BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.[4] The company specialises in mining and selling iron ore, copper and coal.[3]
BHP Billiton was formed in June 2001 through the merger of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) and the Anglo–Dutch Billiton plc, trading on both the Australian Securities Exchange and London Stock Exchange as a dual-listed company.
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. In January 2022, BHP relinquished its London Stock Exchange listing, becoming a solely Australian Securities Exchange-listed company.
As of 2025, BHP is the second largest public company in Australia,[5] and the largest mining company in the world, both as measured by market capitalisation.[6] In 2025, the company's position in the Forbes Global 2000 was 125th.[7]
History
Billiton
Billiton Maatschappij was founded 29 September 1860, when its articles of association were approved by a meeting of shareholders in the Groot Keizershof hotel in The Hague, Netherlands.[8][9][10] Two months later, the company acquired mineral rights to the Belitung (formerly Billiton) and Bangka Islands in the Netherlands Indies archipelago off the eastern coast of Sumatra.[9][11]
Corporation
Until January 2022, BHP was a dual-listed company; the Australian BHP Billiton Limited and the British BHP Billiton plc were separately listed with separate shareholder bodies, while conducting business as one operation with identical boards of directors and a single management structure.[3] The headquarters of BHP Billiton Limited and the global headquarters of the combined group were located in Melbourne, Australia. The headquarters of BHP Billiton plc were located in London, England.[3] Its main office locations were in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Chile, Malaysia, and Singapore.[3]
The company's shares traded on the following exchanges:[99]
BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc were renamed BHP Group Limited and BHP Group plc, respectively, on 19 November 2018.[100]
Operations
BHP has mining operations in Australia, North America, and South America.[3]
The company has five primary operational units:
The company's mines are as follows:[110]
- Coal
- Copper
- Iron ore
- Potash
- Nickel
Australia
New South Wales
BHP Foundation
The BHP Foundation is a philanthropic organisation funded by BHP, which as of was funding 38 projects in 65 countries.[116] Its Australian programs are focused on Indigenous Australian self-determination, and young people. One of its partner organisations is Reconciliation Australia.[117]
Environmental issues
Climate damage
BHP is listed as one of the 90 fossil fuel extraction and marketing companies responsible for two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of the industrial age.[118] Its cumulative emissions as of 2010 have been estimated at 7,606 Mte, representing 0.52% of global industrial emissions between 1751 and 2010, ranking it the 19th-largest corporate polluter.[119] According to BHP management 10% of these emissions are from direct operations, while 90% come from products sold by the company.[120] BHP has been voluntarily reporting its direct GHG emissions since 1996. In 2013, it was criticised for lobbying against carbon pricing in Australia.[121] In June 2024, BHP announced that the company was on track to meet its 30% emissions reduction target by 2030 from 2020 baseline levels and did not rule out using
Cultural issues
From 2019 to 2021, BHP registered six cases of sexual assault and 73 cases of sexual harassment.[148] A survey of 425 workers conducted by The Western Mine Workers' Alliance, showed that two-thirds of female respondents had experienced verbal sexual harassment while working in the FIFO mining industry, with 36% of women and 10% of men having experienced some form of harassment in the last 12 months.[149] In response, BHP terminated or otherwise permanently removed forty eight workers from its sites.[150]
Other significant accidents
Bad weather caused a BHP Billiton helicopter to crash in Angola on 16 November 2007, killing the helicopter's five occupants. The deceased were: BHP Billiton Angola Chief Operating Officer David Hopgood (Australian), Angola Technical Services Operations Manager Kevin Ayre (British), Wild Dog Helicopters pilot Kottie Breedt (South African), Guy Sommerfield (British) of MMC and Louwrens Prinsloo (Namibian) of Prinsloo Drilling. The helicopter crashed approximately 80 km from the Alto Cuilo diamond exploration camp in Lunda Norte, northeastern Angola. BHP Billiton responded by suspending operations in the country.[151]
See also
- Mining in Australia
External links
References
- Peter Ker. BHP's new chairman Ross McEwan meets investors, reads up on history Australian Financial Review, 2025-03-30, retrieved 2025-08-26^
- Mike Henry BHP, retrieved 18 November 2025^
- Annual Report 2025