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BHP Group

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FY2022 Annual Report · BHP Group
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Annual 
Report

2022

Bringing people and 
resources together to 
build a better world

Contents

02–05
Overview

Our performance
Chair’s review
Chief Executive Officer’s review

06–88
Operating and  
Financial Review

1
2
2.1
2.2
3

4
4.1
4.2

Our business
Delivering value
Our business model
How we create and grow value
Positioning for the future
Chief Financial 
Officer’s review

Financial review
Group overview
Key performance indicators

4.3
4.4
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
6
7
7.1
7.2

7.3

7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.9
7.10
7.11
7.12
7.13

02
04
05

06
08
08
10
15
17

18
18
18

Financial results
Debt and sources of liquidity
Our assets
Minerals Australia
Minerals Americas
Commercial
People and culture
Sustainability
Our sustainability approach
Our material 
sustainability issues
Our sustainability performance:  
Non-financial key 
performance indicators
Safety
Sexual harassment
Health
Ethics and business conduct
Climate change
Value chain sustainability
Community
Human rights
Security services
Indigenous peoples

19
21
23
23
26
27
28
31
31
33

33

35
36
37
39
41
52
53
54
56
56

7.14
7.15
7.16
7.17
7.18
7.19

8
9
9.1
10
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5

11

11.1

11.2

12

02 
Our performance

08 
Delivering value

28 
People and culture

Social investment
Environment
Water
Biodiversity and land
Tailings storage facilities
Independent limited 
assurance report
Samarco
How we manage risk
Risk factors
Performance by commodity
Copper
Iron Ore
Coal
Other assets
Impact of changes to 
commodity prices
Non-IFRS financial 
information
Definition and calculation of 
non-IFRS financial information
Definition and calculation 
of principal factors
Other information

15 
Positioning for 
the future

89–124
Governance 

125–193
Financial Statements

194–242
Additional Information

Corporate Governance Statement 

Directors’ Report 

Remuneration Report 

Consolidated Financial Statements 

Notes to the Financial Statements 

Financial information summary 

Information on mining operations 

Financial information by commodity 

Production

Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 

Major projects 

People – Performance data 

Legal proceedings 

Shareholder information 

Glossary

Company details  
refer to OFR 12.1

Forward-looking statements  
refer to OFR 12.2

Cover image: Oxidised copper ore deposit – Getty Images.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

58
59
60
61
62
64

65
66
67
74
74
75
76
77
77

78

86

87

88

90

101

107

126

134

195

196

206

208

209

226

226

227

229

236

BHP, bringing 
people and 
resources 
together 
to build a 
better world.

Our values
Sustainability 
Putting health and safety first, being environmentally 
responsible and supporting our communities.

Integrity 
Doing what is right and doing what we say we will do.

Respect 
Embracing openness, trust, teamwork, diversity and 
relationships that are mutually beneficial.

Performance 
Achieving superior business results by stretching 
our capabilities.

Simplicity 
Focusing our efforts on the things that matter most.

Accountability 
Defining and accepting responsibility and delivering 
on our commitments.

We are successful when:

–  Our people start each day with a sense of purpose 
and end the day with a sense of accomplishment.

–  Our teams are inclusive and diverse.
–  Our communities, customers and suppliers value 
their relationships with us and are better off for 
our presence.

–  Our asset portfolio is world class and 

sustainably developed.

–  Our operational discipline and financial strength 

enables our future growth.

–  Our shareholders receive a superior return on 

their investment.

–  Our commodities support continued economic 

growth and decarbonisation.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

01

Our performance

Safe, reliable  
production

29% reduction in 
freshwater withdrawals 
compared to adjusted 
FY2017 baseline,² 
exceeding our 15%  
five-year target.

Fatality-free for the 
third consecutive 
year; high-potential 
injury frequency rate 
down 30%.

Record sales volumes 
at Western Australia 
Iron Ore; record 
material mined at 
Escondida and near-
record concentrator 
throughout.

Indigenous peoples 
employee representation 
at end of FY2022:

8.3 % 

in Minerals Australia 
operations in Australia

8.7% 

in Minerals Americas 
operations in Chile, and 

7.2 % 

in Jansen Potash Project 
and operations in Canada

32.3 %

female employee 
representation at end of 
FY2022, a 2.5 percentage 
point increase from the 
start of the year.

02

BHP

Annual Report 2022

These strong results were due to safe and reliable operations, project 
delivery and capital discipline, which allowed us to capture the value 
of strong commodity prices.
Mike Henry, Chief Executive Officer

Record underlying 
earnings per share1

470.6 USc

2022

470.6 USc

2021

337.7 USc

Record shareholder cash 
dividends per share³

325 USc

Ore leaving South Flank’s 
Primary Crusher 2, one of two 
at South Flank that are the 
largest in BHP.

2022

325 USc

2021

301 USc

Jansen Stage 1  
tracked to plan; 
production shafts 
completed  
in June quarter.  
Working to bring forward 
first potash production.

Completed unification 
of dual listed 
structure, Petroleum 
merger with Woodside 
and divestment of 
BHP Mitsui Coal and 
Cerrejón interests.

15 %

reduction in operational greenhouse gas 
emissions from adjusted FY2017 baseline,5 
exceeding our five-year target and on track to 
be reduced by at least 30% by FY2030 (from 
FY2020 levels).

1 
 For more information on Non-IFRS Financial Information, refer to OFR 11. 
2  For information on adjustment to the FY2017 baseline, refer to OFR 7.16.
3  This excludes the 386 US cents in specie dividend from distributing Woodside shares received as 

4 

consideration for the sale of BHP Petroleum.
 Total economic contribution includes payments to suppliers, wages and benefits for employees and 
contractors, dividends, taxes and royalties and voluntary social investment on a Total operations basis.

5  For information on adjustment to the FY2017 baseline, refer to OFR 7.8.

Profit from operations 

US$34.1 bn

2022

34.1 bn

2021

25.5 bn

Total economic 
contribution4 

US$78.1 bn

2022

78.1 bn

2021

40.9 bn

BHP

Annual Report 2022

03

Board succession
We welcomed Michelle Hinchliffe and Catherine 
Tanna to the BHP Board as independent 
Non-executive Directors. Both bring over 35 
years’ experience to BHP – Michelle in financial 
controls and risk management, and Catherine 
in energy, long-life capital allocation and 
HSE. We are delighted to welcome Michelle 
and Catherine. 

At the other end of the succession process, 
we will farewell Malcolm Broomhead and John 
Mogford at the conclusion of the 2022 Annual 
General Meeting. Both have announced their 
intention to retire following exceptional periods 
of service, and I would like to thank Malcolm and 
John for their outstanding contribution to BHP 
and the Board. 

FY2022 was a successful year of transformation 
for our business. I am confident we are building 
BHP for the future and to create enduring 
value for our shareholders and communities, 
customers, suppliers and partners. 

Thank you for your continued support of BHP.

Ken MacKenzie 
Chair

Chair’s review

Dear Shareholders,

I am pleased to provide BHP’s Annual Report for 
FY2022 which was a transformational year for 
your company. 

During the year BHP:

–  unified our dual listed company structure 

under a single parent company listed on the 
Australian Securities Exchange

–  merged our Petroleum business with 

Woodside to create a top 10 energy provider 
and provide shareholders with further choice 
as to their exposure to oil and gas

–  simplified the coal portfolio through the sale of 
our interests in Cerrejón and BHP Mitsui Coal 
to concentrate on higher-quality metallurgical 
coal which is forecast to be critical for 
making the steel necessary to support 
decarbonisation and infrastructure growth 
over coming decades 

–  approved an investment of US$5.7 billion 
in our Jansen Potash Project in Canada, 
marking BHP’s entry into a new commodity 
which provides shareholders with exposure to 
the growing population megatrend

Your Board would like to thank all shareholders 
for the trust you have shown in supporting these 
changes which set your company up to deliver 
value into the future. 

That trust is built over time and through 
performance, and this year Mike Henry, his 
management team and all our people, have 
continued to deliver strong operational and 
financial performance through a challenging 
period of ongoing pandemic disruption, global 
supply chain challenges and cost pressures. 

Safety and wellbeing
In terms of safety, FY2022 was the third 
consecutive year in which there were no 
workplace occupational fatalities, and the Group 
made strong progress on other leading safety 
indicators such as a 30 per cent reduction in 
high-potential injuries. 

These are pleasing indicators of the progress 
we can make when our focus is unwavering. 
To achieve truly safe, inclusive and diverse 
workplaces for all our people we know we must 
bring this same focus to bear on all aspects of 
workplace safety including addressing sexual 
harassment, racism and bullying. 

The value we create
It is against a backdrop of commitment to 
performance and continuous improvement, that 
BHP has delivered considerable value to you, 
our shareholders. 

In FY2022, the Board determined dividends 
worth US$36 billion to shareholders (including 
the distribution of Woodside shares). This takes 
the total amount returned to shareholders over 
the past four years to more than US$50 billion. 

But it is not just value to shareholders. This year, 
we also made substantial headway in our 
sustainability aspirations and focus on social 
value. We provided shareholders with the first 
‘Say on Climate’ shareholder resolution in the 
Australian market, and our Climate Transition 
Action Plan (Plan) was supported by almost 
85 per cent of shareholders. This Plan aligns 
our climate goals with our strategic goals, and 
provides a clear basis for measuring BHP’s 
climate performance. 

We also launched a social value framework and 
scorecard with 2030 goals to bring additional 
transparency to our social value goals and 
outcomes. We are working hard to embed social 
value in our strategy, capital allocation decisions, 
plans, processes and culture. It is not only the 
right thing to do, but we believe it provides a 
significant competitive advantage for BHP and is 
vital to delivering long-term sustainable value. 

As well as the value delivered to shareholders, 
this year, we made significant contributions to 
the communities where we operate, through 
employment, partnerships, and taxes and 
royalties paid to governments. This amounted 
to US$57.5 billion in Australia, US$7.7 billion 
in Chile and US$12.9 billion in the rest of the 
world, and our local procurement has increased 
40 per cent over the past three years with 
US$2.7 billion directed to 2,700 local suppliers 
during FY2022.

FY2022 was a successful year of 
transformation for our business. I am 
confident we are building BHP for the 
future and to create enduring value for 
our shareholders and communities, 
customers, suppliers and partners.

04

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Chief Executive Officer’s review

Dear Shareholders,

BHP performed well in FY2022. Our strong 
production outcomes and solid cost control 
allowed us to capture the greatest benefit from 
the tailwind of high commodity prices during 
the year. It was pleasing to all of us at BHP to 
be able to deliver not only record returns to 
shareholders, but also record contributions to 
our other stakeholders. We paid record taxes 
and royalties during the year of US$17.3 billion, 
slightly higher than our cash returns to 
shareholders of US$16.4 billion. 

Most importantly, we did so safely and 
sustainably. No one has lost their life while 
working at BHP for over three and a half 
consecutive years now. This is a very significant 
milestone, but we must guard against 
complacency. We will continue to prioritise our 
efforts to reduce fatal risk from our workplaces. 
We also reduced our operational greenhouse 
gas emissions by 24 per cent over the past two 
years and have reduced freshwater withdrawals 
by almost 30 per cent since 2017.

We were successful in partially mitigating the 
impacts of a number of external challenges, 
including the ongoing pandemic, to deliver well 
against our production and unit cost guidance for 
the year. We achieved record full-year shipments 
from our Western Australia Iron Ore business for 
the third year running, and we remain the world’s 
lowest cost major producer. In copper, our 
Escondida business in Chile had record material 
mined and near-record concentrator throughput, 
while Olympic Dam in South Australia performed 
strongly in the fourth quarter after our major 
smelter maintenance overhaul, which takes 
place every four years. 

We anticipate the economic headwinds, 
including inflation and tight labour markets, and 
the impacts from COVID-19 will continue through 
the year ahead. We aim to navigate these 
challenges better than our competitors and have 
the focus and capabilities in place to enable us 
to do so. Our continued high performance in the 
past year is thanks to 80,000 highly capable, 
diverse, engaged people across BHP, who have 
continued to show tremendous resilience in the 
face of the multiple challenges thrown at us by 
the external environment. 

We will be safer, more reliable, lower cost and 
more productive if we are able to more fully 
harness the experience, passion and ingenuity 
of everyone across BHP. This is being hard-

wired through the BHP Operating System (BOS), 
which is building a continuous improvement 
culture and capability right through to the 
fingertips of the company. This shift, coupled 
with our progress on creating a more inclusive 
and diverse workforce is unlocking performance 
and achieving this in a way that is exciting for 
BHP and more fulfilling for our people.

During the year, we launched our new social 
value framework and set short-term milestones 
as well as 2030 goals under each of our six 
social value pillars. Our commitment to social 
value contributes to the relevant United Nations 
(UN) Sustainable Development Goals and aligns 
with our continued support for the UN Global 
Compact and its 10 principles.

FY2022 was a year in which we also made 
significant progress transforming our business 
for the future through reshaping our portfolio and 
simplifying our corporate structure. We divested 
our Petroleum business and created a stronger, 
more resilient stand-alone business by merging 
it with Woodside, creating more choice 
and opportunity for value for shareholders. 
We further optimised our coal portfolio through 
the divestment of our stakes in BHP Mitsui 
Coal and in Cerrejón. We approved the Jansen 
Stage 1 Potash Project in Canada, opening up 
a new long-term growth front for the company 
in potash, a fertiliser that will enable more 
sustainable farming globally. Finally, we unified 
our corporate structure, removing the more 
complex dual listed structure in place since the 
BHP and Billiton merger of 2001. 

We now have a leaner, more agile and more 
efficient BHP, with a portfolio more aligned to 
the global megatrends unfolding around us, and 
better positioned to grow value by supplying the 
commodities required for a decarbonising world.

I am excited about our plans for the year ahead 
and for the future. Despite external volatility, 
the fundamentals that underpin our business 
are positive and strongly position BHP for 
enduring success. 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Mike Henry 
Chief Executive Officer

I am proud to say that the proportion of females 
and Indigenous peoples at BHP continues to 
grow. Representation of female employees 
reached 32.3 per cent in FY2022 and the 
executive leadership team is fully balanced. 
Indigenous peoples now represent 8.3 per cent 
of our operational workforce in Australia, 8.7 
per cent in Chile and 7.2 per cent in our Jansen 
Potash Project in Canada.

While we have made strong progress in 
improving the composition of our workforce, 
you will see in this year’s report increased 
disclosure in respect of cases of sexual 
harassment, racism and bullying that have 
occurred during the year in the company. I am 
ashamed that these behaviours still occur in 
BHP. We are fiercely determined to stop them 
from happening. During the year, we progressed 
work on upgrading our facilities, improving 
our processes, providing more support to 
impacted persons and bystanders, and shifting 
culture. In the past year, we invested more 
than US$200 million to improve the security 
and experience in our accommodation villages, 
established a global support service to provide 
dedicated, end-to-end case coordination for 
anyone impacted by sexual harassment, and 
enhanced training programs, including for both 
leaders and bystanders. Most recently we took 
time out from work and production across all of 
BHP to discuss sexual harassment, racism and 
bullying. These Safety Stops involved the whole 
of the workforce globally and were intended to 
build awareness, understanding, capability, and 
collective commitment to action. 

As well as building an even safer and more 
inclusive workplace at BHP, we must help to 
build a better world for all of our stakeholders. 
We aim to create social value, which is the 
positive contribution BHP makes to society: our 
people, partners, the economy, the environment 
and local communities for the mutual benefit of 
shareholders and the community. We see this 
as fundamental to our long-term success and a 
competitive advantage that will support growth. 

BHP performed well in FY2022 with strong 
production outcomes and solid cost 
control. We paid record taxes and royalties 
during the year of US$17.3 billion and cash 
returns to shareholders of US$16.4 billion. 
And most importantly, we did so safely 
and sustainably.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

05

1  Our business 

BHP, bringing people and resources 
together to build a better world

We will responsibly manage the most resilient long-term portfolio of 
assets, in highly attractive commodities, and will grow value through being 
excellent at operations, discovering and developing resources, acquiring 
the right assets and options, and capital allocation. 

Through our differentiated approach to social value, we will be a trusted 
partner who creates value for all stakeholders.

Global
Total economic contribution¹
US$78.1 bn

Taxes and royalties paid²
US$17.3 bn

Payments to suppliers²
US$18.8 bn

Number of employees and 
contractors³
79,471

Key

BHP principal office locations

BHP mining locations

Iron ore

Copper

Coal

Nickel

Potash

Non-operated joint venture

Rest of the world
Total economic contribution¹
US$12.9 bn

Taxes and royalties paid²
US$1.3 bn

Payments to suppliers²
US$2.6 bn

Number of employees and 
contractors³
5,431

Chile
Total economic contribution¹
US$7.7 bn

Taxes and royalties paid²
US$2.6 bn

Payments to suppliers²
US$4.3 bn

Number of employees and 
contractors³
24,620

1  Total economic contribution includes payments to suppliers, wages and benefits for employees and contractors, dividends, 

taxes and royalties and voluntary social investment on a Total operations basis.

2  Presented on a Total operations basis.
3  Employee data is based on a ‘point-in-time’ snapshot of employees as at 30 June 2022 including employees on extended 
absence, without adjustment for BHP ownership percentage. Contractor data is collected from internal surveys and the 
organisation systems and averages for a 10-month period, July 2021 and April 2022.

4  Excludes BMC and Cerrejón production. The divestment of BHP’s 33.33 per cent interest in Cerrejón to Glencore and 
of BHP’s 80 per cent interest in BMC to Stanmore Resources Limited were completed on 11 January 2022 and 3 May 
2022 respectively. 

06

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Our commodities
Iron ore

Copper

Coal

Nickel

Potash

FY2022 production
253.2 Mt

FY2022 production
1,574 kt

FY2022 production4
42.8 Mt

FY2022 production
76.8 kt

Revenue
US$30.8 bn

Revenue
US$16.8 bn

Revenue
US$15.5 bn

Revenue
US$1.9 bn

Jansen Stage 1 is our 
US$5.7 bn 
potash project

Underlying EBITDA
US$21.7 bn

Underlying EBITDA
US$8.6 bn

Underlying EBITDA
US$9.5 bn

Underlying EBITDA
US$420 m

Australia
Total economic contribution¹
US$57.5 bn

Taxes and royalties paid²
US$13.4 bn

Payments to suppliers²
US$11.9 bn

Number of employees and 
contractors³
49,420

BHP

Annual Report 2022

07

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information2  Delivering value
2  Delivering value

2.1  Our business model

By prioritising both financial and social value, 
we deliver long-term value and resilience for our 
shareholders and all our stakeholders.

What we need

Our people 
We employ around 80,000 people across the 
globe. Our aim is for them to be engaged and 
supported in a way that sees them work in safer 
and more productive ways. 

We are on track to meet our aspirational goal 
of a gender-balanced workforce by FY2025 
and have raised the proportion of Indigenous 
employees in Australia, Chile and at our Jansen 
Potash Project in Canada. 

More inclusive and diverse teams are delivering 
safer and better business performance at BHP. 

Strong, mutually beneficial 
relationships
We seek to build long-term mutually beneficial 
relationships with our stakeholders and 
partners based on respect, transparency 
and trust.

–  Suppliers: More than 8,000 suppliers  
in 47 countries provide us with goods  
and services. 

–  Partners: We seek to be the partner of  
choice for customers, business partners  
and community stakeholders. 

For more information
refer to OFR 6.

For more information
refer to OFR 2.2.

Exceptional capability 
Operational excellence and capital discipline 
are key to generating long-term value.

Industry-leading knowledge and 
operating capability 

For more information
refer to OFR 2.2.

Effective risk management 

For more information
refer to OFR 9.

Disciplined use of capital

For more information
refer to OFR 2.2.

World-class assets 
We have a portfolio of large, high-quality, low-
cost assets. We are investing in technology 
to improve productivity and drive sustainable 
growth across our operations. 

Responsible natural resource 
management 
We seek to efficiently and responsibly manage 
water and power and to be long-term stewards 
of more than 8 million hectares of land and sea. 

For more information
refer to OFR 5.

For more information
refer to OFR 7.

Value outcomes 

Land  
rehabilitated¹
23,812 hectares

FY2021  27,377 hectares

Tax, royalty and other  
payments to governments³
US$17.3 bn

FY2021  US$11.1 bn

Investment in  
community initiatives
US$186.4 m

FY2021  $174.8 m

Payments to suppliers³
US$18.8 bn

FY2021 US$16.5 bn

Operational electricity sourced 
from renewables5
46%

FY2021  1%

Shareholder 
dividends6
US$36.0 bn

FY2021  US$15.2 bn

Total freshwater  
withdrawals²
 107.4 Gl

 29% from adjusted FY2017 baseline

Salary, wages and  
incentives for our employees4
US$4.5 bn

FY2021  US$4.4 bn

Operational greenhouse gas  
emissions7

 11.0 MtCO2-e

 25% from FY2021

1  Data does not include land managed for rehabilitation or conservation as part of social investment.
2  For information on adjustment to the FY2017 baseline, refer to OFR 7.16.
3  Presented on a Total operations basis. For more information refer to BHP Economic Contribution Report 2022.
4  Calculated on an accruals and presented on a Total operations basis. For more information refer to BHP Economic Contribution Report 2022.
5  Operational electricity comprises approximately one quarter of our total operational energy consumption.
6  This includes US$19.6 billion in specie dividend from distributing Woodside shares received as consideration for the sale of BHP Petroleum.
7  Adjusted for Discontinued operations (Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC.

08

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
What we do

Development 
and mining

We strive to achieve the 
industry’s best performance in 
safety, operational excellence, 
project management and 
allocation of capital. 

Exploration 
and acquisition

We seek to add high-
quality Tier 1 copper and 
nickel interests through 
our exploration activities 
and early-stage entry and 
acquisition options.

Our strategy
We will responsibly manage the most 
resilient long-term portfolio of assets, 
in highly attractive commodities, and 
will grow value through being excellent 
at operations, discovering and developing 
resources, acquiring the right assets 
and options, and capital allocation.

Through our differentiated approach to 
social value, we will be a trusted partner 
who creates value for all stakeholders.

Closure and  
rehabilitation

We consider closure and 
rehabilitation throughout the 
asset life cycle to help minimise 
our impact and optimise post-
closure value for all. 

Process  
and logistics

We process and refine 
ore, safely manage 
waste and efficiently and 
sustainably transport our 
products to customers.

Sales,  
marketing and 
procurement

We maximise value 
through our centralised 
marketing and procurement 
organisations, commercial 
expertise, understanding of 
markets and customer and 
supplier relationships. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

09

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information2  Delivering value continued

2.2  How we create and grow value

We produce some of the essential resources 
needed to support global megatrends, such as 
decarbonisation, and we strive to produce them 
sustainably, efficiently and ethically. 

We seek to create value with the communities 
where we operate and for our shareholders: 

–  We are committed to continuous improvement 
and we strive to operate more reliably and 
productively than our competitors. Being the 
best operator will help us safely generate 
better return on capital employed and 
outcompete others for new opportunities.

–  We have delivered strong and consistent 
results and returns through our portfolio 
and operating discipline. We achieved net 
operating cashflow on a Total operations 
basis of US$32.2 billion in FY2022, above 
US$15 billion for the sixth consecutive year. 

those around us creates optionality, stronger 
relationships and access to more diverse 
thinking. It helps us be more creative and to 
find different ways to problem solve. It also 
means we are better able to see things 
coming towards us and can act pre-emptively. 
Aligning strongly with partners can prevent 
issues or delays with projects and, if issues do 
arise, means we are better able to collectively 
work on solutions. 

–  We assess and rank decarbonisation 

projects across our operated assets through 
our Capital Allocation Framework (CAF). 
During FY2022, we integrated our 1.5°C 
Paris-aligned scenario into our strategy 
and capital allocation process, helping to 
ensure our capital expenditure plans are not 
misaligned with the Paris Agreement’s aim to 
pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

manage risk, streamline processes and 
improve productivity. 

–  The combination of our people, strategy and 

operational systems will help us to outperform 
our competitors and attract a lower cost of 
capital, while our CAF helps us make better 
use of this capital.

We bring together essential resources, a strong 
balance sheet and a differentiated operating 
capability underpinned by our technical 
Centres of Excellence and the BHP Operating 
System (BOS).

This combination of operational excellence, a 
strong portfolio of large, long-life, quality assets 
and focus on social value will assist us to grow 
value more consistently for all stakeholders and 
underpin continued attractive returns and long-
term value for our shareholders.

–  We believe our focus on social value will 

–  We recruit and retain the best people and 

lead to us being the partner of choice with 
communities, governments, suppliers and 
customers. We seek respectful, mutually 
beneficial relationships with the communities 
where we operate and the suppliers, 
customers and governments we interact with. 
Our experience has been that engaging with 

empower them to run our operations safely 
and productively. We promote an inclusive 
and diverse environment where safety and 
wellbeing are the highest priorities, invest in 
development programs to build capability and 
improve performance and offer competitive 
remuneration. We invest in technology to 

Our people

Health and safety
Our highest priority is the safety of our workforce and the communities 
where we operate. We achieved a third consecutive year without a 
fatality and have seen a sustained improvement in the high-potential 
injury frequency rate which fell by 30 per cent in FY2022 from FY2021.

We are committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of our 
workforce. Over the past five years, we have achieved a 68 per cent 
reduction in the total number of workers exposed to our most material 
occupational exposures. 

For more information
refer to OFR 7.4 and 7.6.

Our focus on safety and health underpins our strong operational 
performance and this includes eliminating sexual harassment, racism 
and bullying. We are committed to eliminating incidents of sexual 
harassment in our workplaces and accommodation villages, and have 
strengthened our approach to prevention, reporting and response. 
Our focus on gender balance is an important factor in addressing this 
unacceptable behaviour. 

