

All the electric power is generated by our Company-owned and operated diesel power station. In addition, there is storage for approximately 90 million litres of diesel fuel on-site.