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BHPBill notice of dividends and AGM dates
The proposed dates(1) for the 2012 final dividend and 2012 annual general meetings of BHP Billiton Ltd. and BHPBill are as follows:
2012 Final Dividend
- Preliminary Results Announcement and Dividend Declaration -- 22 August 2012
- Last day to trade on JSE Ltd. and currency conversion into RAND -- 31 August 2012
- Ex-Dividend Date (Australian & Johannesburg stock exchanges) -- 3 September 2012
- Ex-Dividend Date (London & New York stock exchanges(2)) -- 5 September 2012
- Record Date (including currency conversion and currency election dates (for Australian & London stock exchanges) -- 7 September 2012
- Payment Date -- 28 September 2012
Please note that BHPBill shareholders registered on the South African section of the register will not be able to dematerialise or rematerialise their shareholdings between the dates of 3 and 7 September 2012 (inclusive), nor will transfers between the UK register and the South African register be permitted, between the dates of 31 August and 7 September 2012 (inclusive).
2012 Annual General Meetings (AGM)
The 2012 AGM of BHPBill will be held in London on Thursday, 25 October 2012 at 11.00am.
The 2012 AGM of BHP Billiton Ltd. will be held in Sydney on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at 10.30am.
(1) Dates are subject to change.
(2) BHP Billiton Ltd. and BHPBill shares are listed on the NYSE in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
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BHPBill -- exploration and development report
This report covers the group's exploration and development activities for the June 2012 quarter. Unless otherwise stated, BHPBill's interest in the projects referred to in this report is 100 per cent and references to project schedules are based on calendar years.
Development
BHPBill's proven strategy to invest in large, long life, low cost, expandable, upstream assets, diversified by commodity, geography and market ensures we are well positioned to maintain strong momentum and returns in our major businesses, despite significant volatility in the external environment. In the 2012 financial year, six major projects delivered first production while a total investment commitment of USD7.5 billion (BHPBill share) enabled another eight major projects to move into execution. In addition, USD2.7 billion (BHPBill share) of pre-commitment funding was approved to further progress a series of development options.
The six projects to deliver first production included: Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) Rapid Growth Project 5 (iron ore); Antamina Expansion and Escondida Ore Access (both copper); Worsley Efficiency & Growth (alumina); North West Shelf CWLH Life Extension (oil); and the RX1 Project (energy coal). The Antamina Expansion, Escondida Ore Access and RX1 projects will not be reported in future Exploration and Development Reports. The eight projects that moved into execution span the ferrous, non-ferrous and energy product groups and included: WAIO Orebody 24 (iron ore); Caval Ridge and Appin Area 9 (both metallurgical coal); Escondida Organic Growth Project 1 and Escondida Oxide Leach Area Project (both copper); North West Shelf Greater Western Flank-A (LNG); Cerrejon P40 Project and the Newcastle Third Port Project Stage 3 (both energy coal). During the June 2012 quarter, BHPBill announced approval of the Illawarra Coal Appin Area 9 project and pre-commitment funding of USD708 million (BHPBill share) for the Mad Dog Phase 2 project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (oil and gas). BHPBill's Onshore US drilling and development expenditure totalled USD3.3 billion in the 2012 financial year.
Minerals exploration
Greenfield exploration continued on copper targets in South America, nickel and copper targets in Australia, and iron ore and potash in a number of regions globally. Minerals exploration expenditure for the 2012 financial year was USD1.1 billion, of which USD0.9 billion was expensed.
Petroleum exploration expenditure for the 2012 financial year was USD1.4 billion, of which USD0.7 billion was expensed. This included USD0.4 billion of exploration expenditure in the recently acquired Onshore US business. Permian Basin appraisal activities for the June 2012 quarter included the successful completion and testing of seven wells with commercial rates. Further success in the Permian Basin is expected to lead to an increase in development expenditure and an associated reduction in exploration expenditure.
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BHPBill-production report for year to 30 June 2012
Highlights:
- Robust operating performance in a challenging environment with annual production records achieved across ten operations.
- Twelfth consecutive annual production record in iron ore as Western Australia Iron Ore shipments rose to an annualised rate of 179 million tonnes in the June 2012 quarter (100% basis).
- Record annual metallurgical coal production achieved at Illawarra Coal. Queensland Coal production remained constrained as a result of industrial action and heavy rainfall.
- The successful integration and further development of Onshore US shale liquids and gas assets contributed to a 40% increase in petroleum production in the 2012 financial year.
- An 11% increase in copper production in the June 2012 quarter established strong momentum in the base metals business.
Petroleum
Total petroleum production
The successful integration and further development of our Onshore US shale liquids and gas assets contributed to a 40 per cent increase in petroleum production in the 2012 financial year.
Crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids
Lower liquids production for the 2012 financial year reflected downtime at our non-operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico (USA) and natural field decline, particularly at Pyrenees (Australia). Mad Dog (USA) was offline for the full financial year while Atlantis (USA) was shut-in for an extended period of scheduled maintenance during the June 2012 quarter. Weather related downtime in the Gulf of Mexico also contributed to lower production in the period. Onshore US liquids production increased by 10 per cent to 3.8 million barrels in the June 2012 quarter. Over 80 per cent of Onshore US drilling activity was focused on the liquids rich Eagle Ford shale and Permian Basin at the end of the period. The conventional business will benefit from the recommencement of production at Mad Dog and Atlantis in the September 2012 quarter.
