BHP Billiton Reviews Mine Operations Management

(RTTNews) - Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AX, BLT.L, BBL, BHP) said that it is reviewing the operating structure of mining joint ventures with companies including Glencore Plc and Anglo American Plc in the wake of the deadly Brazil mine disaster.

The Mining giant also said it is reviewing Samarco Mineracao SA, its joint iron ore operation with Vale SA in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, after tailings dams burst November 5, sending a torrent into a valley below and killing at least nine people.

BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie told investors Monday on a conference call said the company will also assess its Antamina copper operation in Peru and its Cerrejon coal venture in Colombia.

"That is the kind of arrangement we need to review and have been reviewing, to be honest, to decide not just the perspective of our shareholders, but the shareholders of the companies who are partners to that joint venture and whether a more petroleum-type model might be more appropriate in the future," Mackenzie said.

"More importantly than that, as we are hungry for the lessons that we can learn from Samarco, we are clearly looking at ways we can run the vast bulk of our business even better," Mackenzie said.