For more information
refer to OFR 7.5.

Inclusion and diversity

We continue to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce that 
further enhances our performance and better reflects the communities 
where we operate:

–  We remain on track to achieve our aspirational goal for a gender-

balanced employee workforce globally by FY2025.

For more information
refer to OFR 6.

–  We made progress during FY2022 against targets for increased 
Indigenous employment in our Minerals Australia operations, 
Minerals Americas operations in Chile and our Jansen Potash 
Project in Canada. 

For more information
refer to OFR 6.

10

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Our portfolio

We are reshaping our portfolio to focus on higher-quality iron ore and metallurgical coal preferred by our steelmaking customers, copper for 
electrification and renewable energy, nickel for electric vehicles and potash to make food production and land use more efficient and sustainable. 

For more information
refer to OFR 3.

Iron ore

Copper

Metallurgical coal

Nickel

Potash

We are the lowest-cost major iron ore producer globally.1 Western Australia Iron Ore 
(WAIO) is one of the lowest emissions intensity iron ore operations² and is increasing 
its grade as the new South Flank mine ramps up. WAIO achieved record sales 
volumes in FY2022, allowing us to capitalise on the opportunity presented by higher 
iron ore prices. 

For more information
refer to OFR 5.1.

We hold the world’s largest copper endowment.³ We are using technical innovation such 
as new floatation technology to help lower energy costs and unlock value and are looking 
to secure more copper resources through exploration, acquisition and early-stage entry. 
Escondida in Chile is the world’s largest copper mine. Escondida had record material mined 
and near-record concentrator throughput in FY2022, while Olympic Dam in South Australia 
performed strongly in the June 2022 quarter after planned major smelter maintenance.

For more information
refer to OFR 5.1 and 5.2.

Our metallurgical coal operations in Queensland focus on higher-quality product and have 
one of the lowest production emissions intensities of benchmarked mines.² We believe that 
a wholesale shift away from blast furnace steelmaking, which uses metallurgical coal, is 
still decades in the future and that metallurgical coal will remain an essential input into the 
steelmaking process, which is critical to support decarbonisation infrastructure. We recently 
completed the sale of our interest in BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC), further focusing our coal portfolio 
on higher-quality coals for steelmaking with greater potential upside for quality premiums as 
steelmakers seek to improve blast furnace utilisation and reduce emissions intensity.

For more information
refer to OFR 5.1.

We hold the second-largest nickel sulphide endowment globally4 and our nickel 
operations in Western Australia have one of the lowest production emissions 
intensities of benchmarked mines.² We achieved our first saleable production of nickel 
sulphate crystals for the lithium-ion battery industry in the December 2021 quarter. 
We are growing value by supplying 87 per cent of BHP’s battery-suitable nickel to 
battery material suppliers in FY2022. We are seeking more nickel resources through 
exploration, acquisition and early-stage entry.

For more information
refer to OFR 5.1.

We are developing one of the world’s largest potash mines in Canada. The proposed 
mine has been designed based on a sustainable approach with a relatively low 
emissions footprint and low water intensity compared to existing potash mines. 
The Jansen Potash Project is expected to increase BHP’s product diversification, 
customer base and operating footprint, opening up a new future growth front. 
The US$5.7 billion Jansen Stage 1 is tracking to plan and opportunities to bring 
forward Jansen S1 continue to be assessed. 

For more information
refer to OFR 5.2.

1  Based on published C1 unit costs of major iron ore producers. There may be differences in the manner that third parties calculate or report unit costs data compared to 

BHP, which means that third-party data may not be comparable to our data.

2   For more information refer to OFR 7.8.
3  Based on ownership interest. Peers include: Anglo American, Antofagasta, Codelco, First Quantum Minerals, Freeport, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Southern Copper and Teck. 

Source peers: Wood Mackenzie Ltd, Q1 2022.

4  Based on ownership interest. Source peers: MinEx Consulting.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

11

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information2  Delivering value continued

Social value

Social value is BHP’s positive contribution to society – our people, partners, the 
economy, the environment and local communities. It is about creating enduring, 
mutual benefit for BHP, our shareholders and the broader community. 

Doing this well is essential to better business outcomes and long-term 
shareholder value, and will create a competitive advantage. 

(CTAP) received majority approval from shareholders in the ‘Say on 
Climate’ advisory vote at our 2021 Annual General Meetings. 

–  We are working to create nature-positive4 outcomes through the new goal 
we have set to have at least 30 per cent of the land and water we steward 
under conservation, restoration or regenerative practices by 2030. 

How social value can create  
competitive advantage
We recognise that decisions we make have the potential to positively 
or negatively impact those around us, and the environment. 

Our aim with social value is to be deliberate and proactive in taking into 
account social, environmental and financial impact in the choices we make.

Embedding social value into everything we do will open up opportunities, 
increase resilience and help us manage risk. It will influence our access 
to resources, partners, markets, the best talent, and capital.

Our commitment to social value
We have been committed to sustainability and social value for many 
years and are making progress in responsibly providing more of the 
resources the world needs:

–  We have set GHG emissions reduction targets and goals (that are 
described in OFR 7.8) and our Climate Transition Action Plan 2021 

For more information refer to 2030 social 
value scorecard below and OFR 7.15.

–  We are working to transition our operations to renewable electricity.

For more information,  
refer to OFR 5.1 and 7.8.

–  We are working with suppliers to drive innovation by participating in 
initiatives such as Komatsu’s GHG Alliance, which aims to develop 
commercially viable zero-GHG emissions haul trucks.

For more information  
refer to OFR 7.8.

–  Our spend with Indigenous businesses increased by 75 per cent to 
US$149.9 million in FY2022 and the number of Indigenous vendors 
engaged rose by 53 per cent to 148. WAIO announced its intention 
to more than double its spend with Indigenous vendors to more than 
US$300 million by the end of FY2024. 

For more information  
refer to OFR 7.13.

2030 social value scorecard1

How we will report from FY2023

Planet    •    People    •    Prosperity

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Decarbonisation

Healthy  
environment

Indigenous  
partnerships

Safe, inclusive and  

future-ready workforce

Thriving, empowered  

communities

Responsible  

supply chains

At least 30% reduction in operational GHG 
emissions, support 40% emissions intensity 
reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of 
our products, and support development of 
technologies and pathways capable of 30% 
emissions intensity reduction in integrated 
steelmaking.2,3

Create nature-positive4 outcomes by having at 
least 30% of the land and water we steward 
under conservation, restoration or regenerative 
practices. In doing so we focus on areas of 
highest ecosystem value both within and outside 
our own operational footprint, in partnership with 
Indigenous peoples and local communities.

% reduction in operational emissions  
from FY20203

% area under nature-positive management 
practices5

% reduction in emissions intensity of  
BHP-chartered shipping of our products3 
Available in FY2023

$ committed in steelmaking partnerships  
and ventures to date (US$)

# assets with natural capital account6 
Available from FY2023

Respectful relationships that hear and act upon the 
distinct perspectives, aspirations and rights  
of Indigenous peoples and support the delivery  
of mutually beneficial and jointly defined outcomes.

A thriving workforce that is safe, healthy, gender 

Partner with communities and stakeholders  

Together with our partners, we create sustainable, 

balanced at every level, culturally diverse10 and 

to co-create and implement plans that  

ethical and transparent supply chains.

inclusive and skilled for the future.

deliver jointly defined economic, social and  

environmental outcomes.

% Indigenous workforce participation, by region

$ Indigenous procurement (US$)
Available in 2024

# reduction in life-altering injury or illness11 

% co-created plans 

Available in FY2023

Delivery metric to be added in FY2024

% engagement and Perception Survey 

# community feedback on co-creation and 

wellbeing score

% female workforce representation 

Diversity index available in FY2024

implementation process 

Available in FY2024

$ total economic contribution (US$)

# customer Net Promoter Score (NPS)14

# supplier Net Promoter Score (NPS)14

Australia
Canada
Chile

Progress 
 on plan8
O
O 
O

Traffic light

Traffic light

Traffic light

Relationship 
health9
O
O
O

s FY2023: 95% of study phase 

projects are presented for tollgates or 
meet milestones as scheduled in BHP’s 
operational decarbonisation plan
FY2024: Operationalise five low/
zero GHG emission vessels
FY2024: Complete at least one pilot or 
industrial scale steelmaking-related plant trial

FY2023: Publish context-based water targets
FY2023: Complete important 
biodiversity and ecosystems (IBE) baseline 
mapping for all land and water areas7
FY2024: Establish ‘nature-positive’ asset 
plans to deliver the Group-level 2030 goal

FY2023: Release revised Global 
Indigenous Peoples Strategy
FY2023: Increase formal Indigenous 
voice mechanisms in decision-making
FY2024: Co-create plans which define  
priorities and are designed to deliver 
mutually beneficial outcomes

FY2023: Achieve 100% adherence 

to sexual harassment program12

FY2023: Release Equitable Transition 

principles – refer to OFR 7.1

FY2024: Implement LME Responsible 

Sourcing requirements

FY2024: >90% implementation of plan for 

FY2023/2024: Embed co-creation 

controls identified and approved through the Fatality 

approach including metrics and measurement

FY2024: Complete ICMM Performance 

Expectations for all operating assets

FY2025: Implement co-created plans that 

are designed to deliver jointly defined outcomes

FY2024: Determine ethical supplier 

improvement plans with partners, where required

Elimination Program and 100% adherence  

to the psychosocial risk13 management program

FY2024: Female workforce 

representation exceeds 37%

BHP commits to social investment of at least 1% pre-tax profit15

1 

In setting BHP’s 2030 goals, we had regard to existing public sustainability frameworks, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, Convention on 
Biological Diversity, The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health, and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our pillars map to the 
UN Sustainable Development Goals as follows: Decarbonisation – Goal 13; Healthy environment – Goals 6, 14, 15; Indigenous partnerships – Goals 8, 10, 17; Safe, inclusive 
and future-ready workforce – Goals 3, 5, 10; Thriving, empowered communities – Goals 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16 and Responsible supply chains – Goals 10, 12, 16, 17.

2  With widespread adoption expected post-2030. 
3  These positions are expressed using terms that are defined in the Glossary to this Report, including the terms ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’. The baseline 

year(s) of our targets will be adjusted for any material acquisitions and divestments, and to reflect progressive refinement of emissions reporting methodologies. The targets’ 
boundaries may in some cases differ from required reporting boundaries. The use of carbon offsets will be governed by BHP’s approach to carbon offsetting described 
at bhp.com/climate. The Scopes 1 and 2 operational emissions target is for FY2030. The Scope 3 goals are for CY2030. For further information on our GHG targets and 
goals, refer to ‘BHP’s climate change targets and goals’ in OFR 7.8.

4  Nature positive is defined by the WBCSD/TNFD as ‘A high-level goal and concept describing a future state of nature (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital) 
which is greater than the current state.’ It includes land and water management practices that halt and reverse nature loss – that is, supporting healthy, functioning ecosystems.

5  Land under stewardship which has a formal management plan including nature-positive practices.
6  Natural capital accounts are a way to measure the amount, condition and value of environmental assets in a given area. It helps describe changes in ecosystems and  

how these impact wellbeing and economies.

12

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
2030 social value scorecard1

How we will report from FY2023

Social value

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–  We completed our most recent five-year sustainability targets in FY2022. 

Highlights included three years fatality-free, a reduction in the total 
number of workers exposed to our most material occupational exposures 
by 68 per cent, a 15 per cent decrease in operational GHG emissions 
from our adjusted FY2017 baseline, social investment of US$681.4 million 
over five years and a 29 per cent reduction in freshwater withdrawal 
volumes from our adjusted FY2017 baseline.

For more information  
refer to OFR 7.3 and 7.8.

Our expenditure with local suppliers was primarily in Australia (59 per cent) 
and Chile (30 per cent). Of our total supplier spend, 94.4 per cent was in the 
regions where we operate.

2030 social value scorecard
In June 2022, we launched our social value scorecard with 2030 
goals, metrics and milestones (below). We believe it will enhance 
our opportunity to run our business in a way that delivers long-term, 
sustainable value to BHP, our shareholders and the broader community. 

–  Our Chilean operations Escondida and Spence, and Olympic Dam in 
Australia were awarded the Copper Mark during FY2022 recognising 
responsible production practices. 

This scorecard provides clarity to our teams on our ambitions and 
allows us to measure progress, transparently report and hold ourselves 
to account. 

For more information on our social value performance
refer to OFR 7.

Supporting local economic development 
We aim to source and promote locally available goods and services as an 
important part of our external expenditure to help local communities thrive. 
Our operated assets develop local procurement plans designed to identify 
opportunities for local suppliers, including small businesses. 

In FY2022, BHP made US$18.8 billion in payments to suppliers globally, 
including US$17.6 billion in payments to more than 8,000 suppliers in the 
regions where we operate. Of the latter amount, US$2.7 billion, or 15.2 
per cent, was paid to local suppliers in the communities where we operate. 

Our metrics will evolve over time and some are future metrics that will 
be developed in the coming years. They show where we are headed 
with measuring our performance. 

At its core, this scorecard represents an emphasis on partnerships, 
listening and co-design, recognising that it is not for us alone to decide 
what is of value to communities or the environment, and that addressing 
challenges like climate change require collaboration.

We will disclose our performance against this scorecard every year as 
part of our Annual Report, starting in FY2023. 

Decarbonisation

Healthy  

environment

Indigenous  

partnerships

Safe, inclusive and  
future-ready workforce

Thriving, empowered  
communities

Responsible  
supply chains

At least 30% reduction in operational GHG 

Create nature-positive4 outcomes by having at 

Respectful relationships that hear and act upon the 

emissions, support 40% emissions intensity 

least 30% of the land and water we steward 

distinct perspectives, aspirations and rights  

reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of 

under conservation, restoration or regenerative 

of Indigenous peoples and support the delivery  

our products, and support development of 

practices. In doing so we focus on areas of 

of mutually beneficial and jointly defined outcomes.

A thriving workforce that is safe, healthy, gender 
balanced at every level, culturally diverse10 and 
inclusive and skilled for the future.

Partner with communities and stakeholders  
to co-create and implement plans that  
deliver jointly defined economic, social and  
environmental outcomes.

Together with our partners, we create sustainable, 
ethical and transparent supply chains.

% reduction in operational emissions  

% area under nature-positive management 

% Indigenous workforce participation, by region

technologies and pathways capable of 30% 

highest ecosystem value both within and outside 

emissions intensity reduction in integrated 

our own operational footprint, in partnership with 

Indigenous peoples and local communities.

steelmaking.2,3

from FY20203

% reduction in emissions intensity of  

BHP-chartered shipping of our products3 

# assets with natural capital account6 

Available from FY2023

practices5

Available in FY2023

$ committed in steelmaking partnerships  

and ventures to date (US$)

$ Indigenous procurement (US$)

Available in 2024

Progress 

 on plan8

Relationship 

health9

Australia

Canada

Chile

O

O 

O

Traffic light

Traffic light

Traffic light

O

O

O

# reduction in life-altering injury or illness11 
Available in FY2023

% co-created plans 
Delivery metric to be added in FY2024

% engagement and Perception Survey 
wellbeing score

% female workforce representation 
Diversity index available in FY2024

# community feedback on co-creation and 
implementation process 
Available in FY2024

$ total economic contribution (US$)

# customer Net Promoter Score (NPS)14
# supplier Net Promoter Score (NPS)14

s FY2023: 95% of study phase 

e

projects are presented for tollgates or 

meet milestones as scheduled in BHP’s 

operational decarbonisation plan

FY2024: Operationalise five low/

zero GHG emission vessels

FY2024: Complete at least one pilot or 

industrial scale steelmaking-related plant trial

FY2023: Publish context-based water targets

FY2023: Release revised Global 

FY2023: Complete important 

biodiversity and ecosystems (IBE) baseline 

mapping for all land and water areas7

Indigenous Peoples Strategy

FY2023: Increase formal Indigenous 

voice mechanisms in decision-making

FY2024: Establish ‘nature-positive’ asset 

plans to deliver the Group-level 2030 goal

FY2024: Co-create plans which define  

priorities and are designed to deliver 

mutually beneficial outcomes

FY2023: Achieve 100% adherence 
to sexual harassment program12
FY2024: >90% implementation of plan for 
controls identified and approved through the Fatality 
Elimination Program and 100% adherence  
to the psychosocial risk13 management program
FY2024: Female workforce 
representation exceeds 37%

FY2023: Release Equitable Transition 
principles – refer to OFR 7.1
FY2023/2024: Embed co-creation 
approach including metrics and measurement
FY2025: Implement co-created plans that 
are designed to deliver jointly defined outcomes

FY2024: Implement LME Responsible 
Sourcing requirements
FY2024: Complete ICMM Performance 
Expectations for all operating assets
FY2024: Determine ethical supplier 
improvement plans with partners, where required

7  All land and water areas across Minerals Americas and Minerals Australia. 
8  Progress to plan will be partner-measured using a traffic light score on Indigenous partnership satisfaction in relation to the milestones agreed in partnership.
9  Relationship health will be partner-measured using a traffic light score.
10  Cultural diversity in our workforce will be measured based on our substantive progress towards reflecting the cultural diversity of the community.
11  Reduction in life-altering injury or illness: includes life-altering or long-term permanent disabling injuries and illnesses as defined by the BHP Risk Management Framework.
12  The core components of the sexual harassment program include: culture, leadership and training; security measures at accommodation villages; recruitment processes; 
contractor and third-party engagement; emergency response; trauma-informed (wellbeing) care; accessible, confidential reporting and person-centric investigations; and 
appropriate disciplinary action.

13  Psychosocial risks or hazards are factors in the design or management of work or the social conditions that increase the risk of work-related stress and can lead to 

psychological or physical harm. Examples of psychosocial hazards include exposure to unreasonable behaviours, including bullying, racism and sexual harassment,  
fatigue, poor supervisor support, poor communication or change management or high job demands.

14  Net Promoter Scores show respective feedback from our customers and suppliers, and measures the willingness of our customers/suppliers to recommend BHP  

to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging overall satisfaction.

15  Social investment to be assessed as a total over the entire period to FY2030, rather than a specific annual commitment. This investment is in addition to our direct 

operational decision-making and financial contributions.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

13

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information 
 
 
 
 
 
2  Delivering value continued

Exceptional performance

Operational excellence
We seek to continuously improve performance by empowering our people 
through BOS principles, practices and tools. BOS is, at its heart, a people 
program. It is designed to provide a way of working that creates a culture at 
BHP where we make continuous improvement central to everyone’s role. 

We continued to deploy BOS throughout our business in FY2022 and 
expect full deployment by the end of FY2024. BOS has delivered over 
US$2 billion in estimated, recurring and one-time cost and revenue 
improvements since we developed it in CY2018. Based on the success 
we are seeing, we believe it will deliver further gains in the future.

Embracing technology and innovation
The power of data, innovation and technology, together with the BOS, 
have helped accelerate continuous improvement across our value chain, 
from the geoscience required in exploration through to the marketing of 
our products. 

Financial excellence
We use the Capital Allocation Framework (CAF) to assess the most 
effective and efficient way to deploy capital. This prioritises maintaining 
safe and reliable operations, meeting our social value and GHG emissions 
reductions targets, goals and strategies, keeping our balance sheet strong 
and delivering strong growth and returns for our shareholders. We then look 
at what would be the most valuable risk-adjusted use for any excess capital. 
We evaluate the range of investment opportunities and aim to optimise the 
portfolio based on our assessment of risk, returns and future optionality. 
We then develop a long-term capital plan and guidance for the Group.

Since the CAF’s introduction in FY2016, we have balanced reinvestment 
in the business with cash returns to shareholders. We want shareholders 
to see the short-term benefit of these cash returns and trust us to plan for 
the future by investing where it matters.

We have used technology to:

What is the BHP Operating System?

The BHP Operating System (BOS) is a way of working that seeks 
to make improvement part of what we do every day through the 
application of BOS tools and practices. It is anchored in three 
principles that will help us deliver exceptional safety and productivity 
performance and an inclusive and empowered culture: 

–  Serve our customers – deliver what internal and external 

customers need, at the right time and at the appropriate levels of 
quality and cost.

–  Pursue operating perfection – pursue 100 per cent safety for our 
people, 100 per cent value for our customers, 0 per cent waste.

–  Empower our people – support our people with the right 

conditions and leadership to excel. They know their work and how 
to improve it.

Through BOS principles and practices we are delivering more to our 
employees and contractors, suppliers, shareholders, customers and 
the communities whose resources we develop. 

–  maintain safe, predictable and productive operations

–  drive productivity improvements, with an emphasis on automation and 

real-time data-driven insights and decision-making

–  help drive inclusion and diversity by providing greater opportunities for 

roles that were traditionally labour intensive

–  unlock the next stage of value growth at BHP, from realising greater 

margins at our existing operations to finding new assets

–  improve sustainability outcomes through innovation

The use of technology such as in autonomous trucks, production 
innovation such as primary sulphide leaching at our copper assets (which 
has helped us to extract more copper from ore) and digital transformation 
across all parts of our business has helped to improve safety, increase 
productivity, reduce costs, build capability and accelerate value creation. 

Examples of our application of technology and innovation in FY2022 include:

–  We continued to automate our global trucking fleets. At South Flank we 
began to automate our fleet of 41 Komatsu haul trucks in the June 2022 
quarter, with the program expected to be completed within 18 months. 
We continued deployment at Goonyella Riverside (expected to be 
completed by the end of December 2022) and completed the rollout at 
Daunia. We also commenced autonomous drilling at Spence. We expect 
to commence the rollout of automated trucks at Spence in FY2023.

–  We began testing two automated shiploaders at the Port Hedland 

export facility in Western Australia. In what we believe is a world first, 
3D laser scan technology has been used in the A$50 million project. 
We intend to fully automate eight shiploaders by FY2024. The project 
is expected to enable an increase in production of more than 1 million 
tonnes of iron ore each year through greater precision, reduced 
spillage, faster load times and equipment optimisation.

–  Our in-house Grade Adjustment Model has been introduced at multiple 

WAIO sites and is expected to enable a US$22.8 million annual 
revenue uplift at WAIO. The model uses machine learning to target a 
reduction in iron ore grade variability across the supply chain. It uses 
data sources that capture movements of ore to map the iron grade 
coming from the mine to the iron ore grade shipped at port. 

–  Through our Maintenance and Engineering Centre of Excellence, 
we continued the rollout of our Total Equipment Strategies (TES), 
which were initially applied to our mobile fleets and have been 
extended to our fixed plant. These strategies use mathematical 
analysis of breakdowns, maintenance patterns and original equipment 
manufacturer recommendations to recalibrate our maintenance 
programs to increase availability and reliability, and reduce 
maintenance costs and inventory values. For example, at our Newman 
iron ore operation in Western Australia, the mobile TES project for 
CAT 6060 excavators helped to extend the average equipment 
life by 40 per cent and delivered an availability uplift of 2 per cent. 
The outcome is 3.5 years of extra life which has helped to achieve 
capital productivity by deferral of US$120 million of capital expenditure 
over five years.

14

BHP

Annual Report 2022

3  Positioning for the future

Reshaping our corporate structure and portfolio
In FY2022, we took steps to create 
Investing in a new commodity  
– potash
a simpler, more agile and efficient 
Potash enables more efficient and sustainable 
BHP, better able to capitalise on the 
farming which we believe will be increasingly 
megatrends shaping our world.
important in feeding a growing population, and 
potentially opens a new long-term growth front 
for BHP. 

A simpler corporate structure
For the past two decades we operated with a 
dual listed company (DLC) structure with two 
parent companies – BHP Group Limited in 
Australia with its shares listed on the Australian 
Securities Exchange and BHP Group Plc (now 
known as BHP Group (UK) Ltd) in the United 
Kingdom with its shares listed on the London 
Stock Exchange. 

Following shareholder approval in January 2022, 
we unified our corporate structure to one parent 
company and one share price – under BHP 
Group Limited. We believe unification gives us 
a corporate structure that is simpler, more agile 
and more efficient. 

Merging Petroleum 
with Woodside
During FY2022, we merged our Petroleum business 
with Woodside Energy Group Ltd (Woodside) to 
create a global top 10 independent energy company 
by production. Woodside acquired BHP’s Petroleum 
business in exchange for Woodside shares that 
were distributed to BHP shareholders through an in 
specie dividend. 

Based on Woodside’s share price of US$21.39 
(A$29.76) at 31 May 2022, the closing date 
of the transaction, the implied value of BHP’s 
Petroleum business was US$19.6 billion 
(A$27.2 billion). 

BHP shareholders gained exposure to assets in 
Woodside through the transaction and greater 
choice about how to weight their exposure to 
the different investment and sector propositions. 
The transaction increased BHP’s portfolio 
weighting towards future facing commodities 
that support economic growth and have potential 
upside through the energy transition.

Consolidating our coal portfolio
In January 2022, we divested our 33.3 per cent 
interest in Cerrejón, a non-operated energy 
coal joint venture in Colombia, to Glencore, 
for a total cash consideration of approximately 
US$294 million.

In May 2022, we divested our 80 per cent 
interest in BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC), a 
metallurgical coal joint venture in Queensland 
operated by BMC, to Stanmore Resources 
Limited, for a total cash consideration of up to 
US$1.35 billion in paid and deferred amounts, 
plus a final completion adjustment amount. 

In June 2022, we announced that, following a 
two-year review, we would retain New South 
Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC). We will be seeking 
approvals to continue mining at NSWEC beyond 
its current mining consent that expires in 2026 
and intend to proceed with a managed process to 
cease mining at the asset by the end of FY2030. 

