page_title: BHP
section_title: BHP Billiton
hierarchical_section_title: BHP / History / BHP Billiton
caption_attribution_description: English: BHP Billiton Iron Ore EMD SD70ACe no. 4303 Walla (left) and no. 4346 Southern Cross (right) at the head of a loaded train at Nelson Point yard, Port Hedland, the northern terminus of the Mount Newman railway, Western Australia.
context_page_description: BHP, formerly known as BHP Billiton, is the trading entity of BHP Group Limited and BHP Group plc, an Anglo-Australian multinational mining, metals and petroleum dual-listed public company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded on 16 July 1885 in the mining town of Silverton, New South Wales. 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 and the Anglo–Dutch Billiton plc, forming a dual-listed company. The Australia-registered Limited has a primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange and is one of the largest companies in Australia by market capitalisation. The English-registered plc arm has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
  In 2015, some BHP Billiton assets were demerged and rebranded as South32, 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.
context_section_description: In 2001, BHP merged 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 Steel.
  In March 2005, BHP Billiton announced a US$7.3 billion agreed bid for WMC Resources, 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 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. 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.
  On 14 May 2008, BHP Billiton shares rose to a record high of A$48.90 following speculation that Chinese mining firm Chinalco 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.
  On 21 January 2009, BHP Billiton then announced that BHP Billiton Ravensthorpe Nickel Project 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, 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 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, which had cost A$2.4 billion to build, to Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals 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 reported that, by 2020, BHP Billiton could produce approximately 15 per cent of the world demand for potash.
  In August 2010, BHP Billiton made a hostile takeover bid worth US$40 billion for the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. 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 under Premier Brad Wall. On 3 November, Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement announced the preliminary rejection of the deal under the Investment Canada Act, 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 for its Fayetteville shale assets, which include 487,000 acres (1,970 km²) of mineral rights leases and 420 miles (680 km) of pipeline located in north central Arkansas. The wells on the mineral leases are currently producing about 415 million cubic 
caption: Diesel locomotives in BHP Billiton Iron Ore "bubble" livery, at the company's Nelson Point Yard, Port Hedland, Western Australia.
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