Basis of Reporting

URS Assurance Statement

Data Collection & Basis

Glossary of Terms

Data Collection and Basis

Our aim is to provide a balanced and reasonable presentation of the Company’s economic, health, safety, environmental and community performance.

The statistics in this Report cover the facilities owned and operated by BHP Billiton during the 12-month period to 30 June 2004. Data are reported on a 100 per cent basis for facilities operated by BHP Billiton irrespective of our equity share, unless otherwise stated. Joint venture projects where we are not the operator are excluded unless expressly stated.

The Report identifies where information has been provided to facilitate year-to-year comparison of our performance without BHP Steel, which commenced trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as a separate listed company in July 2002.

All dollar figures in the Report are US unless otherwise indicated.

Over the reporting period, a number of changes have been introduced to improve the method of safety data collection and storage and clarify the definition of reporting terms. This has had an impact both on current and historical safety data. While improving the robustness and auditability of safety data, this has had a slight impact on the figures presented. Please refer to the section on our HSEC reporting system in the Safety Performance Summary for further information on this adjustment.

We are continuously improving our reporting systems and endeavour to present useful and accurate information. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, including the figures, in this Report, the data are derived from our many operations around the world and, in some cases, grouped data are not strictly comparable.

Anyone seeking to rely on information in this Report or seeking to draw detailed conclusions from the data should contact the Company for verification and assistance.

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