Court Dismisses Ok Tedi

BHP Billiton Limited
16 January 2004

     BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
  obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

    The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
                                    earlier.



16 January 2004
Number: 04/04



                      COURT DISMISSES OK TEDI PROCEEDINGS



BHP Billiton confirmed today that the Supreme Court of Victoria has approved the
dismissal of proceedings against BHP Billiton and Ok Tedi Mining Limited on the
basis of a settlement reached with the plaintiffs last month.

BHP Billiton Chief Legal Counsel and Head of External Affairs, John Fast, said
he was pleased with the outcome of the case, which confirms that the company has
at all times complied with its obligations under the 1996 Ok Tedi Settlement
Agreement.

'Importantly, the settlement also confirms that there are no further unresolved
or outstanding matters in relation to the original terms of the 1996 Settlement
Agreement.  This is consistent with the position taken by BHP Billiton at all
times since 1996 and is the reason why we vigorously defended this action,' Mr
Fast said.

BHP Billiton completed its withdrawal from the Ok Tedi Copper Mine in Papua New
Guinea in February 2002 with the transfer of its 52% equity stake to the PNG
Sustainable Development Program Limited.  The other current owners of the Ok
Tedi Mine are the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Canadian Mining Company
Inmet Mining Corporation.



Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: 
http://www.bhpbilliton.com


Australia                                              United Kingdom

Andrew Nairn, Investor Relations                       Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: [phone]  Mobile: [phone]          Tel: [phone]
email: [e-mail]                  email: [e-mail]

Tania Price, Media Relations                           South Africa
Tel: [phone]  Mobile: [phone]          Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations
email: [e-mail]                     Tel: [phone]  Mobile: [phone]
                                                       email: [e-mail]


United States
Francis McAllister, Investor Relations
Tel: [phone]  Mobile: [phone]
email: [e-mail]


BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077                     BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
Registered in Australia                                     Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: Level 27, 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne  Registered Office: Neathouse Place London SW1V 1BH United
Victoria 3000                                               Kingdom
Telephone [phone] Facsimile [phone]        Telephone [phone] Facsimile [phone]


                  The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange