BHP Billiton set for a bigger role in the new world order

摘要

BHP Billiton's - the global mining giant with presence in over 25 countries and one of the dominant players in most, of the mclals mainly iron ore - initial business forays included tin and lead smelting in the Netherlands, followed in the 1940s by bauxite mining in Indonesia and Suriname. The tin and lead smeller in Arnhem, the Netherlands, was shut down in the 1990s. In 1994, South Africa's Gencor Ltd. acquired the mining division of Billiton excluding the downstream metal division. Billiton was divested from Gencor in 1.997.Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Billilon Plc experienced considerable growth. Its portfolio included aluminium smelters in South Africa and Mozambique, nickel operations in Australia and Colombia, base metals mines in South America, Canada and South Africa, coal mines in Australia, Colombia and South Africa, as well as operalions in Brazil, Suriname, Australia (aluminium) and South Africa (titanium minerals and steel and ferroalloys).