Number: 09/05

BHP Billiton  appointed Deutsche Bank to assess the feasibility of acquiring a stake in WMC Resources Limited.  A decision was made not to acquire any shares.

BHP Billiton holds economic exposure to 50.6 million (4.3%) WMC Resources shares through cash settled derivative contracts.

BHP Billiton will today seek discussions with the board of WMC Resources regarding the possibility of making an all cash offer for the entire issued share capital of WMC Resources.

For further information please contact:

Australia
Jane Belcher, Investor Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 3952
Mobile: +61 417 031 653
email: Jane.H.Belcher@bhpbilliton.com

Tania Price, Media Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 3815
Mobile: +61 419 152 780
email: Tania.Price@bhpbilliton.com

United Kingdom
Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4156
email: Mark.Lidiard@bhpbilliton.com

Ariane Gentil, Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4177
email: Ariane.Gentil@bhpbilliton.com

United States
Francis McAllister, Investor Relations
Tel: +1 713 961 8625
email: Francis.R.Mcallister@bhpbilliton.com

South Africa
Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: +27 11 376 3360  Mobile: +27 82 458 2587
email: Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com

Further Information

This communication is for information purposes only.  It shall not constitute an offer to purchase, sell or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, sell or exchange any securities of WMC Resources.  The distribution of this communication may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation.  Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions.  

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this communication may contain forward-looking statements with respect to BHP Billiton’s financial condition, results of operations, business strategies, operating efficiencies, competitive position, growth opportunities for existing services, plans and objectives of management, markets for stock and other matters.  State-ments in these materials that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements”.

These forward-looking statements, including, among others, those relating to the future business prospects, revenues and income of BHP Billiton, wherever they may occur in the following materials are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management of BHP Billiton and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements.  As a conse-quence, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in these materials and BHP Billiton’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended June 30, 2004.  

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation:  estimated reserves; plans, strategies and objectives of man-agement; closure or divestment of certain operations or facilities (including associated costs); anticipated production or construction commencement dates; expected costs or production output; the anticipated productive lives of pro-jects, mines and facilities; and provisions and contingent liabilities.  

BHP Billiton undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking state-ments to reflect events or circumstances after the date of the materials in which such statements are contained or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.