These portfolio changes are consistent with our 
strategy to focus on producing higher-quality 
metallurgical coal.

In August 2021, we approved US$5.7 billion 
in capital expenditure for Jansen Stage 1 
in Saskatchewan, Canada, with first potash 
production expected in CY2027. We are working 
to bring forward Jansen Stage 1 first production 
and are assessing options to accelerate Jansen 
Stage 2. 

The US$2.97 billion Jansen project to finish 
the excavation and lining of the production and 
service shafts, and to continue the installation 
of essential surface infrastructure and utilities, 
was completed in June 2022. For FY2023, 
approximately US$740 million in capital 
expenditure is planned for work at Jansen 
Stage 1, which will continue to focus on civil 
and mechanical construction on the surface and 
underground, as well as equipment procurement 
and port construction.

Unlocking growth potential  
at our assets
The large endowments we have under our 
control are becoming increasingly valuable as 
the resources industry finds high-quality, Tier 1 
(large, low-cost and long-life) resources harder 
to access, deeper, of lower grade, or in countries 
with more challenging operating conditions. 

Copper

We hold the largest copper endowment in the 
world at among the highest average grade.¹ 

–  This includes 27 billion tonnes of ore at an 

average grade of 0.52 per cent at Escondida, 
where we are targeting an annual average of 
1.2 million tonnes (Mt) of copper production 
over the medium term, a 20 per cent increase 
on Escondida’s FY2022 production of 1 Mt.

–  On the basis that tailings storage facility 
anomalies are resolved, production at 
Spence is expected to reach and average 
approximately 270 kilotonnes per annum 
(ktpa) of production for four years (including 
cathodes) following the completion of Spence 
Growth Option (SGO) plant modifications. 
This will be supported by capital expenditure 
of approximately US$100 million, which is 
planned for the SGO plant modifications and 
these are currently planned to be completed 
in CY2023, with further studies ongoing for 
additional capacity uplift.

–  At Olympic Dam, we have improved operating 
stability over time. Smelter operations have 
been strong following our planned major 
smelter maintenance, completed in January 
2022. The next major rebuild is not expected 
for six years.

Nickel

We hold the second-largest nickel sulphide 
endowment globally² and own the majority of 
tenements of known resource in the Agnew-
Wiluna basin in Western Australia.

–  Our nickel sulphate plant at Nickel West 
delivered first crystals in October 2021, 
allowing us to add further value to our nickel 
production. We intend to capitalise on the 
expected ongoing global demand for nickel 
for the electric vehicle industry, as the 
method we use to produce nickel sulphate 
results in a product we believe is ideal for 
battery production. 

–  We continue to explore ways to increase the 

scale of Nickel West.

Iron Ore

We are one of the world’s largest iron ore 
producers and expect to increase production 
over the medium-term.

–  We have secured an increase to our WAIO 
iron ore environmental licence to expand 
port operations up to 330 million tonnes per 
annum (Mtpa) subject to the outcomes of a 
standard appeals process. 

–  The ramp up of WAIO’s US$3.6 billion South 

Flank mine is ahead of schedule and we have 
revised our medium-term production guidance 
to more than 300 Mtpa. We are assessing 
expansion alternatives to take us toward 
330 Mtpa of production. 

1  Based on ownership interest. Peers include: Anglo 
American, Antofagasta, Codelco, First Quantum 
Minerals, Freeport, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Southern 
Copper and Teck. Source peers: Wood Mackenzie 
Ltd, Q1 2022.

2  Based on ownership interest. Source peers: 

MinEx Consulting.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

15

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information3  Positioning for the future continued

Growth through exploration, focused on copper and nickel 

BHP exploration regions

Southwest 
United States

Northwest  
Mexico

Eastern  
Canada

Colombia
Ecuador

Peru

Chile

Copper exploration regions

Nickel exploration regions

Western Australia

South Australia

Northern  
Territory

Our exploration program is focused on copper 
and nickel. We look to identify and gain access 
to new search spaces to test targets capable 
of delivering high-quality, Tier 1 deposits, and 
maintain research and technology activities 
aligned with our exploration strategy. 

Despite the slowdown and restrictions on 
movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
in FY2022 our field teams pursued copper 
opportunities in Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, 
the United States and Australia. This involved 
early-stage reconnaissance work through target 
definition and drill testing. 

Elsewhere for copper, we continued to seek, 
secure and test concessions in regions such 
as Ecuador, South Australia, Chile, Mexico, 
and Peru. 

We have also increased the number of high-
quality nickel projects within the exploration 
pipeline. We are actively exploring nickel 
targets in Western Australia, while in Canada, 
we continued our partnership with Midland 
Exploration Inc in Canada through our 5 per cent 
interest and collaboration on a target generation 
program. BHP made a US$40 million investment 
in Kabanga Nickel in Tanzania in FY2022, which 
offers an opportunity to expand the immediate 
search space to add to the known resource.

Our business partnerships continued to deliver 
encouraging results. In Ecuador, we maintained 
a 13.6 per cent ownership in SolGold plc, 
the majority owner and operator of the Alpala 
porphyry copper-gold project. In Mexico, we 
continued our financial agreement with Riverside 
Resources, a US company with significant 
operating experience in Mexico, securing 
additional areas that are scheduled to be drill 
tested during FY2023. In Australia, we initiated 
work with Encounter Resources to explore for 
sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Northern 
Territory. We also entered into a Letter of Intent 
with Mundoro to cooperatively explore for copper 
resources in the highly prospective belt in Serbia 
and Bulgaria. Several drill-ready targets are 
scheduled to be tested during FY2023. 

16

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Exploration expenditureOur resource assessment exploration expenditure increased by 30 per cent in FY2022 to US$179 million, while our greenfield expenditure increased by 43 per cent to US$77 million. Expenditure on resources assessment and greenfield exploration over the last three financial years is set out below. Year ended 30 June2022  US$M2021  US$M2020  US$MGreenfield exploration775444Resources assessment179138132Total metals exploration and assessment256192176Exploration expenseExploration expense represents that portion of exploration expenditure that is not capitalised in accordance with our accounting policies, as set out in Financial Statements note 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’.Exploration expense for each segment over the last three financial years is set out below.Year ended 30 June2022  US$M2021  US$M2020  US$MExploration expenseCopper855354Iron Ore545547Coal679Group and unallocated items1541913Total Group1991341231 Group and unallocated items includes functions, other unallocated operations, including Potash, Nickel West  and legacy assets (previously disclosed as closed mines in the Petroleum reportable segment), and consolidation adjustments.Chief Financial Officer’s review 

Dear Shareholders,

I am pleased to report on BHP’s FY2022 
financial results.

BHP delivered strong financial results this year 
against a backdrop of increasing economic 
volatility, inflationary impacts and supply 
chain pressures.

Managing uncertainty and risk is a core part of 
our business, and our systems and processes 
have allowed us to address these challenges 
in a disciplined way. This, combined with our 
focus on operational excellence and safety, 
quality assets and leading approach to social 
value means we remain positioned to deliver 
consistently strong results through the cycle.

Our operational performance, combined 
with higher prices for most of our core 
commodities, drove our positive results this year. 

Excluding Petroleum, underlying EBITDA was 
up 16 per cent to US$40.6 billion at a record 
margin of 65 per cent. Underlying attributable 
profit increased to US$21.3 billion (for 
continuing operations).

The shareholder dividend for the first half was 
150 US cents per share. Combined with 175 
US cents per share in the second half, the total 
return to shareholders in FY2022 was a record 
US$16.4 billion, which represents a 77 per cent 
payout ratio. We also distributed US$19.6 billion 
as an in specie dividend through the merger of 
our Petroleum business with Woodside.

BHP’s total direct economic contribution in 
FY2022 was US$78.1 billion. This includes 
payments to suppliers, wages and benefits for 
around 80,000 employees and contractors, 
dividends, taxes, royalties and voluntary 
investment in social projects across the 
communities where we operate.

US$78.1 bn

Our total FY2022 economic contribution

US$17.3 bn

Tax, royalty and other payments 
to governments in FY2022

325 US cents

Shareholder dividends per share

48.7 per cent

Underlying return on capital employed

In FY2022, our tax, royalty and other payments 
to governments totalled US$17.3 billion. 
Of this, 77.5 per cent or US$13.4 billion was 
paid in Australia. During the last decade, we 
paid US$90.5 billion globally in taxes, royalties 
and other payments, including US$70 billion 
(approximately A$90.1 billion) in Australia. 

BHP’s global adjusted effective tax rate in 
FY2022 was 32.1 per cent,1 which is broadly 
in line with our average adjusted effective tax 
rate over the past decade of 33.3 per cent.1 
Once royalties are included, our FY2022 rate 
increases to 38.9 per cent.1

We continue to use our Capital Allocation 
Framework to decide where to direct cash 
to generate the strongest returns. Over the 
year, underlying return on capital employed 
strengthened to 48.7 per cent. 

We are proud of these results, the record 
shareholder returns, and the economic 
contribution we have made to the governments 
and communities where we operate. 

Thank you for your continued support.

David Lamont 
Chief Financial Officer

1  Presented on a Total operations basis.

Our operational performance, combined  
with higher prices for most of our core 
commodities, drove underlying EBITDA 
(excluding Petroleum) up 16 per cent 
to US$40.6 billion, at a record margin 
of 65 per cent. Underlying attributable 
profit increased to US$21.3 billion 
(for continuing operations)

BHP

Annual Report 2022

17

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information4  Financial review

4.1  Group overview
We prepare our Consolidated Financial 
Statements in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as issued 
by the International Accounting Standards 
Board. We publish our Consolidated Financial 
Statements in US dollars. All Consolidated 
Income Statement, Consolidated Balance 
Sheet and Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 
information below has been derived from audited 
Financial Statements. 

For more information
refer to Financial Statements.

We use various non-IFRS financial information 
to reflect our underlying performance. Non-IFRS 
financial information is not defined or specified 
under the requirements of IFRS however, is 
derived from the Group’s Consolidated Financial 
Statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. 
Non-IFRS Financial Information is consistent 
with how management reviews financial 
performance of the Group with the Board and 
the investment community. OFR 11 ‘Non-IFRS 
financial information’ includes our non-IFRS 
financial information and OFR 11.1 ‘Definition 
and calculation of non-IFRS financial information’ 
outlines why we believe non-IFRS financial 
information is useful and the relevant calculation 
methodology. We believe non-IFRS financial 
information provides useful information, however 
it should not be considered as an indication of, 
or as a substitute for, statutory measures as an 
indicator of actual operating performance (such 
as profit or net operating cash flow) or any other 
measure of financial performance or position 
presented in accordance with IFRS, or as a 
measure of a company’s profitability, liquidity 
or financial position.

4.2  Key performance 
indicators
Our key performance indicators (KPIs) enable us to 
measure our sustainable development and financial 
performance. These KPIs are used to assess 
performance of our people throughout the Group. 

For information on our approach 
to performance and reward 
refer to Remuneration Report. 

For information on our overall approach 
to executive remuneration, including 
remuneration policies and remuneration 
outcomes refer to Remuneration Report.

Following BHP’s sale of the Onshore US assets 
in FY2019 and subsequently the merger of 
our Petroleum business with Woodside in 
FY2022, the contribution of these assets to the 
Group’s results are presented as Discontinued 
operations. To enable more meaningful 
comparisons with prior year disclosures and in 
some cases to comply with applicable statutory 
requirements, the data in OFR 4.2, except 
for Underlying EBITDA, has been presented 
to include Petroleum assets. Footnotes to 
tables and infographics indicate whether data 
presented in OFR 4.2 is inclusive or exclusive 
of Petroleum assets. Details of the contribution 
of the Petroleum assets to the Group’s results 
are disclosed in Financial Statements note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.

18

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Summary of financial measures

Year ended 30 June 
US$M

Consolidated Income Statement (Financial Statements 1.1)
Revenue1
Profit/(loss) after taxation from Continuing operations1
Profit/(loss) after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations 
attributable to BHP shareholders
Dividends per ordinary share – paid during the period (US cents)
Dividends per ordinary share – determined in respect of the period (US cents)
In specie dividend on merger of Petroleum with Woodside (US cents)
Basic earnings/(loss) per ordinary share (US cents)

Consolidated Balance Sheet (Financial Statements 1.3)
Total assets
Net assets

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement (Financial Statements 1.4)
Net operating cash flows 
Capital and exploration expenditure2

Other financial information (OFR 11)
Net debt
Underlying attributable profit
Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations1
Underlying EBITDA1
Underlying basic earnings per share (US cents)
Underlying basic earnings per share – Continuing operations (US cents)1
Underlying return on capital employed (per cent)

2022

2021

65,098
22,400

30,900
350.0
325.0
386.4
610.6

95,166
48,766

32,174
7,545

333
23,815
21,319
40,634
470.6
421.2
48.7

56,921
13,676

11,304
156.0
301.0
–
223.5

108,927
55,605

27,234
7,120

4,121
17,077
16,985
35,073
337.7
335.9
32.5

1  Comparative periods have been adjusted for the effects of applying IFRS 5 ‘Non-current Assets Held for Sale and 

Discontinued Operations’ and discloses them on the same basis as the current period figures. Refer to Financial 
Statements note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for further information.
Includes US$1,434 million related to Discontinued operations (FY2021: US$1,316 million).

2 

Underlying attributable profit1,3
US$ billion

Underlying EBITDA2,3
US$ billion

25

20

15

10

5

0

8
.
3
2

1
.
7
1

9
.
8

1
.
9

1
.
9

FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022

50

40

30

20

10

0

6
.
0
4

1
.
5
3

8
.
9
1

1
.
9
1

9
.
9
1

FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022

Net operating cash flows1
US$ billion

Underlying return on capital 
employed1,3
Per cent

35

28

21

14

7

0

.

2
2
3

.

2
7
2

.

5
8
1

.

9
7
1

7

.

5
1

FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022

50

40

30

20

10

0

.

7
8
4

.

5
2
3

0
.
6
1

9
.
6
1

2
.
4
1

FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022

Includes data for Continuing and Discontinued operations for the financial years being reported.

1 
2  Excludes data from Discontinued operations for the financial years being reported.
3  For more information on non-IFRS financial information refer to OFR 11.

Profit after taxation 
from Continuing and 
Discontinued operations

Profit after taxation

Made  
up of

Adjusted 
for

Exceptional items 
before taxation

Tax effect of 
exceptional items

Exceptional items 
after tax attributable 
to non-controlling 
interests

Exceptional items 
attributable to BHP 
shareholders – 
Continuing operations

Exceptional items 
attributable to 
BHP shareholders 
– Discontinued 
operations

Profit after taxation 
from Continuing 
and Discontinued 
operations attributable 
to non-controlling 
interests

Reconciling our financial results to our key performance indicators

Measure

US$M  

US$M  

US$M  

Profit

Earnings

Cash

Returns

Profit after taxation 
from Continuing and 
Discontinued operations

33,055

Net operating cash 
flows from Continuing 
operations

33,055

Profit after taxation 
from Continuing and 
Discontinued operations

29,285

Profit after taxation

Profit after taxation

Cash generated by the Group’s 
consolidated operations, after 
dividends received, interest, proceeds 
and settlements of cash management- 
related instruments, taxation and 
royalty-related taxation. It excludes 
cash flows relating to investing and 
financing activities

US$M  

33,055

Net operating cash 
flows from Discontinued 
operations

620 

454

–

Exceptional items before 
taxation

Tax effect of exceptional 
items

Depreciation and 
amortisation excluding 
exceptional items

1,074 

Impairments of property, 
plant and equipment, 
financial assets and 
intangibles excluding 
exceptional items

(8,159) 

Net finance costs 
excluding exceptional 
items from Continuing 
operations

(2,155)

Taxation expense 
excluding exceptional 
items

Profit after taxation from 
Discontinued operations 
(including exceptional 
items)

620 

454 

5,683 

515 

679 

10,283 

(10,655)

2,889 Exceptional items after 

(7,085) 

taxation

Net finance costs 
excluding exceptional 
items from Discontinued 
operations

Net finance costs 
excluding exceptional 
items from Continuing 
operations

Income tax expense on 
net finance costs

Profit after taxation 
excluding net finance 
costs and exceptional 
items

Net assets at the 
beginning of period

159 

679 

(287) 

26,521 

55,605 

Net debt at the beginning 
of period

4,121

Capital employed at the 
beginning of period

59,726

Net assets at the 
end of period

Net debt at the 
end of period

48,766

333

Capital employed at the 
end of period

Average capital employed 

49,099

54,413

48.7%

To reach 
our KPIs

Why do we 
use it?

Underlying attributable profit 23,815 Underlying EBITDA

40,634 Net operating cash flows 

32,174 Underlying return  

Underlying attributable profit allows the 
comparability of underlying financial 
performance by excluding the impacts 
of exceptional items. 

Underlying EBITDA is used to help 
assess current operational profitability 
excluding the impacts of sunk costs  
(i.e. depreciation from initial investment). 
It is a measure that management uses 
internally to assess the performance 
of the Group’s segments and make 
decisions on the allocation of resources. 

Net operating cash flows provide 
insights into how we are managing 
costs and increasing productivity 
across BHP.

on capital employed

Underlying return on capital employed 
is an indicator of the Group’s capital 
efficiency. It is provided on an underlying 
basis to allow comparability of underlying 
financial performance by excluding the 
impacts of exceptional items. 

4.3  Financial results
The following table provides more information on the revenue and expenses of the Group in FY2022.

Year ended 30 June

Continuing operations
Revenue1
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Profit from operations
Net finance costs
Total taxation expense
Profit after taxation from Continuing operations
Discontinued operations
Profit/(loss) after taxation from Discontinued operations
Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations
Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

1 

Includes the sale of third-party products. 

2022  
US$M

65,098
1,398
(32,371)
(19)
34,106
(969)
(10,737)
22,400

10,655
33,055
2,155
30,900

2021  
US$M 
Restated

2020  
US$M 
Restated

56,921
380
(30,871)
(915)
25,515
(1,223)
(10,616)
13,676

(225)
13,451
2,147
11,304

38,924
720
(25,453)
(508)
13,683
(858)
(4,197)
8,628

108
8,736
780
7,956

BHP

Annual Report 2022

19

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4  Financial review continued

Profit after taxation attributable to BHP 
shareholders increased from US$11.3 billion 
in FY2021 to US$30.9 billion in FY2022. 
Attributable profit of US$30.9 billion includes 
an exceptional gain of US$7.1 billion (after 
tax), compared to an attributable profit of 
US$11.3 billion including an exceptional 
loss of US$5.8 billion (after tax) in the prior 
period. The FY2022 exceptional gain includes 
a US$1.1 billion exceptional loss related to 
Continuing operations comprising of Samarco 
dam failure impacts, corporate structure 
unification costs and US deferred tax asset 
impairments partially offset by the net gain on 
disposal of BMC. The net gain on merger of our 
Petroleum business with Woodside is included 
as an exceptional item related to Discontinued 
operations included within Profit/(loss) after 
taxation from Discontinued operations. 

For more information on Exceptional items 
refer to Financial Statements 
note 3 ‘Exceptional items’ and 
Financial Statements note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.

Revenue of US$65.1 billion increased by 
US$8.2 billion, or 14 per cent from FY2021.
This increase was mainly due to higher average 
realised prices for metallurgical coal, thermal 
coal, copper and nickel, partially offset by lower 
average realised prices for iron ore. 

Lower volumes were experienced across the 
Group’s portfolio due to COVID-19 impacts, the 
planned major smelter maintenance campaign 
at Olympic Dam and lower feed grade at 
Escondida and Spence. Volume decline was 
partially offset by higher concentrate sales at 
Spence reflecting the continued ramp up of the 
Spence Growth Option. 

For information on our average realised 
prices and production of our commodities 
refer to OFR 10.

Total expenses excluding net finance costs of 
US$32.4 billion increased by US$1.5 billion, or 
5 per cent from FY2021. This included higher 
raw materials and consumables of US$1.1 billion 
due to South Flank operational ramp up and 
higher input prices mainly due to higher diesel 
and acid prices, higher royalties of US$0.9 billion 
mainly driven by prices for metallurgical coal 
and thermal coal and US$0.7 billion third-party 
purchases mainly due to higher nickel prices. 
Higher depreciation and amortisation expense 
of US$0.6 billion reflected the commissioning 
of South Flank, Spence Growth Option, and the 
completion of the major smelter maintenance 
at Olympic Dam. The increase also included 
US$0.4 billion of costs related to corporate 
structure unification. This was partly offset by 
lower impairments of US$2.0 billion mainly 
due to Potash and NSWEC asset impairment 
charges in the prior period.

Loss from equity accounted investments, related 
impairments and expenses of US$19 million 
decreased by US$0.9 billion from FY2021. 
The decrease was primarily related to a lower 
increase in the Samarco Dam failure provision 
compared to FY2021 and US$0.5 billion 
impairment of Cerrejón in FY2021. 

For more information on the total impact 
of the Samarco dam failure provision 
and impairment charges connected 
with equity accounted investments, 
refer to Financial Statements note 
3 ‘Exceptional items’ and Financial 
Statements note 13 ‘Impairment of non-
current assets’ respectively.

Net finance costs of US$1.0 billion decreased 
by US$0.3 billion, or 21 per cent from FY2021. 
This was mainly due to premiums of US$395 million 
paid as part of the multi-currency hybrid debt 
repurchase programs completed during FY2021. 

For more information on net finance costs 
refer to Financial Statements note 22 ‘Net 
finance costs’.

Total taxation expense of US$10.7 billion increased 
by US$0.1 billion from FY2021. The increase is 
primarily due to higher profits from higher prices 
offset by FY2021 reduction of US tax credits 
related to Chilean taxes and tax losses assessed 
as not recoverable not repeating. 

For more information on income tax 
expense refer to Financial Statements note 
6 ‘Income tax expense’.

Principal factors that affect Underlying EBITDA
The following table and commentary describes the impact of the principal factors1 that affected Underlying EBITDA for FY2022 compared with FY2021.

Underlying EBITDA for year 
ended 30 June 2021 (Restated)
Net price impact:

US$M

35,073

Change in sales prices

6,594 Higher average realised prices for metallurgical coal, thermal coal, copper and nickel, partially offset by lower 

Price-linked costs 

(1,047)

average realised prices for iron ore.
Increased royalties reflecting higher realised prices for metallurgical coal and thermal coal and higher third-party 
concentrate purchase costs reflecting higher nickel prices, partially offset by lower royalties for iron ore.

Change in volumes

Change in controllable cash costs

Change in other costs:

Exchange rates
Inflation
Fuel, energy, and consumable 
price movements
Non-cash

Asset sales
Ceased and sold operations

5,547
(1,212) Lower volumes across our operations associated with the impacts of COVID-19 (US$952 million), lower volumes 
at Olympic Dam as a result of the planned major smelter maintenance campaign, lower copper concentrator feed 
grade at Escondida, lower BMA volumes due to significant wet weather impacts, and lower volumes at Nickel West 
due to an unplanned smelter outage in the June 2022 quarter. This was partially offset by higher concentrate sales 
at Spence reflecting the continued ramp up of the Spence Growth Option and favourable weather compared to the 
prior year at WAIO. 

(540) Higher costs across our operations due to the impacts of COVID-19 (US$277 million) reported as an exceptional 
item last year, higher costs at WAIO due to South Flank operational ramp-up expenditure and higher rail 
maintenance costs. Higher costs at Escondida due to an increase in material mined and workforce bonus payments 
for a new collective bargaining agreement. Higher costs at Spence due to a ramp-up of concentrate volumes, and a 
prior year one-off gain due to the cancellation of power contracts at Escondida and Spence. This was partially offset 
by favourable inventory movements at Olympic Dam, Nickel West, Escondida and Spence, and lower costs at BMA 
due to cost efficiency initiatives. 

Impact of movements in the Australian dollar and Chilean peso against the US dollar.
1,180
Impact of inflation on the Group’s cost base.
(867)
(660) Predominantly higher diesel and acid prices.

(3)
(350)
2

1,668 Reflects the contribution of BMC prior to divestment and a decrease in costs related to the closure and rehabilitation 

provision for closed mines of US$297 million compared with the prior year.

Other items

446 Other includes higher recovery of freight costs caused by movements in the freight index on consecutive voyage 

charter (CVC) voyages and higher average realised sales prices received by Antamina, partially offset by the write-
off of iron ore dormant stockpiles.

Underlying EBITDA for year 
ended 30 June 2022

40,634

1  For information on the method of calculation of the principal factors that affect Underlying EBITDA, refer to OFR 11.2.

20

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Discontinued operations
On 22 November 2021, the Group and 
Woodside signed a binding Share Sale 
Agreement (SSA) for the merger of the assets 
with Woodside. Woodside has subsequently 
acquired the entire share capital of BHP 
Petroleum International Pty Ltd (BHP Petroleum) 
in exchange for new Woodside ordinary shares. 

While the merger had an economic effective 
date of 1 July 2021, the Group continued to 
control the Petroleum assets and carry on 
business in the normal course for 11 months 
until 1 June 2022 (Completion Date). As such, 
the Group recognises its share of revenue, 
expenses, net finance costs and associated 
income tax expense related to the discontinued 
operation until the Completion Date. 

All income and expense items relating to the 
Petroleum Discontinued Operation have been 

removed from the individual line items in the 
Consolidated Income Statement. The post-tax 
loss of the Petroleum Discontinued Operation 
is presented as a single amount in the line 
item titled ‘Profit/(loss) after taxation from 
Discontinued operations’.

Petroleum’s contribution to BHP’s 2022 financial 
results comprised a US$2.5 billion profit 
after taxation.

As consideration for the sale of BHP Petroleum, 
the Group received 914,768,948 newly issued 
Woodside ordinary shares at Completion Date. 
On the Completion Date, the Group paid a 
fully franked in specie dividend in the form of 
Woodside shares to eligible BHP shareholders. 
Eligible BHP shareholders received one 
Woodside share for every 5.5340 BHP shares 
they held on the Group’s register at the record 
date of 26 May 2022. As part of completion and 
in order to reflect the economic effective date, the 

Group made a net cash payment of US$0.7 billion 
to Woodside in addition to US$0.4 billion in 
cash that was left in the BHP Petroleum bank 
accounts to fund ongoing operations. The total 
cash transfer of US$1.1 billion reflects the net 
cash flows generated by BHP Petroleum between 
1 July 2021 and Completion Date adjusted for 
dividends Woodside would have paid on the 
newly issued Woodside ordinary shares, had 
the merger completed on 1 July 2021. The net 
cash completion payment to Woodside is subject 
to a customary post-completion review, which 
may result in an adjustment to the amount paid. 
The merger generated a net gain after tax of 
US$8.2 billion that has been included in the 
line item titled ‘Profit/(loss) after taxation from 
Discontinued operations’ and treated as an 
exceptional item.

For further information refer to 
Financial Statements note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.

Cash flow
The following table provides a summary of the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement contained in Financial Statements 1.4, excluding the impact of foreign 
currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents.

Year ended 30 June

Net operating cash flows from Continuing operations
Net operating cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net operating cash flows
Net investing cash flows from Continuing operations
Net investing cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents disposed on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Net investing cash flows
Net financing cash flows from Continuing operations
Net financing cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net financing cash flows
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from Continuing operations
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents disposed on merger of Petroleum with Woodside

2022 
US$M

29,285
2,889
32,174
(4,973)
(904)
(683)
(399)
(6,959)
(22,734)
(33)
(22,767)
2,448
1,578
1,952
(683)
(399)

2021 
US$M 
Restated

2020 
US$M 
Restated

25,883
1,351
27,234
(6,325)
(1,520)
 −
 −
(7,845)
(17,884)
(38)
(17,922)
1,467
1,674
(207)
 −
 −

14,685
1,021
15,706
(6,583)
(1,033)
 −
 −
(7,616)
(9,713)
(39)
(9,752)
(1,662)
(1,611)
(51)
 −
 −

Net operating cash inflows from Continuing 
operations of US$29.3 billion increased 
by US$3.4 billion. This reflects higher net 
commodity prices, favourable foreign exchange 
and strong underlying operational performance 
partially offset by COVID-19 impacts. 

Net investing cash outflows from Continuing 
operations of US$5.0 billion decreased by 
US$1.4 billion. This is primarily due to net 
proceeds received of US$1.3 billion, including 
adjustment for working capital, related to the 
sale of BHP’s 80 per cent interest in BMC to 
Stanmore Resources Limited completed in the 
current period. 

For more information and a breakdown of 
capital and exploration expenditure on a 
commodity basis refer to OFR 10.

Net financing cash outflows from Continuing 
operations of US$22.7 billion increased by 
US$4.9 billion. This increase reflects higher 
dividends paid to BHP shareholders of 
US$10.0 billion offset by lower net repayments 
of interest bearing liabilities of US$5.6 billion 

mainly due to bond maturity payments and early 
repayment of hybrid bonds executed in the 
FY2021 year. 

For more information, refer to Financial 
Statements note 20 ‘Net debt’. 

4.4 Debt and sources 
of liquidity
Our policies on debt and liquidity management 
have the following objectives:

Net cash flows from Discontinued operations 
relate to the Group’s Petroleum business that 
was merged with Woodside on 1 June 2022. 

For further information, refer to 
Financial Statements note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.

Underlying return on capital employed 
(ROCE) of 48.7 per cent increased by 16.2 
percentage points (FY2021: 32.5 per cent) 
reflecting the significant increase in profit 
after taxation excluding net finance costs and 
exceptional items of US$6.4 billion. The increase 
is also due to the disposal of the Group’s 
Petroleum business and BMC reducing average 
capital employed. 

For more information on Assets under 
Construction refer to Financial Statements 
note 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’.

–  a strong balance sheet through the cycle

–  diversification of funding sources

–  maintain borrowings and excess cash 

predominantly in US dollars

Interest bearing liabilities,  
net debt and gearing
At the end of FY2022, Interest bearing liabilities 
were US$16.4 billion (FY2021: US$21.0 billion) 
and Cash and cash equivalents were 
US$17.2 billion (FY2021: US$15.2 billion). 
This resulted in Net debt1 of US$0.3 billion, 
which represented a decrease of US$3.8 billion 
compared with the net debt position at 30 June 
2021. This was primarily due to significant 
operating cash flows generated from strong 
coal and copper prices and reliable operating 
performance which more than offset the payment 

1  We use non-IFRS financial information to reflect our underlying financial performance. For a discussion on the non-IFRS financial information we use refer to OFR 11. For the 
definition and method of calculation of non-IFRS financial information refer to OFR 11.1. For the composition of net debt refer to Financial Statements note 20 ‘Net debt’. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

21

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information4  Financial review continued

of record dividends. Gearing, which is the ratio 
of Net debt to Net debt plus Net assets, was 0.7 
per cent at 30 June 2022, compared with 6.9 per 
cent at 30 June 2021.

During FY2022, gross debt decreased by 
US$4.6 billion to US$16.4 billion as at 30 June 
2022. This decrease includes a US$0.5 billion 
repayment of 3.25 per cent USD senior notes 
that matured on 21 November 2021 and 
US$0.7 billion repayment of 2.875 per cent 
USD senior notes that matured on 24 February 
2022. The reduction also includes US$2.3 billion 
of favourable foreign exchange and interest 
rate adjustments, along with US$0.5 billion of 
coal and Petroleum leases disposed following 
the coal divestments and merger of Petroleum 
business with Woodside.

At the subsidiary level, Escondida refinanced 
US$0.9 billion of long-term debt and borrowed 
US$0.3 billion in long-term debt.

Funding sources
No new Group-level debt was issued in FY2022 
and debt that matured during the year was 
not refinanced. 

Our Group-level borrowing facilities are not 
subject to financial covenants. Certain specific 
financing facilities in relation to specific assets 
are the subject of financial covenants that vary 
from facility to facility, as is considered normal 
for such facilities. 

In addition to the Group’s uncommitted debt issuance programs, we hold the following committed 
standby facility: 

Revolving credit facility1
Total financing facility

Facility 
available  
2022  
US$M

5,500
5,500

Drawn  
2022  
US$M

Undrawn  
2022  
US$M

– 
– 

5,500
5,500

Facility  
available  
2021  
US$M

5,500
5,500

Drawn  
2021  
US$M

Undrawn  
2021 
US$M

–
–

5,500
5,500

1   During the year we completed a one-year extension of the facility which is now due to mature on 10 October 

2026. The committed US$5.5 billion revolving credit facility operates as a back-stop to the Group’s uncommitted 
commercial paper program. The combined amount drawn under the facility or as commercial paper will not 
exceed US$5.5 billion. As at 30 June 2022, US$ nil commercial paper was drawn (FY2021: US$ nil), therefore 
US$5.5 billion of committed facility was available to use (FY2021: US$5.5 billion). A commitment fee is payable 
on the undrawn balance and interest is payable on any drawn balance comprising a reference rate plus a margin. 
The agreed margins are typical for a credit facility extended to a company with the Group’s credit rating.

For more information on the maturity profile of our debt obligations and details of our standby 
and support agreements refer to Financial Statements note 23 ‘Financial risk management’.

Information in relation to our material off-balance sheet arrangements, principally contingent 
liabilities, commitments for capital expenditure and commitments under leases at 30 June 
2022 is provided in Financial Statements note 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’, Financial 
Statements note 21 ‘Leases’ and Financial Statements note 32 ‘Contingent liabilities’, 
respectively. 

In our opinion, working capital is sufficient for 
our present requirements. Our Moody’s credit 
rating has remained at A2/P-1 outlook stable 
(long-term/short-term) throughout FY2022 and 
Moody’s affirmed its credit rating on 2 June 
2022. Our Standard & Poor’s credit rating 
changed from A/A-1 outlook stable (long-term/
short-term) to A/A-1 CreditWatch negative  
(long-term/short-term) on 23 August 2021, 
following the announcement of the proposed 
merger of our Petroleum business with 
Woodside. Upon completion of the merger, on 
1 June 2022 Standard & Poor’s lowered the 
Group’s long-term credit rating by one notch, 
removed the credit rating from CreditWatch, 

and confirmed a credit rating of A-/A-1 outlook 
stable (long-term/short-term). Credit ratings 
are forward-looking opinions on credit risk. 
Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s credit ratings 
express the opinion of each agency on the ability 
and willingness of BHP to meet its financial 
obligations in full and on time. A credit rating 
is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold 
securities and may be subject to suspension, 
reduction or withdrawal at any time by an 
assigning rating agency. Any credit rating 
should be evaluated independently of any 
other information.

The following table expands on the net debt, to provide more information on the cash and non-cash movements in FY2022.

Year ended 30 June

Net debt at the beginning of the financial year
Net operating cash flows
Net investing cash flows

Free cash flow – Total operations
Carrying value of interest bearing liability net repayments
Net settlements of interest bearing liabilities and debt related instruments
Dividends paid
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
Other financing activities1
Other cash movements
Fair value adjustment on debt (including debt related instruments)2
Foreign exchange impacts on cash (including cash management related instruments)
Lease additions
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations 
Others 

Non-cash movements
Net debt at the end of the financial year

(4,121)

25,215

(20,787)

2022 
US$M

32,174
(6,959)

2,227
(2,474)
(17,851)
(2,540)
(149)

5
27
(736)
492
(428)

(12,044)

19,389

(10,253)

2021 
US$M

27,234
(7,845)

7,433
(7,424)
(7,901)
(2,127)
(234)

58
(1)
(1,079)
 −
(191)

(640)
(333)

(1,213)
(4,121)

1  Other financing activities mainly comprises purchases of shares by Employee Share Option Plan trusts of US$149 million (FY2021: US$234 million). 
2   The Group hedges against the volatility in both exchange and interest rates on debt, and also exchange on cash, with associated movements in derivatives reported in Other 
financial assets/liabilities as effective hedged derivatives (cross currency and interest rate swaps), in accordance with accounting standards. For more information, refer to 
Financial Statements note 23 ‘Financial risk management’.

Dividends
Our dividend policy provides for a minimum 
50 per cent payout of Underlying attributable 
profit (Continuing operations) at every reporting 
period. The minimum dividend payment for the 
second half of FY2022 was US$1.15 per share. 
The Board determined to pay an additional 
amount of US$0.60 per share, taking the final 

dividend to US$1.75 per share (US$8.9 billion). 
In total, cash dividends of US$16.4 billion 
(US$3.25 per share) have been determined 
for FY2022. These returns are covered by 
total free cash flow of US$25.2 billion in 
FY2022. In addition, an in specie dividend 
of US$19.6 billion (US$3.86 per share) was 
determined in FY2022, distributing the Woodside 

shares received as consideration for the sale of 
BHP Petroleum.

The total dividends determined in FY2022, 
both cash and in specie, was US$36.0 billion 
(US$7.11 per share).

22

BHP

Annual Report 2022

5  Our assets 

Western Australia Iron Ore

5.1 Minerals Australia
Minerals Australia includes operated assets 
in Western Australia, Queensland, New 
South Wales and South Australia, focused 
on iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper, 
nickel and energy coal. The commodities 
produced by our Minerals Australia assets 
are transported by rail and road to port and 
exported to our global customers.

Western
Australia

Existing 
operations
Non-operational
mines
Port

Port Hedland

Nelson Point

Nimingarra

Goldsworthy
Rail Line 

Marble Bar

Yarrie

Port Hedland – 
Newman Rail Line

Chichester
Deviation

Finucane Island
South Hedland

Karratha

Great
Northern
Highway

Karijini
National 
Park

Yandi

 Mining Area C

South Flank

Newman
East

Newman West

Orebody 18

Jimblebar

Newman

Jimblebar

Iron Ore

Western Australia Iron Ore

Overview 

Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) is an 
integrated system of four processing hubs 
and five open-cut operational mines in the 
Pilbara region of northern Western Australia, 
connected by more than 1,000 kilometres of rail 
infrastructure and port facilities.

WAIO’s Pilbara reserve base is relatively 
concentrated, allowing development through 
integrated mining hubs connected to the mines 
and satellite orebodies by conveyors or spur 
lines. This approach seeks to maximise the 
value of installed infrastructure by using the 
same processing plant and rail infrastructure for 
several orebodies.

Ore is crushed, beneficiated (where necessary) 
and blended at the processing hubs – Mt 
Newman operations (which has our beneficiation 
plant), Yandi, Mining Area C and Jimblebar 
– to create lump and fines products that are 
transported along the Port Hedland–Mt Newman 
rail line to the Finucane Island and Nelson Point 
port facilities at Port Hedland.

There are four main WAIO joint ventures (JVs): 
Mt Newman, Yandi, Mt Goldsworthy (which 
includes the new South Flank mining area) 
and Jimblebar. BHP’s interest in each is 85 
per cent, with Mitsui and ITOCHU owning the 
remaining 15 per cent. The joint ventures are 
unincorporated, except Jimblebar.

BHP, Mitsui, ITOCHU and POSCO are also 
participants in the POSMAC JV. BHP’s interest 
in POSMAC is 65 per cent. The ore from the 
POSMAC JV is sold to the main joint ventures.

All ore is transported on the Mt Newman JV 
and Mt Goldsworthy JV rail lines. The Nelson 
Point port facility is owned by the Mt Newman 
JV and the Finucane Island facility is owned 
by the Mt Goldsworthy JV. On 7 September 
2021, BHP received regulatory approval 
to increase its export capacity at WAIO’s 
Port Hedland operations up to 330 million 
tonnes per annum (Mtpa) (100 per cent 
basis) subject to the outcomes of a standard 

appeals process. We are assessing 330 Mtpa 
expansion alternatives.

Our near-term focus remains on sustainable 
production of 290 Mtpa of iron ore in the short 
term. Successful tie-in of capital projects, 
including the port debottlenecking project, 
is expected to enable growth in excess of 
300 Mtpa in the medium term.

Key developments in FY2022

WAIO’s production of 249 million tonnes (Mt) 
or 283 Mt on a 100 per cent basis was in 
line with the prior period, primarily reflecting 
continued strong supply chain performance 
and favourable weather compared to the prior 
period, offset by the impacts of temporary labour 
constraints relating to COVID-19 and planned 
major maintenance including the Jimblebar train 
load out and car dumper one. Our preventative 
maintenance programs continue to underpin the 
strength of the WAIO supply chain, delivering 
increased car dumper, reclaimer and ship loader 
availability year-on-year and enabling record 
sales volumes of 284 Mt (100 per cent basis). 

South Flank ramp up to full production capacity 
of 80 Mtpa (100 per cent basis) is ahead of 
schedule with an average rate of 67 Mtpa 
achieved in the June 2022 quarter contributing 
to record production from the Mining Area 
C hub and record lump sales in FY2022. 
Yandi continues its end-of-life ramp-down as 
South Flank continues to ramp up. Yandi is 
expected to provide supply chain flexibility with 
a lower level of production to continue for a 
few years. 

Testing of two new automated shiploaders 
has commenced at our Port Hedland 
operations. This project is utilising 3D laser 
technology, which is expected to support the 
full automation of WAIO’s eight shiploaders by 
CY2023. Together with planned autonomous 
haulage rollouts at both South Flank and 
Newman West, these initiatives are expected 
to deliver significant safety, production and 
cost improvements as well as new job and 
development opportunities for our people. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

23

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information5  Our assets continued

Olympic Dam

Coober Pedy

Olympic Dam

Port Augusta

Port Lincoln

Adelaide

Victor Harbor
Kangaroo
Island

South Australia

Olympic Dam

Port
Highway

Copper

Olympic Dam

Overview

Located in South Australia, Olympic Dam (BHP 
ownership: 100 per cent) is one of the world’s 
most significant deposits of copper, gold, silver 
and uranium. It comprises underground and 
surface operations, and is a fully integrated 
processing facility from ore to metal. 

Ore mined underground is hauled by an 
automated train system to crushing, storage 
and ore hoisting facilities or trucked directly to 
the surface. 

Olympic Dam has a fully integrated metallurgical 
complex with a grinding and concentrating 
circuit, a hydrometallurgical plant incorporating 
solvent extraction circuits for copper and 
uranium, a copper smelter, a copper 
refinery, including an electro-refinery and an 
electrowinning-refinery, and a recovery circuit for 
precious metals.

Key developments in FY2022

Olympic Dam copper production decreased 
by 33 per cent to 138 kilotonnes (kt) primarily 
as a result of a major smelter maintenance 
campaign (SCM21) completed in January 2022 
which was delayed due to COVID-19 impacts 
on the availability of the workforce. Near-record 
production in the June 2022 quarter followed the 
successful ramp up of the smelter to full capacity 
in April 2022. Average copper grade of 2.14 per 
cent was achieved in FY2022 as the majority of 
material mined is from the Southern Mine Area, 
investment in which over the past few years 
enabled strong underground mine performance 
and a stable ore blend to be delivered to the 
processing plant. The maintenance campaign 
included the rebuild of the flash furnace and its 
ancillary equipment, and refurbishment of the 
acid plant, which has resulted in significant plant 
improvements. Short-term focus is on delivering 
operational stability and improved production 
performance, through debottlenecking 
existing facilities. 

Olympic Dam

Australia, Olympic Dam entered a Memorandum 
of Understanding with the South Australian 
Government, SA Water and OZ Minerals to 
progress a business case to examine the 
building of a desalination plant and pipeline. 
Olympic Dam has also entered into a renewable 
energy supply arrangement to enable the asset 
to draw energy supplies from a solar-wind hybrid 
plant to reduce the Scope 2 greenhouse gas 
emissions from its electricity consumption by 
2025. In FY2022, Olympic Dam became the 
first Australian copper mine to be awarded the 
Copper Mark, an international accreditation that 
recognises responsible production practice. 

The Oak Dam exploration program is continuing 
next stage resource definition drilling with six drill 
rigs now active on site, an increase from two drill 
rigs previously, after commencing the program in 
May 2021. This program is focused on resource 
definition and potential development pathways.

.

Coal

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance

Overview 

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) (BHP ownership: 
50 per cent) operates seven metallurgical coal 
mines – Goonyella Riverside, Broadmeadow, 
Daunia, Peak Downs, Saraji, Blackwater and 
Caval Ridge in the Bowen Basin, Queensland. 
With the exception of the Broadmeadow 
underground longwall operation, BMA’s mines 
are open cut. A small proportion of BMA’s 
production is sold as energy coal. BMA has 
access to infrastructure, including a modern, 
multi-user rail network and owns and operates 
its own coal-loading terminal at Hay Point, 
near Mackay. BMA has contracted capacity 
at two other multi-user port facilities – the 
Port of Gladstone (RG Tanna Coal Terminal) 
and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT). 
Following BHP’s divestment of BHP Mitsui Coal 
Pty Ltd (BMC), BMA no longer has contracted 
access to BMC’s port allocations at DBCT and 
North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT).

Key developments in FY2022

In February 2022, to support future secure and 
sustainable water sources for regional South 

BMA production decreased by 9 per cent 
to 29 Mt or 58 Mt on a 100 per cent basis. 

24

BHP

Annual Report 2022

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance  
(BMA)

North Queensland 
Export Terminal

Bowen

Queensland,
Australia

Collinsville

Goonyella
Riverside

Broadmeadow

Dalrymple
Bay

Mackay

BMA Mine

BMA Terminal

Terminal
Rail

BMA Hay Point 
Coal Terminal

Moranbah

Caval
Ridge

Daunia

Peak Downs

Saraji

Dysart

Emerald

Rockhampton

RG
Tanna

Blackwater

Blackwater

Gladstone

Significant wet weather impacts across most 
BMA operations and labour constraints, including 
COVID-19 related absences, which impacted 
stripping and mine productivity, more than offset 
record production at the Broadmeadow mine. 

Following the automation of Daunia’s truck 
fleet in November 2021, the automation of 
Goonyella’s pre-strip truck fleet was completed 
in March 2022 with the Goonyella coal truck fleet 
expected to be fully autonomous by the end of 
December 2022. 

During the year, BMA commenced a project for 
the fabrication and installation of a new berth 
superstructure and shiploader at Hay Point 
Coal Terminal, with a focus on improving the 
facility’s operational resilience to withstand 
significant weather events and increasing its 
throughput capacity. 

In response to regular wet weather events, 
BMA is continuing to implement a range of wet 
weather mitigation measures which are aimed 
at improving the ability to operate in adverse 
weather conditions. These measures include 
using drone mapping and rain on grid modelling 
to manage surface water flows to less impactful 
areas, improved road preparation and the use 
of nitrogen filled tyres to enable operation in 
lightning conditions. 

Following the announcement of the change to 
the Queensland royalty regime from 1 July 2022, 
we will assess the impact on BMA economic 
reserves and mine lives, as well as the impact 
on production, jobs and the communities 
of Central Queensland. This further cost 
pressure is expected to discourage investment, 
operational growth, job creation and local 
business spending across the state.

New South Wales Energy Coal 

Nickel West

Gunnedah

Tamworth

Quirindi

Muswellbrook

Mt Arthur

Singleton

Cessnock

Maitland

Newcastle

NSW,
Australia

NSWEC

Port

Rail

New South Wales Energy Coal

BHP Mitsui Coal divestment

Overview 

New South Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC) (BHP 
ownership: 100 per cent) comprises the Mt 
Arthur Coal open-cut energy coal mine in the 
Hunter Valley. It has access to infrastructure in 
the Hunter Region, including a multi-user rail 
network and coal loading terminal access at 
the Port of Newcastle through Newcastle Coal 
Infrastructure Group (BHP ownership: 28 per 
cent) and Port Waratah Coal Services.

Key developments in FY2022

NSWEC production decreased by 4 per cent 
to 14 Mt primarily reflecting lower volumes due 
to an increased proportion of washed coal to 
capitalise on higher margins for higher quality 
coals, COVID-19 related labour constraints 
which impacted stripping performance and mine 
productivity and wet weather. Higher-quality 
coals made up almost 90 per cent of sales 
compared to approximately 60 per cent of sales 
in the prior year, generating a price premium of 
nearly 150 per cent between high-quality and 
lower-quality coals in FY2022. 

On 16 June 2022, we announced that we 
will retain NSWEC in our portfolio, seek the 
relevant approvals to continue mining beyond 
its current mining consent that expires in 
CY2026 and proceed with a managed process 
to cease mining at the asset by the end of 
FY2030. A review was announced in August 
2020 and a trade sale process for NSWEC was 
conducted, however the process did not result in 
a viable offer. Our assessment of the resource 
economics, geotechnical profile and future 
investment requirements led us to determine that 
continued mining in the near term and moving to 
closure in FY2030 provides the optimal financial 
outcome when compared to alternate options. 
Continuation of mining to the end of FY2030 is 
expected to afford eight years to work with our 
people, state and federal governments and local 
communities in the Hunter Valley region on an 
equitable transition approach that supports long-
term community sustainability.

On 3 May 2022, we completed the divestment of 
our 80 per cent interest in BMC, a metallurgical 
coal joint venture in Queensland operated 
by BMC, to Stanmore Resources Limited. 
Stanmore Resources paid US$1.1 billion cash 
consideration at completion plus a preliminary 
completion adjustment of approximately 
US$200 million for working capital. The sum 
of US$100 million cash remains payable to 
BHP on 3 November 2022, with potential for an 
additional amount of up to US$150 million in a 
price-linked earnout payable to BHP in CY2024. 
The total cash consideration for the transaction 
is up to US$1.35 billion plus the final completion 
adjustment amount. 

Nickel

Nickel West

Overview 

Nickel West (BHP ownership: 100 per cent) 
is a fully integrated nickel business located 
in Western Australia, with three streams 
of concentrate. It comprises open-cut and 
underground mines, concentrators, a smelter 
and refinery. Nickel West owns the majority of 
tenements of known resource in the Agnew-
Wiluna basin in Western Australia.

Disseminated sulphide ore is mined at the 
Mt Keith open-pit operation and Mt Keith 
Satellite mine (Yakabindie) and crushed and 
processed onsite to produce nickel concentrate. 
Nickel sulphide ore is mined at the Cliffs and 
Leinster underground mines and processed 
through a concentrator and dryer at Leinster. 
A concentrator plant in Kambalda processes ore 
and concentrate purchased from third parties.

The three streams feed the Kalgoorlie nickel 
smelter, which uses a flash furnace to produce 
nickel matte. The Kwinana nickel refinery then 
turns this into nickel powder, briquettes and 
nickel sulphate.

Newman

Western 
Australia

Nickel West
Port
Highway

Cliffs

Mt Keith

Leinster

Geraldton

Mt Keith Satellite 
(Yakabindie) 

Kalgoorlie Smelter

Kambalda 
Concentrator

Ravensthorpe

Fremantle

Perth
Kwinana Refinery

Albany

Key developments in FY2022

Nickel West production decreased by 14 per 
cent to 77 kt primarily due to the significant 
impacts of COVID-19 related labour absences 
and workforce shortages, and unplanned 
downtime at the oxygen plant leading to a 15-
day smelter outage in the June 2022 quarter. 

The nickel sulphate plant at the Kwinana nickel 
refinery has been commissioned, with first 
saleable production achieved in the December 
2021 quarter. The plant is expected to produce 
approximately 100 kilotonnes per annum 
(ktpa) of nickel sulphate for the lithium-ion 
battery industry.

Leinster B11, BHP’s first block cave, continues 
development whilst producing. Ore is being 
hoisted to the Leinster concentrator and the 
undercut and drawbell development essential to 
this mining method are expected to be complete 
in CY2023.

Nickel West expanded its commitment to 
sourcing renewable energy through the 
execution of power purchase agreements for 
100 per cent output of the 75MW Flat Rocks 
Wind Farm and for 50 per cent of the 100MW 
Merredin Solar Farm. The combined output 
from these two renewable farms is expected to 
generate the equivalent of greater than 100 per 
cent of the current power requirements of Nickel 
West’s Kalgoorlie nickel smelter, Kambalda 
nickel concentrator and Kwinana nickel refinery 
from CY2024.

TransAlta has begun construction at the 
Northern Goldfields Solar Project, a large-scale, 
off-grid mining solar and battery energy storage 
systems, to help power Nickel West’s Mt Keith 
and Leinster operations. The solar project due 
to be commissioned in early 2023, is expected 
to reduce Scope 2 emissions by 12 per cent at 
these operations.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

25

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information5  Our assets continued

Escondida and Pampa Norte

Jansen Potash Project

ARGENTINA

Minera Escondida

Assiniboia

Weyburn

5.2 Minerals Americas
The Minerals Americas asset group includes 
projects, operated assets and non-operated 
joint ventures in Canada, Chile, Peru, the 
United States and Brazil. 

Our operated copper assets in the Americas, 
Escondida and Pampa Norte, are open-cut 
mines that produce copper concentrate and 
copper cathodes. The non-operated assets 
in the Minerals Americas portfolio are open-
cut mines that produce copper (Antamina) 
and iron ore (Samarco). We have a 45 per 
cent interest in the Resolution copper 
project in the United States and a 100 per 
cent interest in the Jansen Potash Project in 
Canada. The commodities produced by our 
Minerals Americas assets are transported to 
port by pipeline, rail or road and exported to 
customers around the world.

26

BHP

Annual Report 2022

PERU

Cerro
Colorado

Chile

BOLIVIA
Mine

Iquique

BOLIVIA

Pica

Pacific
Ocean

CHILE

Tocopilla

Calama

Spence

Mejillones

Antofagasta

Copper

Escondida

Overview

Escondida (BHP ownership: 57.5 per cent) is a 
leading producer of copper concentrate, with by-
products including gold and silver, and cathodes 
located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. 

Escondida’s two pits feed three concentrator 
plants, as well as two leaching operations (oxide 
and sulphide).

Key developments in FY2022

Escondida copper production decreased by 
6 per cent to 1,004 kt primarily due to higher 
than expected concentrator feed grade decline 
of 4 per cent, public road blockades affecting 
access to site for both workers and supplies, and 
the impact of a reduced operational workforce 
from COVID-19. Despite these challenges, 
Escondida achieved record material mined 
for the 2022 financial year and near-record 
concentrator throughput of 367 ktpd. 

Pampa Norte

Overview

Pampa Norte (BHP ownership: 100 per cent) 
consists of two assets in the Atacama Desert in 
northern Chile – Spence and Cerro Colorado. 

Spence produces copper cathodes and copper 
concentrate, with by-products including gold, 
silver and molybdenum.

Cerro Colorado produces copper cathodes. 
Its current environmental licence expires at the 
end of CY2023.

Key developments in FY2022

Pampa Norte copper production increased by 
29 per cent to 281 kt reflecting the ramp up of the 
Spence Growth Option, partially offset by the impact 
of lower cathode production as a result of a 14 per 
cent decline in Pampa Norte stacking feed grade. 
The molybdenum plant at Spence produced and 
sold its first batch of molybdenum concentrate 
during Q4 FY2022. During May 2022, the new 
copper concentrator in Spence was inaugurated.  
The concentrator operates on desalinated seawater 
and is powered from renewable sources, and will 
allow the operation to be extended by 50 years.

Saskatchewan,
Canada

BHP project

BHP mineral
leases

Prince Albert

Wolverine

Burr

Saskatoon

Jansen

Young

Boulder

Yorkton

Moose Jaw

Regina

Melville

Potash

Jansen Potash Project

Overview

The Jansen Potash Project (BHP ownership: 
100 per cent) is located about 140 kilometres 
east of Saskatoon, Canada. 

Jansen’s large resource provides the opportunity 
to develop the project in stages, with Jansen 
Stage 1 (Jansen S1) expected to produce 
approximately 4.35 Mt of potash per annum 
on completion in CY2027 and sequenced 
brownfield expansions of up to 12 Mtpa 
(approximately 4 Mtpa per stage).

BHP holds mineral leases covering around 
9,600 square kilometres in the Saskatchewan 
potash basin.

Key developments in FY2022

Excavation and lining of the production and 
service shafts was completed in June 2022.

On 17 August 2021, BHP approved 
US$5.7 billion (C$7.5 billion) in capital 
expenditure for Jansen S1. Jansen S1 includes 
the design, engineering and construction of 
an underground potash mine and surface 
infrastructure, including a processing facility, a 
product storage building and rail infrastructure. 
Jansen S1 product is intended to be shipped 
to export markets through Westshore, in Delta, 
British Columbia. The project includes funding 
for the required port and rail infrastructure. 
First ore is targeted in CY2027, with construction 
expected to take approximately six years, 
followed by a ramp-up period of two years. 

Opportunities to bring forward Jansen S1 
continue to be assessed. In addition to Jansen 
S1, study of Jansen Stage 2 (Jansen S2) 
has commenced. 

Antamina

0

50km

Resolution Copper

Samarco

East Clear Creek

Arizona,
USA

17

Tangle Creek

Cave Creek

Turkey Creek

Phoenix

60

60

Resolution Copper
Route

Oak Flat
Resolution Copper

Dripping Springs

Belo 
Horizonte
(Main 
offices)

Nova Era – 
Antônio Dias
(Guilman-Amorim 
hydroelectric plant)

Mt Graham

Mining Lease

Minas Gerais,
Espírito Santo,
Brazil

Samarco

1st pipeline
2nd pipeline
3rd pipeline

Pipeline 2 
operational; 
pipelines 1 and 3 
non-operational

Vitória
(Sales office)

10

Kitt Peak

USA

Mariana – 
Ouro Preto
(Germano 
operational 
unit)

Mt Lemmon

Tucson

Mica Mountain

10

19

Appleton Ranch

Muniz Freire
(Muniz Freire 
hydroelectric
  plant)

Anchieta
(Operational
 unit and
ocean terminal
at Ponta Ubu)

Huari

Huaraz

San Marcos

Antamina
mine

Huarmey

Punta
Lobitos

Huari 
Province, 
Ancash, 
Peru

Antamina mine
Port
Pipeline    

Lima

MEXICO

 Non-operated minerals joint 
ventures

Copper

Antamina

Overview

Antamina (BHP ownership: 33.75 per cent) 
is a large, low-cost copper and zinc mine in 
north central Peru with by-products, including 
molybdenum and silver. Antamina is operated 
independently by Compañía Minera Antamina S.A. 

Key developments in FY2022

Antamina copper production increased by 4 per 
cent to 150 kt (BHP share), reflecting higher 
copper head grades. Zinc production decreased 
by 15 per cent to 123 kt (BHP share) reflecting 
lower zinc head grades. 

In April 2022, Antamina submitted to Peruvian 
authorities a modification of the Environmental 
Impact Assessment to sustain mine life from 
2028 to 2036 entirely within Antamina’s current 
operational area.  

Resolution Copper

Overview

Resolution Copper (BHP ownership: 45 per 
cent), located in the US state of Arizona, is 
operated by Rio Tinto (55 per cent ownership 
interest). Resolution Copper is one of the 
largest undeveloped copper projects in the 
world and has the potential to become one of 
the largest copper producers in North America. 
The Resolution Copper deposit lies more than 
1,600 metres beneath the surface.

Key developments in FY2022

During FY2022, Resolution continued the 
engineering and permitting phase of the project. 
The project is subject to a federal permitting 
process led by the US Forest Service. The US 
Forest Service published a Final Environmental 
Impact Statement in January 2021, which 
was rescinded in March 2022 for the stated 
purpose of conducting additional analysis 

and consultation with Native American tribes. 
The project team has been cooperating with the 
US Forest Service as it completes this additional 
review. During this time, Resolution has sought 
to deepen its engagement and relationships with 
local communities and Native American tribes. 

Iron ore 

Samarco

Overview

Samarco (BHP ownership: 50 per cent) 
comprises a mine and three concentrators 
located in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, 
and four pellet plants and a port located 
in Anchieta in the state of Espírito Santo. 
Three 400-kilometre pipelines connect the 
mine site to the pelletising facilities. Samarco is 
operated independently by Samarco Mineração 
S.A. Samarco’s main product is iron ore pellets. 
Pellets are independently marketed by Samarco 
and sold to customers around the world. 

Key developments in FY2022

Samarco produced 4 million tonnes of pellets 
and ore fines in FY2022 (BHP Share), 
operating at 26 per cent of its total 26 Mtpa 
production capacity following the resumption 
of operations in December 2020. Studies to 
increase production to 100 per cent by FY2029 
are progressing.

The progressive decharacterisation of Samarco’s 
upstream tailings dam structures is on track 
and planned to be completed by FY2029. 
These structures have been certified by 
independent third parties as stable, are following 
local stability and monitoring requirements, and 
have not received tailings since 2015.

Broader studies to unlock solutions for Samarco 
to operate without tailings dams beyond FY2030 
are continuing.

For more information on the Fundão 
dam failure and the response
refer to OFR 8.

5.3  Commercial
BHP’s Commercial function seeks 
to maximise commercial and 
social value while minimising 
costs across the end-to-end 
supply chain. 

The function is organised around the following 
core activities in our value chain, supported by 
credit and market risk management and strategy 
and planning activities. 

Sales and Marketing
Sales and Marketing connects BHP’s resources 
to market through commercial expertise, sales 
and operations planning, customer insights and 
proactive risk management. It presents a single 
face to markets across multiple assets, with a 
view to realising maximum value for our products 
and supporting sustainability initiatives in our 
downstream supply chain.

Maritime and Supply Chain 
Excellence
Maritime and Supply Chain Excellence manages 
BHP’s enterprise-wide maritime transportation 
strategy and the chartering of ocean freight 
to meet BHP’s inbound and outbound 
transportation needs. It focuses on supply 
chain excellence and sourcing cost-efficient 
marine freight in addition to partnering within 
the maritime ecosystem to reduce the GHG 
emissions intensity of BHP-chartered shipping 
of our products. It also seeks to manage supply 
chain risk by vetting the safety performance of 
the ships loading BHP cargo.

Procurement
Our global Procurement team connects asset 
teams and suppliers to procure the goods and 
services used by our projects, operated assets 
and functions globally. Procurement partners with 
our suppliers to optimise equipment performance, 
reduce operating costs, optimise working capital 
and generate social value. Through innovation we 
work with suppliers to reduce the GHG emissions 
intensity of inbound goods and services and 
the operational GHG emissions of our operated 
assets. Procurement manages supply chain 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

27

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information5  Our assets continued

risk, fosters supplier innovation and develops 
sustainable relationships with global suppliers 
and local businesses in the communities where 
we operate.

Warehousing, Inventory, Logistics 
and Property
Warehousing, Inventory, Logistics and Property 
designs and operates our inbound supply chain 
networks for the delivery and warehousing 
of spare parts, operating supplies and 
consumables, and designs and operates our 
office workspaces globally.

Market Analysis and Economics
Our Market Analysis and Economics team 
develops BHP’s proprietary view on the outlook 
for commodity demand and prices, as well as 
our input costs, the world economy, climate 
change and financial markets. The team works 
with our Procurement, Maritime and Supply 
Chain Excellence, and Sales and Marketing 
sub-functions to help optimise end-to-end 
commercial value, and with the Portfolio Strategy 
and Development and External Affairs functions 
to identify and respond to long-run strategic 
changes in our operating environment. 

Global Business Services
Global Business Services unites shared services 
and repeatable process activity across the Group 
into a single operation. Commencing operation 
in FY2022 with the BHP Operating System 
and with process transformation capabilities 
at its core, it has the mandate to aggregate, 
operate and improve end-to-end processes 
on behalf of assets and functions to drive 
operational excellence. 

6  People and culture
Our employees and contractors, 
around 80,000 globally, are the 
foundation of our business. 

We aim to attract, recruit, empower and retain 
the best people. 

To enable our people to perform at their best, 
safety is our highest priority and we invest in 
technology and innovative and effective ways to 
manage risk, streamline processes and improve 
productivity. We offer competitive remuneration 
and invest in development programs to build 
capability and improve performance.

Developing our capabilities  
and an enabled culture
To drive continuous improvement, we 
respect people’s differences and encourage 
self-accountability, a hunger to learn and a 
commercial mindset. 

One of the ways we seek to achieve this is by 
applying the BHP Operating System (BOS) 
practices to help build leader capability. BOS is a 
way of leading and working that focuses on the 
safety of our people, value for our customers, 
setting clear goals and measuring progress and a 
mindset of zero waste. In FY2022, we continued 
to train our leaders through BOS learning 
academies to improve operational capability 
and culture, with more than 3,000 people 
leaders participating.

28

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Three times a year we ask our employees and 
contractors about their experiences working with 
BHP via a short Engagement and Perception 
Survey. After each survey, our team leaders 
assess what is working well, what they can 
learn from others and take action to address 
improvement areas. Despite significant 
absences and workplace disruptions caused 
by COVID-19, we maintained a high response 
rate of 82 per cent of employees in March 2022 
(81 per cent in February 2021) and achieved 
a strong engagement score of 82 per cent 
favourable (84 per cent in February 2021). 
In particular, 80 per cent of our employees 
and 88 per cent of our contractors (from 7,932 
responses) would recommend BHP as a great 
place to work, which places us in the top 
third of global organisations as benchmarked 
by Qualtrics. 

In FY2022, we transformed our approach 
to developing frontline leadership with the 
launch of BHP Leadership Programs for 
supervisors, superintendents and managers. 
Through a combination of assessment, 
workshops, experiences and coaching, the 
suite of programs is designed to identify and 
develop leaders and prepare them to take 
on greater responsibility. We anticipate more 
than 1,000 leaders each year will develop 
their ability through these programs to lead 
inclusively, ethically and through complexity 
as they play their critical role to deliver 
continuous improvement.

Our Operations Services business unit provides 
maintenance and production services across 
our Minerals Australia assets. It employs people 
on a permanent basis and supports skills 
building through a structured coaching and 
in-field training program designed to enable 
our workforce to deliver consistent equipment 
operation and maintenance that balances safety, 
maximum productivity and equipment reliability. 
Operations Services had more than 3,500 
employees as at 30 June 2022 and is expected 
to continue to grow. 

To help bolster Australia’s skills base and create 
new career pathways into the mining sector, 
the BHP FutureFit Academy located in Perth, 
Western Australia and Mackay, Queensland, 
provides a pathway to join Minerals Australia 
through an accredited maintenance and 
production traineeship or a trade apprenticeship. 
Once trained and qualified, employees move  
to one of our Australian operations. 
The FutureFit Academy training includes the 
skills required for an increasingly technological 
and digitised world and focuses on our safety, 
respectful behaviour, culture, and productive 
ways of working. This helps FutureFit graduates 
to be ‘BHP site ready’ when they graduate. 
In FY2022, the FutureFit Academy trained more 
than 417 apprentices and trainees, with 175 
graduating. In FY2023, the FutureFit Academy 
is expanding the program to include Western 
Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) and Nickel West. 
New curricula will be offered, including belt 
splicing, electrical and auto electrical. The belt 
splicing program will commence at Newman in 
August 2022. For more information on BHP’s 
FutureFit Academy see our case study at bhp.
com/people. 

In Minerals Americas, the focus has been 
on implementing an integrated approach to 
capability building through defining frameworks 
and programs for workforce upskilling and 
reskilling as we transition into autonomous 
operations at our operated assets. Early career 
programs (for graduates and trainees in roles 
such as operators, maintainers, supervisors 
and engineers) are also a key area to build 
a sustainable base of diverse talent with the 
required capabilities. We will also continue 
building partnerships with training and 
learning institutions to develop those identified 
capabilities for the future. 

The talent market is dynamic and increasingly 
competitive. We continue to work on our 
attraction and retention strategies through 
strategic workforce planning, talent acquisition, 
inclusion and diversity, internal talent 
management, employee mobility and our total 
value proposition. 

We believe we are strongly and competitively 
placed in the market and regularly review our 
positioning and total reward strategies, with 
culture being our competitive edge. We have 
deployed new proactive recruitment methods, 
including recruitment marketing and talent 
pooling, strategies for securing critical skills 
and made improvements to our recruitment 
processes to increase speed while maintaining 
our focus on the suitability of candidates. 

Inclusion and diversity
We believe that an inclusive and diverse 
workforce promotes safety, productivity and 
wellbeing, and underpins our ability to attract 
and retain employees. Our systems, processes 
and practices are designed to support fair 
treatment for our people. 

Our Inclusion and Diversity Position Statement 
confirms our vision, commitment and 
contributions to inclusion and diversity. We have 
further work to do to achieve this goal.

Our strategy is to focus on attracting and 
retaining a workforce that is truly representative 
of society. We intend to do this by addressing 
the barriers and impacts of bias and racism 
experienced by people within underrepresented 
groups by listening to their experience combined 
with insights from our engagement surveys and 
the recently deployed self-identification survey, 
‘Tell Us About You’. So far, around 10,000 people 
have confidentially shared with us information 
about themselves (a 22 per cent response rate), 
which is a good starting point and we expect to 
see participation grow over time. Our intention 
is to contrast this data with national/regional 
census data over time to measure how diverse 
we are against the general population.

To help mitigate gender pay disparities, we 
have taken steps to reduce potential bias in 
remuneration at the time of recruitment and 
we conduct an annual gender pay review, 
the results of which are reported to the BHP 
Remuneration Committee.

Respect is one of our values under Our Charter 
and is fundamental to building stronger teams 
and being an inclusive and diverse workplace. 
For some people, this has not been their 
experience of working at BHP and we are 
determined to address this. 

For information on our approach 
to addressing workplace sexual 
harassment refer to OFR 7.5.

Our ambition to achieve a more diverse and 
inclusive workplace is focused on four areas:

–  embedding flexibility into the way we work

–  encouraging and working with our supply 

chain partners to support our commitment  
to inclusion and diversity

–  uncovering and taking steps to mitigate potential 
bias in our systems, policies and processes 
and in behaviours through the Respectful 
Behaviour campaign 

–  ensuring our workplaces are safe for and 
attractive to a diverse range of people

Gender balance1
In CY2016, we announced our aspiration to 
achieve gender balance within our employee 
workforce globally by the end of FY2025, which 
we define as a minimum 40 per cent women 
and 40 per cent men in line with the definitions 
used by entities such as the International 
Labour Organisation and HESTA.

We increased the representation of women 
working at BHP in FY2022 by 2.5 percentage 
points, with almost 8,000 more female 
employees at the end of the year than in 2016. 
At 30 June 2022, women represented 32.3 per 
cent of our employee workforce, up from 17.6 
per cent when we set our aspirational goal. 
We are confident of achieving gender balance by 
the end of FY2025.

The percentage of employees newly hired to work 
for BHP in FY2022 was 52.7 per cent male and 
47.3 per cent female. This is a marked increase 
on our baseline for our aspirational goal, which 
was 10.4 per cent female hired in FY2015. 

We also improved our representation of women 
in leadership by 2.7 percentage points compared 
to FY2021, with 27.9 per cent female people 
leaders at the end of FY2022.

To further accelerate female representation in 
FY2022, we: 

–  continued market mapping to proactively 

target people or groups of people not actively 
looking to work for BHP or our industry 

–  implemented a ‘Tell Us About You’ survey, our 
first self-identification survey to measure the 
rich diversity of our workforce

–  integrated inclusive leadership capabilities at 
all levels of our leadership learning curriculum 

–  embedded the Ways of Working Framework 
to guide employees and leaders to ‘Work 
where you get great outcomes’ 

–  launched Phase 3 of the Respectful Behaviour 

campaign to reinforce our zero tolerance 
of sexual harassment, racism and bullying 
including global ‘Stop for Safety’ sessions for 
all employees and contractors 

The table below shows the gender composition of our employees, senior leaders and the Board over the last 
three financial years1,2

Female employees

Male employees

Female people leaders

Male people leaders

Female Executive Leadership Team members

Male Executive Leadership Team members

Female Board members

Male Board members

2022

12,674

26,536

1,695

4,380

5

5

4

8

2021

11,868

27,953

1,439

4,276

5

5

4

8

2020

9,961

27,557

1,157

4,002

4

6

3

9

1  Based on a ‘point-in-time’ snapshot of employees 
as at 30 June 2022, including employees on 
extended absence, as used in internal management 
reporting for the purposes of monitoring progress 
against our goals. This does not include contractors. 
People leaders as defined as employees with one 
or more direct report.

1  Based on a ‘point-in-time’ snapshot of employees as at 30 June 2022, as used in internal management 

reporting for the purposes of monitoring progress against our goals. In FY2021 and FY2022 this includes 
employees on extended absence, 660 at 30 June 2021 and 948 in 2022, who were previously not included 
in the active headcount. 

2  For FY2022, this does not include employees who left BHP via the merger of BHP Petroleum and Woodside 
(approximately 1,000 employees) or the sale of BHP Mitsui Coal to Stanmore Resources (approximately 
500 employees).

BHP

Annual Report 2022

29

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information6  People and culture continued

Indigenous employment
Indigenous peoples are critical partners 
of BHP’s operations around the world. 
We recognise, as part of our Global Indigenous 
Peoples Strategy, that we can contribute to the 
economic empowerment of Indigenous peoples 
through providing opportunities for employment, 
training, procurement and by supporting 
Indigenous enterprises. 

We have set targets to increase Indigenous 
employment in our Minerals Australia operations, 
Minerals Americas operations in Chile and 
our Jansen Potash Project and operations 
in Canada. 

In our Minerals Australia operations, we 
have achieved the Australian Indigenous 
employment target of 8 per cent ahead of 
schedule (8.3 per cent of employees at 30 June 
2022) through significant effort with targeted 
Indigenous recruitment campaigns, a tailored 
application process focused on the cultural 
needs of applicants and BHP’s commitment to 
the regional communities where we operate. 
A key focus in Australia now is the retention 
and development of our Indigenous workforce. 
New targets have been set and engagement 
strategies are being developed as part of 
BHP’s next Minerals Australia Reconciliation 
Action Plan.

From FY2023 the targets for Indigenous 
employee representation are 9.7 per cent by 
the end of FY2027 in our Minerals Australia 
operations, 10 per cent by the end of FY2025 
in our Minerals Americas operations in Chile 
and 20 per cent by the end of FY2026 in 
our Jansen Potash Project and operations 
in Canada.

For information on our 2030 goals 
related to Indigenous partnerships
refer to OFR 7.13.

LGBT+ inclusion
Our LGBT+ ally employee inclusion group, 
Jasper, established in 2017, is a natural 
extension of our inclusion and diversity 
aspirations and reflects our value of Respect 
under Our Charter. 

Its membership base grew to around 2,000 in 
FY2022, with eight regional chapters globally. 

In FY2022, we continued to close gaps for 
LGBT+ inclusion, such as releasing guidelines 
and implementing support for transgender 
and gender diverse recruitment, and updated 
our parental leave policy to be more inclusive 
by making language more gender neutral 
and ensuring it applies to birth, long-term 
guardianship and adoption aligned to changes 
in Australia. 

Flexible working
Our flexible working has evolved throughout the 
COVID-19 pandemic and we have embedded 
a hybrid working model for employees in non-
operational roles, allowing office and home-
based working arrangements, while requiring 30 
to 50 per cent of work to be based in the office, 
depending on the nature of work. 

We understand many site-based employees 
are in roles that cannot be performed remotely. 
We continue to seek to provide flexible working 

30

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Indigenous employee representation1

Location

Period

Target (%) 30 June 2022 (%)

Minerals America operations employees in Chile
Minerals Australia operations employees in Australia2
Jansen Potash Project and operation employees 
in Canada3

By the end of FY2026

By the end of FY2025
By the end of FY2027

10.0

8.0

20.0

8.7

8.3

7.2

1  Point in time data at 30 June 2022.
2 

Indigenous employee representation overall in Australia as at 30 June 2022 was 7.4 per cent including Minerals 
Australia operations, 8.3 per cent Indigenous, and non-operational locations, 2.5 per cent Indigenous. 
Indigenous workforce representation at Potash Jansen Project and operations of 20.7 per cent includes 
employees, 7.2 per cent Indigenous, and contractors, 23.8 per cent Indigenous.

3 

through lifestyle-friendly rosters with some sites 
within WAIO moving away from two weeks 
on (seven days, seven nights)/one week off 
rosters to eight days on (dayshift)/six days off 
then seven days on (nightshift)/seven days 
off rosters. 

Part-time and job-share arrangements have 
increased including at senior levels.

Employee relations
Our four key focus areas for employee 
relations are:

–  creating relations with our workforce based 

on a culture of trust and cooperation

–  negotiating where there are requirements to 

collectively bargain (and recognising the rights 
of our workforce to collectively bargain)

–  closing out agreements with our workforce 
in South America and Australia, with no 
lost time due to industrial action, to the 
extent possible

–  ensuring we comply with legal obligations 

and regional labour regulations

In Australia, we are monitoring potential 
industrial relations legislative reform after the 
Government indicated an intention to introduce 
draft legislation during CY2022 that could 
have a material impact on our cost of labour 
and industrial landscape and negatively 
impact productivity.

Minerals Australia participated in five collective 
bargaining processes during FY2022: 

–  BHP Iron Ore Pty Ltd commenced bargaining 
in January 2022 for the BHPIO Locomotive 
Drivers Agreement 2022, which is ongoing. 

–  OS MCAP Pty Ltd recommenced bargaining 

in December 2022 for the Operations 
Services Production Agreement 2018, 
which is ongoing.

–  OS ACPM Pty Ltd recommenced bargaining 

in December 2022 for the Operations 
Services Maintenance Agreement 2018, 
which is ongoing.

–  BHP Coal Pty Ltd commenced bargaining 
in February 2021 for the BMA Enterprise 
Agreement 2021, which is ongoing.

–  BM Alliance Coal Operations Pty Ltd 
commenced bargaining in June 2022 
for the BMACO Broadmeadow Mine 
Agreement 2022, which is ongoing.

Minerals Americas participated in two collective 
bargaining processes during FY2022:

–  Escondida: O&M union N°1 of 2,333 employees 

signed in August 2021 for 36 months.

–  Cerro Colorado: O&M union N°1 of 705 

employees signed in September 2021 for 
36 months.

Negotiations to renew the collective agreements 
with BHP Chile’s Specialists & Supervisors 
Union (150 employees) and Escondida’s 
Intermel Union (140 employees) are expected to 
be completed in FY2023. 

There were no legal industrial actions or strikes 
at Minerals Americas operated assets, Minerals 
Australia operated assets or our Jansen Potash 
Project and operations in Canada in FY2022.

Impacts and challenges from COVID-19 
related to our people

The rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and 
measures taken by governments within Australia 
and Chile to control its spread in FY2022 
resulted in continued changes to working 
patterns for our employees and contractors 
and unplanned absences. As a result of the 
COVID-19 restrictions, we implemented controls 
across our business to reduce the number of 
workers required onsite and manage planned 
and unplanned absences, such as temporary 
remote working arrangements, increased 
health and safety requirements, asset-based 
vaccination campaigns, self-testing and 
office-testing campaigns and hybrid working. 
In Australia we also introduced vaccination 
against COVID-19 as a site access requirement 
after consultation with employees and unions. 
In Canada, all employees are required to remain 
fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to perform 
work at site including a third booster shot.

With state border closures restricting the 
mobilisation of employees and contractors to 
our operating sites in Australia at times during 
FY2022, changes to rosters and hours of work 
were made to ensure operational requirements 
for essential work were met. There has also 
been a further extension of flexible work options 
for employees and contractors in Australia in 
response to government-imposed lockdowns 
preventing them from attending their normal 
place of work. Flexible work options, including 
staggered start times, working from home and 
adapted working hours were in place across 
many of our office settings.

For information on the impact of COVID-19 
on our workforce refer to OFR 7.6.

More information on people is available 
at bhp.com/people.

7  Sustainability

Our commitment to social value reflects our purpose and BHP’s role in 
supplying products essential for the transition of society towards a more 
sustainable future, a role that we seek to perform in a responsible way.

7.1  Our sustainability 
approach
Our management of sustainability helps 
generate social value. We also know our 
stakeholders and partners are increasingly 
focused on our sustainability performance and 
use it as a key determinant in assessing BHP 
and our industry. We strive to continuously 
improve and exceed these expectations. 

A commitment to sustainability sometimes 
requires us to make difficult choices and we 
seek to gain and maintain the support of all 
our stakeholders and partners as we manage 
complex issues. We respect the right of every 
stakeholder and partner to challenge the choices 
we make and recognise that by listening to 
their views and concerns BHP becomes a 
better company. 

We define our approach to sustainability through 
Our Charter and it is governed through the Our 
Requirements standards. These standards 
describe our mandatory minimum performance 
requirements and provide the foundation to 
develop and implement management systems 
at our operated assets. 

Our approach to sustainability is overseen 
by BHP’s Board. The Board’s Sustainability 
Committee advises and assists the Board 
in its oversight of the Group’s health, safety, 
environmental and community (HSEC) matters. 

For more information about the 
Sustainability Committee and its work refer 
to the Corporate Governance Statement 

Sustainability targets and goals
We set clear direction through our social 
value framework and we embed and measure 
sustainability performance through our public 
sustainability targets and goals. We completed 
our most recent five-year sustainability targets 
in FY2022. 

For more information on our 
performance against these targets  
refer to OFR 7.3.

This year we developed new 2030 goals under 
the pillars of People, Planet and Prosperity in line 
with the World Economic Forum and the United 
Nations (UN) Development Program, following 
extensive internal and external engagement 
(refer to OFR 2.2). The 2030 goals comprise 
overarching long-term goals across six key focus 
areas and are underpinned by short-term metrics 

and milestones. We are working to embed them 
through asset plans and capital allocation.

The key changes compared to the previous 
five-year sustainability targets include a new 
time horizon of seven years to align with BHP’s 
2030 climate change targets and goals and 
reference timelines set out in global frameworks 
and agreements, such as the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, 
the Convention of Biological Diversity and the 
Global Goal for Nature. The goals provide 
opportunities for BHP to engage and work 
in partnership with others, build capability 
and co-design approaches to deliver positive 
outcomes and shared prosperity for people and 
our planet. They are reinforced by our continued 
commitment to pursue zero significant health, 
safety, environment, community or supply chain 
events and to making a social investment of at 
least 1 per cent pre-tax profit.¹

1  To date, our voluntary social investment has been 
calculated as 1 per cent of the average of the 
previous three years’ pre-tax profit. For FY2023-
FY2030, our social investment will be assessed as 
a total over the seven-year goals period to FY2030, 
rather than calculated as an average of the previous 
three years’ pre-tax profit. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

31

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

Equitable change and transitions
We recognise that changes in our business, 
ranging from the opening to the closing of a 
mine, can have significant, and sometimes 
disproportionate, effects on communities where 
we operate. We also recognise that these same 
communities are navigating broader shifts 
in the global economy, such as the energy 
transition and digital disruption, and that the 
scope and nature of these transitions will 
continue to evolve. 

We are committed to working with communities 
we are a part of in periods of change and 
transition to achieve long-term mutual value. 

Our approach will be grounded in our 
existing strategies, policies and frameworks 
in relation to our people, the environment, 
communities and other stakeholders and 
partners. The interconnection of these policies 
and frameworks¹ aims to ensure change and 
transitions are equitable and deliberately 
considered across the life cycle of our business 
and for the communities where we operate.

Our approach to equitable change and 
transitions will:

–  Recognise our responsibility to our workforce 

– where a major change in our business 
is expected to affect our workforce, we will 
engage in meaningful dialogue and support 
those impacted. 

–  Create opportunity for meaningful engagement 
and co-designed processes – we will seek 
to develop relationships with stakeholders 
and partners, including government, local 
businesses, community members, suppliers, 
Indigenous peoples and workers, that support 
understanding of the issues and co-creation of 
solutions. We will communicate transparently 
on the types of changes the business needs to 
make and enable active participation of those 
most impacted.

–  Recognise the impacts associated with 

gender, land connectedness and social and 
economic vulnerability – we will not assume 
all people are affected similarly. We will seek 
to understand how impacts may be differently 

experienced, including for Indigenous 
peoples, and recognise that plans and 
solutions must take into account the particular 
strengths of each community and tackle the 
unique impacts they experience.

–  Recognise that the economic, social and 
environmental dimensions of sustainable 
development are interrelated – we will aim 
to avoid or mitigate adverse environmental 
impacts of change and transitions, 
while pursuing opportunities to build 
climate resilience and environmentally 
sustainable communities. 

Given change and transitions will involve 
multiple actors, we will seek to be a catalyst to 
bring people together and use our relationships 
to advocate for equitable change and transitions 
in line with the above principles.

1  These include our Indigenous Peoples 

Framework, Social Value Framework, Inclusion 
and Diversity Statement, Climate Change 
Strategy, approach to the environment, Closure 
Strategy, Human Rights Policy Statement, and 
approach to community engagement.

Our sustainability approach – TCFD index1

Disclosure requirement

Reference in this Report

Governance
Disclose the organisation’s governance around climate-related risks and opportunities.
a) Describe the board’s oversight of climate-related risks and opportunities.

b) Describe management’s role in assessing and managing climate-related risks and opportunities.

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8

Strategy

Disclose the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on the 
organisation’s businesses, strategy, and financial planning where such information is material.
a)  Describe the climate-related risks and opportunities the organisation has identified over the short, medium, and long term.

b)  Describe the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on the organisation’s businesses, strategy, and 

financial planning.

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8; 9; 9.1 
Financial Statements 1.5; 1.6

c)  Describe the resilience of the organisation’s strategy, taking into consideration different climate-related scenarios, 

OFR 7.8; 9; 9.1

including a 2°C or lower scenario.

Risk management

Financial Statements 1.5; 1.6

Disclose how the organisation identifies, assesses, and manages climate-related risks. 
a) Describe the organisation’s processes for identifying and assessing climate-related risks.

b) Describe the organisation’s processes for managing climate-related risks.

c)  Describe how processes for identifying, assessing, and managing climate-related risks are integrated into the 

OFR 7.8; 9

OFR 7.8; 9

OFR 7.8; 9

organisation’s overall risk management.

Metrics and targets

Disclose the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and 
opportunities where such information is material. 
a)  Disclose the metrics used by the organisation to assess climate-related risks and opportunities  

in line with its strategy and risk management process.

OFR 7.8

Remuneration Report 3.2

b)  Disclose Scope 1, Scope 2, and, if appropriate, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the related risks.

OFR 7.8

c)  Describe the targets used by the organisation to manage climate-related risks and opportunities and performance 

OFR 7.3; 7.8

against targets.

Cross-industry metrics
–  GHG emissions: absolute Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3; emissions intensity.

–  Transition risks: amount and extent of assets or business activities vulnerable to transition risks.

–  Physical risks: amount and extent of assets or business activities vulnerable to physical risks.

–  Climate-related opportunities: proportion of revenue, assets, or other business activities aligned with climate-

related opportunities.

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8

–  Capital deployment: amount of capital expenditure, financing, or investment deployed toward climate-related risks 

OFR 7.8

and opportunities.

–  Internal carbon prices: price on each tonne of GHG emissions used internally by an organisation.

–  Remuneration: proportion of executive management remuneration linked to climate considerations.

OFR 7.8

OFR 7.8

Remuneration Report 3.2

1 

 Our sustainability standards index is included in our ESG Standards and Databook, available at bhp.com/sustainability.

32

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Reporting standards 
and frameworks
We commit to many sustainability frameworks, 
standards and initiatives and disclose 
data according to their requirements. 
Our sustainability reporting, including on 
our website and in our ESG Standards and 
Databook, is prepared in accordance with 
the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 2021 
Sustainability Reporting Standards, the 
International Council on Mining and Metals 
(ICMM) Sustainable Development Framework, 
the Task Force on Climate-related Financial 
Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and 
the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 
(SASB) Metals and Mining standard. It also 
serves as our UN Global Compact (UNGC) 
Communication on Progress on implementation 
of the UNGC Ten Principles and support for 
its broader development objectives. We have 
included a summary of our TCFD disclosures in 
the table below. 

There are also responsible mining and sourcing 
standards that we commit to voluntarily or as 
part of our memberships. 

For more information about our 
implementation of these standards refer to 
OFR 7.9 Value Chain Sustainability

7.2  Our material 
sustainability issues
Annual sustainability  
materiality assessment 
Each year we identify the sustainability 
issues most material to our business and 
stakeholders by assessing the economic, 
social, environmental and cultural impact of our 
activities and business relationships. 

In FY2022, we adopted the approach of the 
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI 3: Material 
Topics 2021) to consider actual and potential 
negative and positive impacts of our business 
in order to determine our material sustainability 
issues for reporting. In doing so we considered 
BHP’s material risk profile1, information 
recorded in our internal event management 
system, our social value framework and 
social investment priorities and a number 
of other sources. These included issues 
raised at our Annual General Meetings and 
through industry sustainability standards and 
benchmark assessments. We also consult with 
stakeholders, such as through the BHP Forum 
on Corporate Responsibility, via ESG investor 
round tables and advisory groups and with 
internal stakeholders via focused discussions. 

The material sustainability issues identified 
through our FY2022 assessment are shown in 
the table below. These issues are consistent 
with our FY2021 assessment with the addition of 
security services, sexual harassment and value 
chain sustainability.

1 

‘Material’ in this context refers to the materiality of a 
risk under BHP’s Risk Framework. For information 
on our Risk Framework refer to OFR 9.

7.3  Our sustainability 
performance: 
Non-financial key 
performance indicators
We completed our most recent five-
year sustainability targets in FY2022. 
Highlights include three years fatality-free, a 
reduction in the total number of workers exposed 
to our most material occupational exposures 
by 68 per cent, a 15 per cent decrease in 
operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
from our adjusted FY2017 baseline, social 
investment of US$681.4 million over five years 
and a 29 per cent reduction in freshwater 
withdrawal volumes from our adjusted 
FY2017 baseline.

The FY2017 baselines and FY2018 – FY2022 
data for our occupational exposures, GHG 
emissions and withdrawal of freshwater have 
been adjusted for the merger of our Petroleum 
business with Woodside and divestment of our 
interest in BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) in FY2022, 
(to exclude data related to those operations), 
together with adjustments made and reported in 
previous years to ensure ongoing comparability 
of performance. FY2022 data for safety, social 
investment and significant community and 
environmental events includes the operated 
assets in our Petroleum business up to the date 
of the merger (1 June 2022) and BMC up to the 
date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022). 

Material sustainability issues identified in this year’s assessment

Environment

Climate change 
OFR 7.8

Environment 
OFR 7.15

People

People 
OFR 6

Safety 
OFR 7.4

Biodiversity and land 
OFR 7.17

Water 
OFR 7.16

Tailings storage  
facilities 
OFR 7.18

Health (including 
COVID-19) 
OFR 7.6

Sexual harassment 
OFR 7.5

Security services 
OFR 7.12

Social

Governance

Other

Indigenous 
peoples (including 
cultural heritage) 
OFR 7.13

Community 
OFR 7.10

Human rights 
OFR 7.11

Ethics and 
business conduct 
OFR 7.7

Sustainability  
governance 
OFR 7.1

Value chain  
sustainability 
OFR 7.9

Critical incident 
risk management 
OFR 8; 9.1

Digital security 
OFR 9.1

Economic performance 
ECR

Market presence 
Annual Report 2022

Public policy 
OFR 8

Tax 
ECR

BHP

Annual Report 2022

33

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

Our sustainability performance: Non-financial key performance indicators

Target

Zero work-related fatalities 

FY2022 result

Year-on-year

Zero work-related fatalities and there was a 30 per cent decrease in the high-
potential injury frequency rate from FY2021. High-potential injury trends remain 
a primary focus to assess progress against our most important safety objective, 
eliminating fatalities.

Year-on-year improvement of total recordable injury 
frequency (TRIF)4 per million hours worked 

An increase in total recordable injury frequency (TRIF) of 8 per cent from 
FY2021. This shift was influenced by COVID-19 through an 8 per cent 
reduction in hours worked between the first and second halves of FY2022. 
TRIF has decreased by 9 per cent since FY2018. 

50 per cent reduction in the number of 
workers potentially exposed5 to our most 
material exposures of diesel particulate matter, 
respirable silica and coal mine dust compared 
to our FY20176 baseline by FY2022 

We exceeded our target by reducing the total number of workers potentially 
exposed to our most material exposures by 68 per cent compared to our 
adjusted FY2017 baseline6

Adjusted FY2017 baseline6 
FY20186 
FY20196 
FY20206 
FY20216,7 
FY20226 

e
l
p
o
e
P

y
t
e
i
c
o
S

e
t
a
m

i
l

C

e
g
n
a
h
c

t
n
e
m
n
o
r
i
v
n
E

Zero significant community events8 

No significant community events resulting from BHP operated activities were 
recorded in FY2022

Not less than 1 per cent of pre-tax profits9 
invested in community programs that contribute 
to the quality of life in the communities where 
we operate and support the achievement of 
the UN Sustainable Development Goals10 

By FY2022, implement our Indigenous Peoples 
Strategy across all our operated assets through the 
development of Regional Indigenous Peoples Plans 

By FY2022, maintain operational (Scope 1 and 
Scope 2) GHG emissions at or below FY2017 
levels12 while we continue to grow our business 

Social investment of US$681.4 million over five years

Regional Indigenous People Plans have been implemented across Australia 
(Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)) and North and South America

Exceeded our short-term target with a 15 per cent decrease in operational GHG 
emissions from our adjusted FY2017 baseline12

Zero significant environmental events8

No significant environmental events resulting from BHP operated activities were 
recorded in FY2022

Reduce FY2022 withdrawal of fresh water13 
by 15 per cent from FY2017 levels

Exceeded our target, with a 29 per cent reduction in freshwater withdrawal 
volumes compared to our adjusted FY2017 baseline14

By FY2022, improve marine and 
terrestrial biodiversity outcomes by: 

–  developing a framework to evaluate and verify the 
benefits of our actions, in collaboration with others 

–  contributing to the management of areas of national 
or international conservation significance exceeding 
our disturbed land footprint (‘area conserved’ target)

Biodiversity framework was developed with the support of Conservation 
International and Proteus, a cross-sector partnership between the 
UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre  
(UNEP WCMC) and business

‘Area conserved’ target has been met by our operational and voluntary 
conservation investments over the target period, given BHP’s FY2022 
total disturbed land footprint was 149,312 hectares

FY20181 
FY20192 
FY2020 
FY2021 
FY20223 

FY20181 
FY20192  
FY2020  
FY2021  
FY20223 

FY2018 
FY2019 
FY2020 
FY2021 
FY20223 

FY20181 
FY201911 
FY2020 
FY2021 
FY20223 

2
1 
0 
0 
0

4.4 
4.7
4.2 
3.7 
4.0

4,176
2,803 
2,160 
1,683 
1,372
1,333

0 
0 
0 
0
0

US$77.1 million 
US$93.5 million 
US$149.6 million 
US$174.8 million
US$186.4 million

Adjusted FY2017 baseline12 12.9 million 
tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2-e)
FY201812 
13.8 MtCO2-e 
FY201912  
14.1 MtCO2-e 
FY202012 
14.5 MtCO2-e 
FY202112  
14.6 MtCO2-e
FY202212 
11.0 MtCO2-e

FY2018  
FY2019  
FY2020  
FY2021 
FY20223 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0

Adjusted FY2017 baseline14 
FY201814 
FY201914 
FY202014 
FY202114 
FY202214 

152,249 ML
133,265ML 
149,237ML 
122,331ML 
108,440ML
107,398ML

Year-on-year progress on development of 
framework to evaluate and verify the benefits 
of our actions

The total land set aside for conservation on 
land on which we operate and other land 
we steward was 65,870 hectares in FY2022. 
In addition to these conservation areas, we 
made several voluntary investments over the 
target period, of which an area of 4,465,260 
hectares contributed to the achievement of the 
‘area conserved’ target

1  FY2018 data includes Continuing and Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets). 
2  FY2019 data includes Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets) to 28 February 2019 and Continuing operations. 
3  FY2022 data includes the operated assets in our Petroleum business up to the date of the merger with Woodside (1 June 2022) and BMC up to the date of completion of the sale 

(3 May 2022).

4  The sum of (fatalities + lost-time cases + restricted work cases + medical treatment cases) multiplied by 1 million/actual hours worked by our employees and contractors. Stated in units 

of per million hours worked. We adopt the US Government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration Guidelines for the recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses. 

5  For exposures exceeding our FY2017 baseline occupational exposure limits without considering protection afforded by the use of personal protective equipment (where required). 
The baseline exposure profile (as at 30 June 2017) is derived through a combination of quantitative exposure measurements and qualitative assessments undertaken by specialist 
occupational hygienists consistent with best practice as defined by the American Industrial Hygiene Association. 

6  The FY2017 baseline has been adjusted for Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets and Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC. These adjustments have also been applied 

to FY2018-FY2022 emissions stated in this table to aid comparability.

7  As of FY2021, the Occupational Exposure Limit for Coal was reduced to 1.5 mg/m3 compared to 2.0 mg/m3 in previous years.
8  A significant event resulting from BHP operated activities is one with an actual severity rating of four or above, based on our internal severity rating scale (tiered from one to five 

by increasing severity) as defined in our mandatory minimum performance requirements for risk management.

9  To date, our voluntary social investment has been calculated as 1 per cent of the average of the previous three years’ pre-tax profit. For FY2023–FY2030, our social investment  

will be assessed as a total over the seven-year goals period to FY2030, rather than calculated as an average of the previous three years’ pre-tax profit.

10  Expenditure includes BHP’s equity share for operated and non-operated joint ventures, and comprises cash, administrative costs, including costs to facilitate the operation of the 

BHP Foundation.

11  FY2019 data includes Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets) to 31 October 2018 and Continuing operations. 
12  FY2017 baseline has been adjusted for Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets and Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC and for methodological changes (use of 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report 5 Global Warming Potentials and the move to a facility-specific emissions calculation methodology for fugitives 
at Caval Ridge). These adjustments have also been applied to FY2018-FY2022 emissions stated in this table to aid comparability. 

13  ‘Withdrawal’ is defined as water withdrawn and intended for use (in accordance with ‘Water Reporting Good Practice Guide’, ICMM (2021)). ‘Fresh water’ is defined as waters other than 
seawater, wastewater from third parties and hypersaline groundwater. Freshwater withdrawal also excludes entrained water that would not be available for other uses. These exclusions 
have been made to align with the target’s intent to reduce the use of freshwater sources subject to competition from other users or the environment.

14  The FY2017 baseline has been adjusted to account for: the materiality of the strike affecting water withdrawals at Escondida in FY2017 and improvements to water balance methodologies 
at WAIO and BMA, exclusion of hypersaline, wastewater, entrainment, supplies from desalination and removal of data for Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets and Petroleum) and 
BMC. These adjustments have also been applied to FY2018-FY2022 freshwater withdrawal stated in this table to aid comparability.

34

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
7.4  Safety
Our highest priority is the 
safety of our workforce and the 
communities where we operate. 

Our safety performance
In FY2022, we recorded: 

–  no fatalities at BHP

–  a decrease of 30 per cent in the high-
potential injury frequency rate from 
FY2021. The highest number of events 
with potential for one or more fatalities was 
related to vehicle and mobile equipment 
accidents. High-potential injury trends 
remain a primary focus to assess progress 
against our most important safety objective, 
eliminating fatalities

–  an increase in total recordable injury 

frequency (TRIF) of 8 per cent from FY2021. 
This shift was influenced by COVID-19 
through an 8 per cent reduction in hours 
worked between the first and second halves 
of FY2022. TRIF has decreased by 9 per cent 
since FY2018. The highest number of injuries 
was related to slips, trips and falls for both 
employees and contractors

–  a consistent application of field leadership 
activities, which occurred at a sustainable 
frequency rate of 9,341 activities per million 
hours worked with over 1,517,117 activities 
completed and more than 68,000 employees 
and contractors participating in the program at 
least once. Scheduled activities compared to 
non-scheduled activities increased by 46 per 
cent from FY2021 and coaching increased by 
6 per cent

–  one safety fine at our operated assets

Our results were achieved through a sustained 
focus on improving our management of risk, 
including through new and existing programs 
such as:

–  Fatality Elimination Program

–  Integrated Contractor Management Program

–  Field Leadership Program

Fatality Elimination Program 
In FY2022, we continued our Fatality Elimination 
Program (FEL) towards our goal of no fatalities 
across our business. 

Fatality elimination is not a new priority for 
us. We have been seeking to improve our 
safety performance for many years and have 
considerably reduced high-potential injuries. 
However, there continues to be more to do to 
systematise a common set of controls. 

In FY2022 we:

–  developed five-year fatality elimination 
roadmap guidelines, including the 
recommended sequencing of strengthened 
controls based on effort, cost and near miss 
reduction impact 

–  updated the Our Requirements for Safety 

standard to reflect FEL deliverables

–  created the ‘Control Shift’ methodology for 

assets to replicate FEL processes for specific 
risks not considered within our top 10 risks 
(i.e. vehicle and mobile equipment, dropped 
object, electrical, lifting, geotechnical failure, 
entanglement/crushing, energy release, loss 
of containment, fire/explosion, fall from height)

–  created an online dashboard to enhance 

local implementation plans, providing global 
visibility of challenges, similarities and 
differences, thereby assisting assets with 
their implementation

–  published technical bulletins related to FEL 
controls to provide detailed implementation 
guidance based on site experience and 
lessons learnt

–  undertook a human performance 

benchmarking study to identify the latest 
developments and best practices in the field 
of human behaviour

Performance data – workforce health and safety for FY20221

High-potential injuries2

Year ended 30 June 

High-potential injuries

High-potential injury frequency3

Total recordable injury frequency 

Year ended 30 June 

Total recordable injury frequency4

2022

23

2021

33

2020

42

Employees

Contractors

0.03

0.03

2022

4.0

2021

3.7

2020

4.2

Total recordable injury frequency3

Employees

Contractors

0.77

0.82

1  Data includes BMC up to the date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022) and operated assets in our Petroleum 

business up to the date of the merger with Woodside (1 June 2022).

2  High-potential injury includes injuries with fatality potential. The basis of calculation was revised in FY2020 from 

event count to injury count as part of a safety reporting methodology improvement.

3  Employee and contractor frequency per 200,000 hours worked.
4  Combined employee and contractor frequency per 1 million hours worked.

