Market Speculation7 Mar 2005
BHP - Market Speculation                                                        
BHP Billiton Plc                                                                
(Registration number 3196209)                                                   
(Registered in England and Wales)                                               
SHARE CODE: BIL                                                                 
ISIN: GB0000566504                                                              
NEWS RELEASE                                                                    
MARKET SPECULATION                                                              
Following market speculation, BHP Billiton confirms that it has appointed       
Deutsche Bank AG to assess the feasibility of acquiring a stake in WMC Resources
Limited.                                                                        
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site:          
http://www.bhpbilliton.com                                                      
Australia                               United Kingdom                          
Jane Belcher, Investor Relations        Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media          
Tel: +61 3 9609 3952                    Relations                               
Mobile: +61 417 031 653                 Tel: +44 20 7802 4156                   
email: Jane.H.Belcher@bhpbilliton.com   email: Mark.Lidiard@bhpbilliton.com     
Tania Price, Media Relations            Ariane Gentil, Media Relations          
Tel: +61 3 9609 3815                    Tel: +44 20 7802 4177                   
Mobile: +61 419 152 780                 email: Ariane.Gentil@bhpbilliton.com    
email: Tania.Price@bhpbilliton.com                                              
                                        South Africa                            
United States                           Michael Campbell, Investor & Media      
Francis McAllister, Investor Relations  Relations                               
Tel: +1 713 961 8625                    Tel: +27 11 376 3360                    
email:                                  Mobile: +27 82 458 2587                 
Francis.R.Mcallister@bhpbilliton.com    email:                                  
                                        Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com      
7 March 2005