Natural gas
Strong performance at Angostura (Trinidad and Tobago) and the successful integration of the Onshore US business led to higher natural gas production in the 2012 financial year.
Aluminium
Alumina
Record annual production at the Alumar refinery (Brazil) contributed to a four per cent increase in total alumina production in the 2012 financial year. Production at Worsley (Australia) is expected to increase during the 2013 financial year as the Efficiency & Growth project ramps up towards full capacity.
Aluminium
Production was lower than all comparable periods as potline capacity at Hillside (South Africa) remained curtailed following a major unplanned outage in the March 2012 quarter. Operations are expected to progressively return to full technical capacity during the 2013 financial year. Despite our competitive position on the cost curve, the integrated aluminium business continues to be challenged by weaker prices and underlying cost pressure.
Base metals
Copper
An 11 per cent increase in copper production in the June 2012 quarter established strong momentum in our Base Metals business. At Escondida (Chile), production increased by 22 per cent as mining activities progressed towards higher grade ore, consistent with the mine plan. This strong performance was also supported by quarterly and annual material mined, mill throughput and copper production records at Antamina (Peru) following the successful commissioning of the expansion project.
Escondida copper production is forecast to increase by approximately 20 per cent in the 2013 financial year. Successful completion of both the Escondida Ore Access and Laguna Seca debottlenecking projects will facilitate a rise in Escondida copper production to over 1.3 million tonnes (100 per cent basis) in the 2015 financial year. At 30 June 2012 the group had 278 547 tonnes of outstanding copper sales that were revalued at a weighted average price of USD3.49 per pound. The final price of these sales will be determined in the 2013 financial year. In addition, 239 156 tonnes of copper sales from the 2011 financial year were subject to a finalisation adjustment in 2012. This finalisation adjustment and the provisional pricing impact as at 30 June 2012 will decrease earnings before interest and tax by USD265 million in the 2012 financial year (2011 financial year: USD650 million gain).
Lead/silver
Production for the 2012 financial year was in line with the prior period.
Zinc
Production at Antamina declined during the 2012 financial year as mining progressed through a copper-rich ore zone.
Uranium
Production for the 2012 financial year was broadly in line with the prior period.
Diamonds
Production was lower than all comparable periods, as expected. EKATI (Canada) production is forecast to remain constrained in the medium term as the operations extract lower grade material, consistent with the mine plan.
BHPBill announced a review of its diamonds business during the December 2011 quarter and this process is ongoing. The sale of BHPBill's 37 per cent non-operated interest in Richards Bay Minerals (South Africa) to Rio Tinto is progressing and remains subject to final regulatory approvals.
Stainless Steel Materials
Nickel
The successful replacement of the Line 1 furnace at Cerro Matoso (Colombia) in the September 2011 quarter led to a modest increase in annual nickel production. The Nickel West Mt Keith Talc Redesign Project and Kwinana hydrogen plant (Australia) were both commissioned in the 2012 financial year. However, despite improved refinery performance, a strong Australian dollar and weak nickel price continued to place pressure on Nickel West operating margins.
Iron Ore
BHPBill's commitment to invest throughout the economic cycle delivered a twelfth consecutive annual production record in iron ore. Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) shipments rose to a record annualised rate of 179 million tonnes in the June 2012 quarter (100 per cent basis). Consistently strong operating performance, the ramp up of Ore Handling Plant 3 at Yandi, dual tracking of the company's rail infrastructure and additional ship loading capacity at Port Hedland contributed to the record result. WAIO production in the 2013 financial year is forecast to increase by approximately five per cent from the 2012 financial year.
Samarco's (Brazil) three pellet plants continued to operate at capacity during the period.
Manganese
Manganese ore
Consistently strong operating performance and improved plant availability at both GEMCO (Australia) and Hotazel (South Africa) underpinned annual production and sales records in the 2012 financial year.
Manganese alloy
The termination of energy intensive silica manganese production at Metalloys (South Africa) and the temporary suspension of production at TEMCO (Australia) resulted in substantially lower alloy production in the 2012 financial year. TEMCO is expected to return to full capacity towards the end of the September 2012 quarter.
Metallurgical coal
A modest increase in metallurgical coal production was achieved in the 2012 financial year despite numerous operating challenges. Record annual production at Illawarra Coal (Australia) followed successful commissioning of the West Cliff Coal Preparation Plant upgrade project. A longwall move at the Appin mine is expected to have a minor impact on production in the September 2012 quarter. Queensland Coal (Australia) production remained constrained during the June 2012 quarter largely as a result of industrial action. This disruption to production and sales has led to significant margin compression for our leading Queensland Coal business. BHP Billiton also announced the indefinite closure of the Norwich Park mine (Australia) during the June 2012 quarter following a review of the mine's profitability. In July 2012, force majeure was lifted across all BMA sites. In addition, BMA and the unions reached a framework agreement that should guide the finalisation of the BMA Enterprise Agreement. Further work is underway to finalise local mine site details.
Energy coal
Volumes were higher than all comparable periods with annual and quarterly production records achieved at two of BHPBill's export orientated operations, Cerrejon Coal (Colombia) and New South Wales Energy Coal (Australia). Longwall mining activity resumed at San Juan Coal (USA) during the June 2012 quarter. The RX1 Project at New South Wales Energy Coal delivered first production during the June 2012 quarter, significantly ahead of schedule. This project capitalises on strong demand for high ash coal in our key growth markets.
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