Integrated Contractor 
Management Program
Our Integrated Contractor Management 
Program is designed to make it safer and easier 
for contractors to work with us. Introduced in 
FY2020, the program is focused on building 
long-term mutually beneficial relationships, 
integrating and simplifying processes and 
systems, and creating an inclusive, respectful 
and caring workforce culture. Since its 
introduction, the program has standardised 
roles and responsibilities of contract owners 
and promoted improved partnerships with BHP 
service providers through the implementation 
of the Our Requirements for Contractor 
Management standard for existing and new 
onsite service contracts.

In FY2022 we:

–  developed the scope of work library 

as an online resource containing best 
practice examples for different types of 
contractor engagements

–  created contract execution plans as a 

means of applying the Our Requirements for 
Contractor Management standard

–  established an integration stream ensuring 

enhancements are holistic and cover 
functional interactions

–  undertook assurance and audit activities 

across BHP including contractor engagements

–  implemented a contractor perception survey 
that runs in parallel with our internal survey. 
The survey highlighted some results on 
the experience of our contractor workforce 
consistent with the internal survey and other 
areas of focus

–  determined organisational design changes 

to improve contract ownership and 
management practices

–  commenced deployment of a technology 
solution which supports an enterprise-
wide approach to contractor on-boarding 
and management

Field Leadership Program
Leaders spending time in the field is vital to 
maintaining safe operations. Our global Field 
Leadership Program encourages the workforce 
to provide feedback to their leaders about 
safety to reinforce an interdependent culture of 
safety. It involves leaders engaging with workers 
in the field to drive a common approach to 
improving health, safety and environment (HSE) 
performance. The program helps verify that 
critical safety controls are in place, being applied 
and are effective in managing risks that have the 
potential to result in fatalities.

In FY2022 we:

–  enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness 
of supervisor time in the field by integrating 
the BHP Operating System (BOS) process 
confirmation and field leadership planned 
task observation processes into a planned 
task confirmation

–  continued to improve the quality of field 

leadership activities by increasing coaching 
and delivery of field leadership engagements

–  conducted field leadership activities to 

support the verification of risks that have 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

35

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

the potential to result in fatalities across our 
operated assets

–  embedded the global, standardised field 

leadership procedure designed to increase 
the effectiveness of field leadership activities 
across the business 

–  conducted field leadership on COVID-19 

controls, designed to sustain effectiveness 
within the changing environment

More information 
on safety is available at bhp.com/safety

7.5  Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment1 is not acceptable and is 
contrary to our values. Our position on this is 
clear and aligned to our aspiration of a gender-
balanced employee workforce by FY2025. 
Gender balance in every team and at every level 
is an important part of our approach to eliminate 
sexual harassment.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s most 
recent national survey on sexual harassment 
in Australian workplaces has found that 71 per 
cent of Australians have been sexually harassed 
in their lifetimes and 39 per cent of Australian 
women experienced sexual harassment in the 
workplace in the five years to 2018. The same 
survey concluded that in the mining industry 
an estimated 74 per cent of women and 32 per 
cent of men had experienced workplace sexual 
harassment in the past five years. Back in 
2018, we accepted those findings as true for 
our industry and for BHP globally, and we have 
focused on understanding why the behaviours 
exist, and what we needed to do to urgently 
address them at BHP.

We are deeply sorry and apologise unreservedly 
to those who have experienced, or continue 
to experience, any form of sexual harassment 
anywhere at BHP. We recognise the harmful 
impacts on individuals resulting from 
these behaviours.

We understand that it can be difficult for people 
to come forward to report sexual harassment 
and thank all of those who have, for their 
courage in doing so. We are also grateful to 
our employees and other stakeholders for 
their insights and suggestions for changes in 
our workplaces. Their feedback informs our 
approach. We are determined to make continued 
progress in eliminating sexual harassment and in 
ensuring our workplaces are safe and inclusive 
for everyone. 

1 

‘Sexual harassment’ is, as defined in the Respect@
Work report, an unwelcome sexual advance, 
unwelcome request for sexual favours or other 
unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which 
makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/
or intimidated, where a reasonable person would 
anticipate that reaction in the circumstances. 
Sexual harassment encompasses a range of 
conduct including displaying sexually graphic 
images, sexually suggestive comments, suggestive 
or inappropriate looks, gestures or staring, non-
consensual touching or acts of a sexual nature and 
sexual assault. 

2  EthicsPoint is our confidential reporting tool. It is 

accessible to all, including external stakeholders and 
the public, to report conduct that may be unethical, 
illegal or inconsistent with Our Code of Conduct.

3  This does not include investigations that are 

currently in progress.

36

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Our approach to prevent  
sexual harassment
In 2018, we defined sexual harassment as a 
health and safety risk, to be overseen in the same 
way as other occupational health and safety risks. 
This approach provides the right framework for 
addressing these behaviours, allowing us to apply 
a systematic, risk-based approach to evaluating 
and managing the risks. Our approach includes 
conducting risk assessments to identify scenarios 
in which sexual harassment risks may arise, their 
causes and the controls we can implement to 
prevent them and reduce harm.

As part of our risk assessment processes, 
we engaged members of our workforce with 
experience at site and accommodation villages, 
and experts in health and safety, harassment and 
inclusion and diversity. Through this, we identified 
factors that can contribute to the risk of workplace 
sexual harassment that are more pronounced 
in the mining industry, as well as factors that are 
common across all industries and workplaces. 
Examples of risks that can be more pronounced 
in the mining industry include isolated or remote 
working locations, a largely male-dominated 
workforce and accommodation villages. 

Taking these into account, we identified and 
developed controls and actions to help prevent 
sexual harassment and reduce its harmful 
impacts. Our core controls and areas for 
action are culture, leadership and training; 
security measures at accommodation villages; 
recruitment processes; contractor and third-party 
engagement; emergency response; trauma-
informed (wellbeing) care; accessible, confidential 
reporting and person-centred investigations; and 
appropriate disciplinary action. 

Reports of sexual harassment
The reporting rate of sexual harassment at BHP 
has increased in recent years. We believe this 
reflects the actions we have taken to increase 
awareness and promote and centralise reporting 
and investigations, along with broader societal 
developments and intolerance of this behaviour. 
Since October 2020, BHP managers and leaders 
have been required to enter any serious conduct 
issues raised directly with them, including sexual 
harassment, into EthicsPoint2 (anonymously if 
requested). This year, 47 per cent of reports 
received into EthicsPoint have been logged 
by managers or leaders in accordance with 
this policy.

During FY2022, across BHP’s global operations 
and offices, 103 reported and investigated 
cases of conduct of sexual harassment were 
substantiated.3 

Of the 103 substantiated cases:

–  37 involved non-consensual kissing or 

touching of a sexual nature, which includes a 
broad range of behaviour of varying severity. 
None of these cases involved non-consensual 
penetration or intercourse, however we 
recognise that this conduct can occur and has 
occurred in the past,

–  66 involved other forms of sexual harassment, 
including inappropriate comments of a sexual 
nature, unwelcome gestures or comments, 
sending inappropriate text messages or 

images, or other unwanted advances 
or invitations, 

–  Of these 103 substantiated cases, in 101 

cases the individual responsible has had their 
employment terminated (or they have been 
removed from site if a contractor), they have 
resigned or are otherwise no longer working 
at BHP.

In addition to the matters listed above, in FY2022 
87 reports of sexual harassment went through 
Alternative Resolution Options (AROs). AROs are 
alternative forms of response and resolution 
other than investigations, including supported 
conversations with respondents, additional 
training, monitoring or awareness raising on 
BHP’s expectations of respectful behaviours in 
the workplace. This process only occurs where an 
ARO is proportionate to the nature of the conduct 
and with the agreement of the impacted person. 

We continue to work with external experts on 
how best to respond to cases to ensure we have 
a proportionate approach to reports. We will 
continue to monitor and review the use of AROs 
to ensure it is meeting the needs of impacted 
people where it is used and to improve reporting 
to support organisational learnings.

We will continue to encourage reporting and we 
are committed to taking action. We put the needs 
of anyone impacted by this behaviour at the 
forefront of our processes and we are committed 
to validating, caring for and supporting anyone in 
our business who is affected by this behaviour. 
This includes internal practical and wellbeing 
support mechanisms, support through our tailored 
Employee Assistance Program and options to 
access trauma-specific clinical and non-clinical 
care with experienced clinicians.

We are committed to working closely with our 
people, others in industry and other stakeholders 
to implement the necessary processes and 
systems designed to ensure our workplaces are 
safe and inclusive for everyone.

Actions we are taking

Oversight

In FY2022, a Project Management Office (PMO) 
was established through the office of the CEO 
to provide central governance over all sexual 
harassment work. The priority focus areas 
of that work include driving progress toward 
gender balance, creating a safe and respectful 
workplace, building accountability and capability 
of leaders, upskilling our workforce to be ‘active 
bystanders’, enhancing our policies, processes 
and controls, and providing person-centred and 
trauma-informed response and support. The PMO 
reports on progress against implementation of 
our critical controls and other key focus areas 
that underpin our overarching sexual harassment 
prevention strategy to senior management and 
the Board.

Security and physical infrastructure

We have continued to invest in security programs 
and physical infrastructure designed to prevent 
and respond to sexual harassment at our 
accommodation facilities. Our minimum security 
requirements for all BHP owned and operated 
accommodation villages include requirements for 
access controls, village policies and procedures 

to manage respectful behaviours, CCTV, lighting, 
security signage, room allocation procedures, 
security personnel and incident response. 

Reporting and response

We encourage our workforce to report concerns, 
including providing centralised and confidential 
reporting tools and mandatory reporting 
requirements for line leaders. We do not tolerate 
any form of retaliation for raising a concern 
and we address these actions if they occur. 
We ceased using non-disclosure agreements 
(NDAs) or imposing confidentiality obligations on 
complainants in settlement agreements relating to 
sexual harassment in March 2019 and we do not 
enforce any NDAs or confidentiality obligations on 
complainants in historical agreements. 

Investigation of reports of sexual harassment 
are conducted by our specialised Central 
Investigation team, which is independent of our 
other business units. This team includes experts 
trained in a person-centred, trauma-informed 
approach to ensure that the impacted person is 
placed at the centre of all decisions made during 
the investigation process and to minimise the risk 
of further harm to that individual.

We established our global Support Service in 
FY2022, to provide dedicated, end-to-end case 
coordination for anyone impacted by sexual 
harassment, designed to ensure they obtain 
appropriate support and information. The Support 
Service can also provide resolution options when 
an investigation is not wanted by the impacted 
person or cannot proceed.

Communication of expectations

Our position on sexual harassment has been 
reinforced through regular senior leadership 
communications. These include messages 
from our CEO, on-site signage regarding our 
expectations and avenues for support, and we 
have provided sexual harassment prevention 
training to BHP line leaders, aimed at setting 
clear expectations about appropriate conduct 
and driving consistent disciplinary outcomes. 
Across June and July 2022, we held Safety Stops 
specifically focused on sexual harassment, racism 
and bullying for our teams globally. The stops 
were intended to build awareness, understanding, 
and capability, as well as to reinforce expectations 
within our teams. 

Alcohol use

As part of our commitment to health and safety, 
all workplaces should be free from the use of 
alcohol and illegal drugs, and the misuse of 
other substances, in accordance with Our Code 
of Conduct. All those who attend a BHP site, 
including employees, are expected to be alcohol 
and drug free, and may be asked to undergo 
random alcohol and drug testing. We also provide 
support for those who need it to address an 
alcohol or drug dependency. 

For accommodation villages, our Minerals 
Australia Alcohol Management Standard was 
implemented across our owned and operated 
village facilities from 1 July 2021. It includes 
a range of limits on alcohol consumption. 
Residents and visitors who breach the standard 
may be subject to action, including removal of 
access to the village for a resident or visitor, 
or disciplinary action for employees. Since the 

introduction of the standard, our reviews have 
indicated that there has been a reduction in 
alcohol consumption, and residents are making 
healthier choices, with an increase in the use of 
recreational facilities. Alcohol is not permitted at 
our accommodation villages in Chile and Canada.

Listening to employees, measuring progress 
and assigning accountability

We have channels through which the Board and 
senior leaders receive information on workplace 
culture and conduct. These include anonymous 
employee and contractor perception surveys and 
our Field Leadership Program. Our perception 
surveys are conducted three times per year and 
were redesigned in FY2021 to include more 
targeted questions to provide leaders with greater 
insight into key safety and engagement metrics, 
which we have identified as critical foundations for 
our culture. Executive leadership and Group-wide 
performance criteria are linked to remuneration 
that includes progress towards greater inclusion, 
diversity and gender representation. In FY2022, 
we introduced key performance indicators for 
our Executive Leadership Team and other BHP 
employees that linked remuneration outcomes to 
progress against our program of work to address 
sexual harassment. This includes implementation 
of controls in line with BHP’s sexual harassment 
risk assessments. 

Engaging with and learning from others

We continue to measure and test our focus and 
areas for action. In FY2022 we:

–  engaged and learnt from external experts who 
reviewed the controls we have in place and 
advised on best practice in preventing sexual 
harassment, and minimising further harm 
when responding to sexual harassment

–  engaged Kristen Hilton (former Victorian 
Equal Opportunity and Human Rights 
Commissioner) to provide expert guidance on 
our prevention and response framework 

–  conducted a sexual harassment audit across 
Minerals Americas further to the FY2021 
sexual harassment audit conducted across 
Minerals Australia

–  contributed to knowledge sharing with other 
industry participants in relation to addressing 
sexual harassment, and considered broader 
learnings from external reports such as the 
Australian Human Rights Commission’s 
Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National 
Inquiry Report and the Report into Workplace 
Culture at Rio Tinto by Elizabeth Broderick & Co

–  worked with our contracting and supplier 

organisations to address sexual harassment, 
including collaboration on response protocols, 
joint training sessions and knowledge sharing

–  undertook a series of listening workshops

Through these initiatives we identified a need 
for further focus on preventative controls, 
particularly with respect to culture and 
behaviours. This is in addition to the controls 
already in place or committed for implementation 
in FY2022 which included security, 
accommodation standards, alcohol measures, 
recruitment and discipline.

We are committed to working with others in 
the industry and beyond to address sexual 

harassment risks. BHP is a member of the 
Minerals Council of Australia Respect@Work 
Taskforce and the Chamber of Minerals & 
Energy WA Safe and Respectful Behaviours 
Working Group. Both groups aim to build industry 
capability and capacity though sharing knowledge 
and developing shared resources.

In FY2022, we participated in Western Australia’s 
parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment 
against women in the FIFO mining industry 
(WA Inquiry), including through a detailed 
written submission in August 2021 (available at 
parliament.wa.gov.au). BHP welcomes the final 
report titled ‘Enough is enough’ released on 
23 June 2022. We acknowledge the significant 
work of the parliamentary committee and 
in particular, the many people who shared 
their stories and experiences as part of the 
inquiry process. 

Continuing to make progress 
While we have made progress, there is still 
much more to do. Our focus in FY2023 will be 
to continue:

–  focusing on increasing female leader 
representation across our operations

–  continuous improvement across our suite 

of controls

–   engaging with our people, encouraging and 
empowering them to take action as active 
bystanders and enhance capability

–  encouraging increased reporting

–  enhancing our approach to supporting 

impacted persons to thrive at BHP and have 
successful careers with us

7.6  Health
We are committed to protecting 
the health and wellbeing 
of our workforce. 

We set clear mandatory minimum performance 
standards to identify, assess and manage health 
risks and their potential impacts and monitor the 
health of our workforce. 

Occupational illness
The reported occurrence of occupational illness1 
for employees in FY2022 was 265, which was 
3.89 per million hours worked, representing a 
decrease in incidence compared to FY2021, 
which was 4.36 per million hours worked. 

For our contractor workforce, the reported 
occupational illness1 in FY2022 was 151, which 
was 1.61 per million hours worked, representing 
a decrease in incidence compared to FY2021 
which was 1.87 per million hours worked. Due to 
regulatory regimes and limited access to data, 
we do not have full oversight of the incidence of 
contractor noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) cases.

Musculoskeletal illness is the predominant 
occupational illness category representing 65 
per cent of our workforce illnesses. These are 
conditions impacting the musculoskeletal system 
and connective tissues caused by repetitive work-
related stress or strain or exposure over time. 

1  An illness that occurs as a consequence of work-

related activities or exposure.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

37

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

Musculoskeletal illness does not include disorders 
caused by slips, trips, falls or similar incidents. 

Noise-induced hearing loss contributes to the 
second highest illness category representing 
10 per cent of illnesses. Where workers are 
exposed to noise above acceptable levels, 
workers are placed in hearing conservation 
programs, which include a periodic hearing test 
and hearing protection fit testing. Through our 
Sustainability in Design program, we have 
also established design recommendations that 
seek to eliminate or reduce high or prolonged 
noise exposures. Other illness categories 
include skin diseases, temperature-related 
illnesses, mental illness, bites, stings and 
other unspecified illnesses.

Our occupational illness data excludes 
cases of COVID-19 among our employees 
and contractors. In settings of high levels of 
community transmission and with an evolving 
understanding of the epidemiological criteria for 
infection and COVID-19 variants with evidence of 
increased transmission, it is difficult to conclude, 
with reasonable certainty, that a person was 
infected because of work-related activities or 
exposure. For information on our response to 
COVID-19, refer to ‘COVID-19’ further in 7.6.

Occupational exposures
Occupational exposure limits (OELs) for our 
most material exposures are set according 
to the latest scientific evidence, which for a 
number of agents, such as diesel particulate 
matter (DPM), resulted in lower limits than 

Occupational illness
Per million employee hours worked1,2,3

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0

3
7
.
0

1
7
.
2

8
4
.
1

1
5
.
0

8
4
.
2

9
1
.
1

2
7
.
0

5
5
.
2

1
1
.
1

7
8
.
0

4
8
.
2

9
5
.
0

5
7
.
0

9
6
.
2

2
9
.
0

5
7
.
0

4
5
.
2

0
6
.
0

FY2017

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

     Noise-induced hearing loss         Musculoskeletal illness         Other illnesses

1  Data includes BMC up to the date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022), operated assets in our Petroleum 

business up to the date of the merger with Woodside (1 June 2022) and Onshore US assets up to the date of 
completion of the sale (31 October 2018), as applicable.
2  Occupational illnesses excludes COVID-19 related data.
3  Due to the lag nature of incident reporting and subsequent verification, final results may vary post reporting. 

Prior year data has not been adjusted.

Occupational illness
Per million contractor hours worked1,2,3,4

2.25

2.00

1.75

1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25

0

8
6
.
0

4
2
.
1

6
5
.
0

6
0
.
1

1
5
.
0

2
9
.
0

7
5
.
0

0
3
.
1

4
5
.
0

6
0
.
1

4
4
.
0

7
9
.
0

2
0
.
0

FY2017

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

     Noise-induced hearing loss         Musculoskeletal illness         Other illnesses

1  Data includes BMC up to the date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022), operated assets in our Petroleum 

business up to the date of the merger with Woodside (1 June 2022) and Onshore US assets up to the date of 
completion of the sale (31 October 2018), as applicable.
2  Occupational illnesses excludes COVID-19 related data.
3  Due to the lag nature of incident reporting and subsequent verification, final results may vary post reporting. 

Prior year data has not been adjusted.

4  Due to regulatory regimes and limited access to data, we do not have full oversight of the incidence  

of contractor noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) cases.

38

BHP

Annual Report 2022

the applicable regulatory requirements. 
Where exposures potentially exceed regulatory 
limits or our stricter limits, respiratory protective 
equipment is required. 

For our most material exposures of DPM, silica 
and coal mine dust, we had a five-year target to 
achieve, by the end of FY2022, a 50 per cent 
reduction in the number of workers potentially 
exposed1 as compared to our 30 June 2017 
baseline exposure profile.2,3,4 Exposure data 
in this Report in all cases is presented without 
considering protection afforded by the use of 
personal protective equipment (where required).

We are pleased to have achieved our target by 
reducing the total number of workers potentially 
exposed to our most material exposures by 
68 per cent. That achievement at the end 
of FY2022 in number of workers potentially 
exposed to levels exceeding our OELs include; 
no workers potentially exposed to coal mine 
dust, 78 per cent reduction in the number of 
workers potentially exposed to DPM5 and a 61 
per cent reduction in the number of workers 
potentially exposed to respirable silica. 

This year, an internal audit conducted on FY2021 
workforce occupational exposures data at Nickel 
West identified that a statistical analysis error 
resulted in an underestimation of the number of 
workers assessed as potentially exposed to DPM. 

This has resulted in an increase in the FY2021 
total number of workers potentially exposed 
to material exposures compared to what was 
reported last year. 

With the conclusion of our five-year public target, 
we will continue to manage exposures to as 
low as reasonably practicable by focusing our 
efforts in FY2023 on further implementation 
of exposure reduction projects, sustaining the 
exposure reductions achieved by leveraging 
our Risk Framework and identifying exposure 
reduction opportunities for inclusion in FY2024 
plans and beyond. 

Coal mine dust lung disease
As at 30 June 2022, 12 cases of coal mine dust 
lung disease (CMDLD)6 among our employees 
were reported to the Queensland Department of 
Natural Resources Mines and Energy (DNRME).7 
In addition to these cases, there were four 

1  For exposures exceeding our FY2017 occupational 
exposure limits, without considering protection 
afforded by the use of personal protective equipment 
(where required).

2  The baseline exposure profile is derived through a 

combination of quantitative exposure measurements  
and qualitative assessments undertaken by 
specialist occupational hygienists consistent with 
best practice as defined by the American Industrial 
Hygiene Association.

3  Occupational Exposure target excludes Projects.
4  The FY2017 to FY2022 data has been adjusted 

to exclude Discontinued operations (Onshore US 
assets, Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC.

5  FY2021 data includes adjustment to DPM exposures 

as a result of misstatement in previous year.
6  CMDLD is the name given to the lung diseases 

related to exposure to coal mine dust and includes 
coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, silicosis, mixed 
dust pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive 
pulmonary disease.

7  Cases reported to DNRME are not an indication 

of work relatedness. BHP evaluates each case 
for work relatedness and where identified, the 
case will be included in illness reporting.

Exposure reduction trend over time1,2,3,4,5

Business conduct cases  
by issue type FY2022

4,200

3,500

2,800

2,100

1,400

700

0

6
5
4
1

,

6
0
6
2

,

4
1
1

0
0
5

5
9
2

,

2

8

7
7
3

3
8
7

,

1

9
6
1

4
1
5
1

,

2
1
3

6
4
0

,

1

4
1

7
2
3

6
0
0

,

1

FY2017

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

     Coal mine dust exposures          Silica exposures            DPM (Diesel) exposures

 Harassment and bullying 

 Sexual harassment 

  Fraud  

  Discrimination  

  Other1  

  Health, safety or environment breach  

  Retaliation for speaking up 

49.6%

11.9%

9.8%

8.4%

8.6%

9.8%

2%

1  For exposures exceeding our FY2017 occupational exposure limits, without considering protection afforded by 

the use of personal protective equipment (where required).

2  The baseline exposure profile is derived through a combination of quantitative exposure measurements and 

qualitative assessments undertaken by specialist occupational hygienists consistent with best practice as defined 
by the American Industrial Hygiene Association.
3  Occupational Exposure target excludes Projects
4  The FY2017 to FY2022 data has been adjusted to exclude Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets, 

Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC.

5  FY2021 data includes adjustment to DPM exposures as a result of misstatement in previous year.

1 

 Inclusions are anti-competitive behaviour; 
attempts to identify an anonymous reporter, 
community relations or human rights breach; 
cybersecurity or data privacy breach; deficiencies 
in a business conduct investigation; improper 
political or governmental conduct; inappropriate or 
unauthorised external communication; information 
on other support service providers; physical 
violence; and trade control breach.

coal mine dust lung disease claims accepted 
in FY2022, which consisted of three former 
workers and one current worker. For cases 
involving current employees, we offer counselling, 
medical support and redeployment options 
where relevant. 

Mental health
The mental health of our people continues to be 
a focus. In FY2022, we continued to implement 
our Group-wide Mental Health Framework to 
raise awareness of mental wellbeing, reduce 
stigma and increase the capacity of our 
leaders to recognise and support individuals 
experiencing mental illness. As a founding 
member of the Global Business Collaboration  
for Better Workplace Mental Health, we continue 
to contribute to the global business-led alliance 
to advocate for and accelerate positive change 
for mental health in the workplace worldwide. 

To support the proactive management of mental 
wellbeing and give our workforce the tools and 
skills needed to build resilience and positive 
mental health, we provide and promote the 
Employee Assistance Program, our mental 
health toolkit, Thrive, education and awareness 
campaigns (including stigma reduction) and the 
BHP Resilience Program. 

In May 2022, we continued with our annual 
BHP Mental Health month, with the aim of 
increasing mental wellbeing and encouraging 
everyone to support and look out for one 
another. We continued to support global mental 
health campaigns during FY2022, including 
World Mental Health Day, R U OK? Day and 
Movember. In FY2022, we also commenced 
work to develop a Group-wide psychosocial risk 
management approach with the aim of taking a 
proactive and systemic approach to sustaining 
a mentally healthy workplace. This process will 
contribute to achieving our 2030 goal for a safe, 
inclusive and future ready workforce. 

COVID-19
We continued to navigate the challenges of 
the global COVID-19 pandemic, including high 
community transmissions and variants that are 
more transmissible. In FY2022, we continued 
to adapt COVID-19 controls based on current 
scientific evidence and medical advice designed 
to protect our workforce and minimise the risk  
of workplace transmission. 

We strongly support vaccination as a control 
to protect the health of our workforce and the 
communities where we operate. As part of our 
COVID-19 controls, we require vaccinations as 
a condition of workplace entry subject to local 
laws and regulatory requirements. We also 
implemented pre-entry testing programs across 
our operations and offices globally – aimed at 
reducing workplace transmissions. 

More information on health, including 
a case study on how we supported our 
people and the communities where we 
operate through COVID-19, is available at 
bhp.com/health.

7.7  Ethics and 
business conduct
Our conduct
Our Code of Conduct (Our Code)1 brings our 
values to life so we can make the right choices 
every day. It applies to everyone who works 
for us, with us, or on our behalf. To ensure all 
employees and contractors understand how 
Our Code applies, regular training is mandatory. 
There are consequences for breaching Our 
Code and we encourage people to speak up 

where a decision or action is not in line with Our 
Code or Our Charter. 

Our Code is available in 
five languages and accessible at bhp.com.

BHP encourages individuals to speak up and 
report concerns about any conduct that is 
inconsistent with Our Charter, Our Code or 
internal requirements, or conduct that may be 
illegal or improper. BHP requires reports of 
business conduct concerns to be treated with 
appropriate confidentiality and prohibits any 
kind of retaliation against people who make or 
may make a report, or who cooperate with an 
investigation. We consider all forms of retaliation 
to be misconduct and grounds for disciplinary 
action, up to and including termination 
of employment.

In FY2022, 5,402 reports were received into 
EthicsPoint (of these 4,714 were classified as 
business conduct concerns)2 representing an 
increase of 33 per cent in business conduct 
concerns from FY2021. These include reports 
directly made by employees, contractors or 
community members. It also includes reports 
made to leaders (31 per cent) who are then 
required to register them in EthicsPoint. 
We believe the increase corresponds to the 
continuous effort by BHP to promote the 
reporting of disrespectful behaviour to create 
an environment in which people can feel safe 
speaking up. The introduction of a global service 
to support people involved in sexual harassment 
incidents and discuss resolution options has also 
encouraged employees and contractors to report 
instances of sexual harassment. Of the business 

Information is available at bhp.com/our-approach/our-company/our-code-of-conduct/.

1 
2  Some EthicsPoint reports are enquiries, or are not related to business conduct concerns, or are a duplicate  

of an existing report. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

39

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information 
 
We also prohibit facilitation payments, which 
are payments to government officials for routine 
government actions. Our people must take care 
that third parties acting on our behalf do not 
violate anti-corruption laws. Disciplinary action 
including dismissal, or termination of contractual 
relationships, may follow from a breach of 
these requirements. 

To manage corruption risk, we work to ensure 
optimal resource allocation to areas of our 
business with the highest exposure to corruption 
risks. The identification, assessment and 
management of corruption risks associated 
with growth opportunities remains a significant 
area of focus for our Compliance function, via 
a sub-team dedicated to supporting functions 
that are responsible for initiating transactions 
and growth opportunities in countries with high 
corruption risks. 

All activities that potentially involve higher 
exposure to corruption risk require review 
or approval by our Compliance function, as 
documented in our anti-corruption compliance 
framework. In FY2022 Compliance and Global 
Corporate Affairs implemented a new end-to-end 
workflow system for sponsorships, donations 
and community development projects, which 
provides greater data for enhanced monitoring 
and increased governance over contracting and 
post-contact expenditure reporting.

Our Compliance function regularly reviews our 
anti-corruption framework for compliance with 
the requirements of the US Foreign Corrupt 
Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, the Australian 
Criminal Code and the applicable laws and 
regulatory developments of all places where 

we do business. These laws are consistent 
with the standards of the OECD Convention on 
Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in 
International Business Transactions. 

Our Compliance function is independent of our 
assets and regions and reports to the Chief 
Legal Governance and External Affairs Officer. 
The Chief Compliance Officer also reports 
quarterly to the Risk and Audit Committee on 
compliance issues and meets at least annually 
with the Committee Chair.

The Compliance team also participates in 
anti-corruption risk assessments in respect of 
our operated assets or functions, our interests 
in non-operated assets and new business 
opportunities that we consider are exposed to 
material anti-corruption risks. In FY2022, the 
team provided input into 44 anti-corruption 
risk assessments.

Risk awareness in first-line employees remains 
a critical preventative measure. Anti-corruption 
training is required to be provided to all 
employees and contractors as part of mandatory 
annual training on Our Code. Our Compliance 
function also regularly communicates and 
engages with identified higher-risk roles. 
In FY2022, additional risk-based anti-corruption 
training was undertaken by 1,578 employees and 
contractors, as well as employees of some of our 
business partners and community partners. 

More information on ethics and business 
conduct is available at bhp.com/ethics

7  Sustainability continued

conduct reports received, 36 per cent were 
made anonymously,1 compared with 42 per cent 
in FY2021. Of the total business conduct reports 
closed during FY2022, 43 per cent contained 
one or more substantiated allegations.2

Transparency and accountability
We support initiatives by governments of the 
countries where we operate to publicly disclose 
the content of our licences or contracts for the 
development and production of minerals that 
form the basis of our payments to government, 
as outlined in the Extractive Industries 
Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard. 

Other initiatives include our work in partnership 
with Transparency International, our 
representation on the Board of the EITI, our 
financial support for and Steering Committee 
membership of the Bribery Prevention Network 
(in Australia) and our funding of the BHP 
Foundation, including its Natural Resource 
Governance Global Program. 

In FY2022, we also continued our active and 
public support for ultimate beneficial ownership 
transparency. This support included co-hosting 
(with EITI, Open Ownership and the B Team) a 
Beneficial Ownership Transparency Forum in 
London and leading efforts with EITI for BHP 
and other leading resources companies to 
publicly commit to a Statement by Companies 
on Beneficial Ownership Transparency, launched 
at the Forum. Through the Statement, BHP and 
other leading resources companies recognise 
the need for publicly available company 
ownership information and (among other things) 
commit to promote the global adoption of 
beneficial ownership transparency, to disclose 
beneficial ownership data, and to identify and 
use beneficial ownership data in due diligence 
processes. Our efforts are complementary to 
BHP Foundation’s partnership with EITI and 
Open Ownership to support governments to 
transform the availability and use of beneficial 
ownership data for effective governance in the 
extractive sector.

Multi-lateral measures to improve governance, 
such as these, should help ensure transparency 
and accountability are cornerstones of a successful 
energy transition that benefits the citizens of 
countries bestowed with critical minerals. 

Anti-corruption 
We continue our commitment to the global fight 
against corruption in the resources industry. 
Our commitment to anti-corruption is embodied 
in Our Charter and Our Code.

As part of this commitment, we prohibit 
authorising, offering, giving or promising 
anything of value directly or indirectly to anyone 
to influence them in their role, or to encourage 
them to perform their work disloyally or 
otherwise improperly. 

1  This excludes reports not containing a business 
conduct concern and excludes reports logged by 
leaders on behalf of others.

2  The calculation is based on reports received and 
completed in FY2022, containing one or more 
substantiated allegations. Not all reports resulted 
in a finding. This can occur if there is insufficient 
information, the respondent is not able to be 
identified, was previously terminated, or that the 
impacted person did not wish to proceed.

40

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Annual Report 2022

7.8  Climate change
We believe the world must pursue the aims of 
the Paris Agreement with increased levels of 
national and global ambition to limit the impacts 
of climate change. 

In September 2021, we published our Climate 
Transition Action Plan (CTAP), which sets out 
our strategic approach to achieving our long-
term GHG emissions reduction goals. 

The CTAP, together with more information 
on our climate positions, actions 
and performance is available at  
bhp.com/climate.

BHP’s climate change targets 
and goals1
Following completion of a number of portfolio 
changes in FY2022, we have taken the opportunity 
to streamline the expression (without change to the 
substance) of the climate change targets and goals 
we outlined in the CTAP, as set out here.

To support the net zero transition that the 
world must make, we will continue to pursue 
sustainable provision of our products, 
many of which are essential building blocks 
of decarbonisation.

For operational greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2 from our 
operated assets), we have:

–  a medium-term target to reduce operational 
GHG emissions by at least 30 per cent from 
FY2020 levels by FY2030 

–  a long-term goal to achieve net zero 
operational GHG emissions by 2050

Climate Transition Action 
Plan progress 

For value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions (Scope 3):

FY2022 progress on operational 
decarbonisation targets and goals

–  We are pursuing the long-term goal of net 
zero Scope 3 GHG emissions by 2050. 
Achievement of this goal is uncertain, 
particularly given the challenges of a net zero 
pathway for our customers in steelmaking, 
and we cannot ensure the outcome alone. 
To progress towards this goal:2 

–  We will target net zero by 2050 for the 

operational GHG emissions of our direct 
suppliers.3 

–  We will target net zero by 2050 for GHG 

emissions from all shipping of BHP products.

–  We will continue to partner with customers 

and others to try to accelerate the transition 
to carbon neutral steelmaking and other 
downstream processes.

–  Our 2030 goals are to:

–  support industry to develop technologies 
and pathways capable of 30 per cent 
emissions intensity reduction in integrated 
steelmaking, with widespread adoption 
expected post 2030

–  support 40 per cent emissions intensity 
reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of 
BHP products

To support progress towards our long-term goal 
to achieve net zero operational GHG emissions 
by 2050, in FY2022, we achieved our short-term 
target due to significant progress made through 
the execution of Power Purchase Agreements 
(PPAs), particularly in Chile at two of our 
copper operated assets but also increasingly 
across our Australian operations. Meeting our 
FY2022 target keeps us on track to achieve our 
FY2030 medium-term target.

1  These positions are expressed using terms that are 
defined in the Glossary to this Report, including the 
terms ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’. 
The baseline year(s) of our targets will be adjusted 
for any material acquisitions and divestments, 
and to reflect progressive refinement of emissions 
reporting methodologies. The targets’ boundaries 
may in some cases differ from required reporting 
boundaries. The use of carbon offsets will be 
governed by BHP’s approach to carbon offsetting 
described at bhp.com/climate.

2  The targets are referable to a FY2020 baseline year. 
Our ability to achieve the targets is subject to the 
widespread availability of carbon neutral solutions to 
meet our requirements, including low/zero-emissions 
technologies, fuels, goods and services.

3  Operational GHG emissions of our direct suppliers 
means the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of our 
direct suppliers included in BHP’s Scope 3 reporting 
categories of purchased goods and services 
(including capital goods), fuel- and energy-related 
activities, business travel and employee commuting.

Targets
Short-term: Target to maintain operational 
GHG emissions at or below FY2017 levels 
by FY2022, while we continue to grow our 
business.
Medium-term: Target to reduce operational 
GHG emissions by at least 30 per cent from 
FY2020 levels by FY2030.

Baseline (adjusted)1
FY2017:12.9 MtCO2-e

FY2022 result (adjusted)1
11.0 MtCO2-e

FY2020: 14.5 MtCO2-e

15% below the adjusted 
FY2017 baseline

11.0 MtCO2-e 
24% reduction from the 
adjusted FY2020 baseline

FY2022 progress
We have achieved and exceeded our FY2022 target by 
15 per cent on the basis of significant progress securing 
renewable energy supply via PPAs, notably in Minerals 
Americas, with Escondida and Spence mostly supplied 
by renewable energy for their electricity in the first half of 
CY2022.

FY2022 progress on value chain decarbonisation targets and goals

Targets and goals

Steelmaking

2030 goal: Support industry to develop 
technologies and pathways capable of 30 per 
cent emissions intensity reduction in integrated 
steelmaking, with widespread adoption expected 
post 2030.

Maritime

2030 goal: Support 40 per cent emissions intensity 
reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of BHP 
products.

Target: We will target net zero by 2050 for GHG 
emissions from all shipping of BHP products.

FY2022 progress

–  Announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for up to US$10 million investment with POSCO 
in October 2021 to jointly study optimising coal/coke quality for low-carbon blast furnace operation and 
Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). 

–  This, together with MOUs announced in FY2021, provides up to US$75 million for steel decarbonisation 

partnerships with four key customers representing approximately 12 per cent of reported global steel production. 
For more information refer to our steel decarbonisation framework in Value chain GHG emissions.
–  Commenced feasibility studies with Baowu, HBIS, JFE, into CCUS and Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) 
technologies, use of hydrogen in steelmaking, and iron ore blends suitable for DRI production. 

–  Invested US$11 million in venture investments in electrolysis technology companies Electrasteel and 

Boston Metal. 

–  In May 2022, we joined the First Mover’s Coalition as a member in the shipping sector, on the basis of 

committing that 10 per cent of BHP’s products shipped to our customers, on our time charter vessels, will 
be on vessels using zero emissions fuels by 2030.2

–  Formed a consortium with Rio Tinto, Oldendorff, Star Bulk, and the Global Maritime Forum to analyse and 

support the potential to develop an iron ore maritime green corridor, fuelled by green ammonia. 

–  Chartered the world’s first LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers to transport iron ore from Western 

Australia to Asia for five years. The fuel, along with improved efficiency of the vessel design, is expected to 
significantly reduce GHG emissions intensity per voyage. 

1  Adjustment for divestments and methodology changes: FY2017 baseline has been adjusted for Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets and Petroleum) and the divestment of 
BMC, and for methodological changes (use of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report 5 (AR5) Global Warming Potentials and move to facility-
specific emissions calculation methodology for fugitives at Caval Ridge). These adjustments have also been applied to the GHG emissions stated in this table to aid comparability.

2  Subject to the availability of technology, supply, safety standards, and the establishment of reasonable thresholds for price premiums.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

41

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information 
7  Sustainability continued

FY2022 progress on CTAP climate change commitments

Commitment

FY2022 progress

Assessing capital alignment with a 1.5ºC world 
– our approach to strategy and operational and 
commercial decision-making in consideration of 
a range of different global, sectoral and regional 
scenarios, including a 1.5ºC outcome

Climate policy engagement – including our 
strengthened approach to industry associations to 
ensure our review identifies areas of inconsistency 
with the Paris Agreement

Just transition – our approach to dealing with the 
challenges associated with the transition of our 
communities and workforce as assets come to the 
end of their operating life 

Climate governance 
and management
Climate change is a material governance and 
strategic issue for us. Our Board is actively 
engaged in the governance of climate change 
issues, including our strategic approach, 
oversight of material risk management and 
performance against our targets, goals and 
strategies, supported by the Sustainability 
Committee and the Risk and Audit Committee. 

The Board strengthened the link between 
executive remuneration and delivery of 
our climate change strategy in 2020, with 
performance on decarbonisation and adaptation 
now representing 10 per cent of the Cash and 
Deferred Plan scorecard. 

The Board obtains advice from climate change 
experts, including by seeking the input of 
management (including Dr Fiona Wild, our 
Vice President Sustainability and Climate 
Change) and independent advisers. In addition, 
our Forum on Corporate Responsibility 
(which includes Don Henry, former CEO of 
the Australian Conservation Foundation and 
Changhua Wu, former Greater China Director, 
the Climate Group) engages with operational 
management teams and with the Sustainability 
Committee and the Board as appropriate.

Below Board level, key decisions in relation 
to climate change are made by the CEO and 
management, in accordance with their delegated 
authority. Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) 
is held to account for a range of measures, 
including climate-related performance, which 
are then cascaded through the organisation. 
While our Board is ultimately responsible for our 
strategic approach to climate change issues, 
management has primary responsibility for 
the design and implementation of our climate 
change strategy with execution overseen by the 
Climate Change Steering Committee. BHP has 
a dedicated Climate Change team responsible 
for advising the ELT. The team collaborates 
with BHP’s asset and function teams, external 
partners and industry to develop practical 
climate change solutions, designed to preserve 
and unlock long-term value for BHP. It regularly 

–  The impact of our 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario on portfolio value was assessed and reviewed against the 
portfolio mix and major capital allocation decisions. All investment decisions now require an assessment 
of viability under our 1.5°C scenario. Work continues to determine future climate requirements for planning 
and capital allocation processes.

–  We plan to publish our next formal industry association review in the second half of CY2022.

–  As part of our normal practice, we intend to analyse the industry association reviews published by our 
peers and relevant material published by civil society groups and other stakeholders, with the goal of 
strengthening our own review methodology, where possible. 

–  We have set out our Equitable Change and Transition Position establishing our approach to changes and 

transitions in our communities. Refer to OFR 7.1.

prepares information and advice for the ELT, 
Sustainability Committee, Risk and Audit 
Committee and the Board on climate-related 
strategy, risks (both threats and opportunities) 
and performance against climate-related metrics. 
It also uses key risk indicators to help monitor 
performance against our appetite for climate 
change-related risks and monitors relevant 
signposts through our emerging risk process. 
Climate-related activity is also undertaken 
across the Group, including in our Portfolio 
Strategy and Development; Commercial; 
Planning and Technical; and Environment teams.

Climate risk management
BHP applies a single, Group-wide approach 
to the management of risk, known as the Risk 
Framework. Risks are assessed to determine 
their potential impacts and likelihood, enable 
prioritisation and determine risk treatment 
options. We then implement controls designed to 
prevent, minimise or mitigate threats, and enable 
or enhance opportunities. Risks and controls are 
reviewed periodically and on an ad hoc basis to 
evaluate performance. 

For more information on BHP’s Risk 
Framework refer to OFR 9.

Climate-related risks can be grouped into 
two categories:

–  Transition risks arise from policy, regulatory, 
legal, technological, market and other societal 
responses to the challenges posed by 
climate change and the transition to a low-
carbon economy. 

For more information refer to 
Transition risks.

–  Physical risks refer to acute risks that are 
event-driven, including increased severity 
and frequency of extreme weather events, 
and chronic risks resulting from longer-term 
changes in climate patterns. 

For more information  
refer to Physical risks.

Transition risks
Transition risks are identified, assessed and 
managed in line with BHP’s Risk Framework. 

We consider these across short (up to two 
years), medium (two to five years) and long-term 
(five to 30 years) time horizons. 

For more information on risks associated 
with the transition to a low-carbon 
economy and why these risks are 
important to BHP, potential threats and 
opportunities, and key management 
actions refer to OFR 9.1.

Scenario analysis

When forming strategy, we consider the impact 
of a range of future pathway scenarios, including 
our 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario,1 and potential 
responses to the threats and opportunities 
presented by climate change. At the time of 
publication of this Report, signposts do not yet 
indicate the appropriate measures are in place 
to drive decarbonisation at the pace or scale 
required for us to assess achieving the aims of 
the Paris Agreement as the most likely future 
outcome. However, as governments, institutions, 
companies and society increasingly focus 
on addressing climate change, the potential 
for a non-linear and/or more rapid transition 
and the subsequent impact on threats and 
opportunities increases.

We seek to maximise our exposure to products 
with significant opportunity under all scenarios 
and to minimise the risk that capital will be 
stranded in a rapidly decarbonising world – 
through portfolio commodity mix and the position 
of our operated assets on their cost curves. 

Two scenarios (Central Energy View and Lower 
Carbon View)2 are currently being used as 
inputs to our operational planning cases, based 
on our current estimates of the most likely 
range of future states for the global economy 
and associated sub-systems. In addition to our 
operational planning scenarios, we utilise a 
range of scenarios, including our 1.5°C Paris-
aligned scenario when testing the resilience 
of our portfolio, forming strategy and making 
investment decisions. These scenarios are 
reviewed periodically to reflect new information 
and are benchmarked against scenarios 
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change (IPCC) and third-party energy and 
resource research organisations (including the 

1  This scenario aligns with the aims of the Paris Agreement and requires steep global annual emissions reduction, sustained for decades, to stay within a 1.5°C carbon budget. 
1.5°C is above pre-industrial levels. For more information about the assumptions, outputs and limitations of our 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario refer to the BHP Climate Change 
Report 2020 available at bhp.com.

2   Central Energy View reflects, and is periodically updated to respond to, existing policy trends and commitments. Lower Carbon View accelerates decarbonisation trends and 

policies, particularly in easier-to-abate sectors such as power generation and light duty vehicles. For more information refer to the BHP Climate Change Report 2020 available 
at bhp.com.

42

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Annual Report 2022

International Energy Agency, IHS Markit, Wood 
Mackenzie, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and 
CRU); an update of the scenarios is expected 
during FY2023. 

The energy and resources modelling from BHP’s 
1.5°C scenario, which was conducted in 2020, 
remains consistent with the updated carbon 
budget released in the Working Group I report 
as the first part of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment 
Report (AR6) in 2021.

Capital alignment

During FY2022, we systematically integrated 
our 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario into our 
strategy and capital allocation process to test the 
extent to which our capital allocation is aligned 
with a rapidly decarbonising global economy. 
Specifically, we apply our 1.5°C scenario to 
assess whether future demand for our products 
under that scenario supports ongoing capital 
investment. Our analysis and that of others, 
including the International Energy Agency, 
have shown that many of the commodities we 
currently produce are critical for the aims of the 
Paris Agreement to be met.

The impact of our 1.5°C scenario on our portfolio 
value was assessed after the merger of our 
Petroleum business with Woodside and the sale 
of a number of our coal assets, and was reviewed 
against portfolio mix and major capital allocation 
decisions. Our portfolio value increased under 
the 1.5°C scenario, consistent with the demand 
outcomes of the analysis published in the BHP 
Climate Change Report 20201 that indicated the 
world would need around twice as much steel, 
copper and potash, and four times as much nickel 
in the next 30 years as it did in the last 30. It also 
indicated a reduction in the future demand for oil 
and energy coal.

Our focus for capital expenditure is now on 
commodities we assess as having a significant 
upside through the transition. Furthermore, the 
internal allocation of capital under our Capital 
Allocation Framework and all major investment 
decisions now require an assessment of 
investment viability under our 1.5°C Paris-
aligned scenario. 

Through these processes, we demonstrate 
our commitment to ensuring our capital 
expenditure plans are not misaligned with the 
Paris Agreement’s aim to pursue efforts to 
limit global warming to 1.5°C. Our total capital 
and exploration expenditure for Continuing 
operations in FY2022 was US$6.1 billion, of 
which US$73 million or 1 per cent was for 
our energy coal assets. Spend in FY2022 
and all currently approved spend for energy 
coal assets is limited to maintenance capital. 
Additional capital is expected to be required 
for the proposed life extension of the Mt Arthur 
Coal mine through to the end of FY2030, should 

relevant approvals be received. This is expected 
to provide certainty for our people and the 
community about the future of the mine and time 
to work together with the community on a plan 
that contributes to helping the region diversify 
and strengthen its economy.

In FY2020, we announced a commitment of at 
least US$400 million to invest in GHG emissions 
reduction across our operated assets and value 
chain over the five-year life of our Climate 
Investment Program. We spent US$47 million 
on initiatives consistent with this program in 
FY2022, targeting operational, maritime, and 
steelmaking emissions and BHP Ventures 
investments. This figure does not include the 
operating expenditure associated with renewable 
electricity arrangements established at a number 
of our operations, which collectively represented 
the main source of operational emissions 
abatement for BHP in FY2022. More than 
US$200 million has been included in approved 
budgets for FY2023 as our decarbonisation 
programs further mature, and we will continue 
expenditure of up to US$75 million over the 
coming years channelled towards partnerships 
with our customers in the steel sector. 

Our capital allocation process is structured 
to ensure capital expenditure plans are 
aligned with our FY2030 and 2050 operational 
emissions reduction target and goal. We expect 
to spend around US$4 billion on operational 
decarbonisation by FY2030, with plans reflecting 
an annual capital allocation of between 
approximately US$200 million and approximately 
US$600 million per year over the next five years. 
Going forward, as our climate response is further 
integrated into business-as-usual planning, 
our spending on climate initiatives is expected 
to become increasingly indistinguishable from 
normal business spending.

How we think about and use carbon pricing

Our assets and markets are likely to continue 
to be subject to variations in regulation and 
levels of carbon pricing depending on location 
and industry. Similarly, the competitiveness 
of our products and the processes in which 
they are used will be impacted by the adoption 
of carbon legislation in customer countries. 
We utilise an explicit regulatory carbon price 
forecast for major BHP operational, competitor 
and customer countries. In determining our 
forecast, we consider factors such as a country’s 
current and announced climate policies and 
targets and societal factors such as public 
acceptance and demographics. We forecast the 
global range of regional carbon prices to reach 
between US$0-175/tCO2-e in FY2030, and 
US$10-250/tCO2-e in FY2050, and US$10-175/
tCO2-e in FY2030 and US$100-250/tCO2-e in 
FY2050 in BHP’s current major operational and 
market countries. 

We have incorporated regional carbon price 
assumptions in our planning, investment 
decisions and asset valuations for more than 
10 years. They are used together with our 
operational planning cases based on the current 
economic outlook for asset planning, asset 
valuations and operational decision-making. 

Our carbon price forecasts are also used along 
with other qualitative and quantitative metrics, 
such as the outcomes of our Paris-aligned 1.5°C 
scenario analysis (refer to ‘Scenario analysis’ 
and ‘Capital alignment’), in our assessment 
of investments under the Capital Allocation 
Framework and to inform our portfolio strategy 
and investment decisions.

When considering initiatives to meet our 
operational emission medium-term target 
and long-term goal, we consider a number 
of additional metrics including the initiatives’ 
position on our internal marginal abatement 
project cost curve, technology maturity and 
ultimate abatement potential. This informs the 
implied costs and benefits of our decarbonisation 
initiatives, allowing us to prioritise and rank those 
initiatives based on an implied price on carbon.

Green revenue

Green revenue is intended as a measure of 
the extent to which products and services 
contribute to the transition to a green economy.2 
While these contributions will be measured on 
a range of important indicators (including water 
conservation, biodiversity or reforestation), 
much of the discussion about green revenue 
remains focused on the contribution to the 
transition to clean energy that is vital for climate 
change mitigation.  

We expect many of the resources we produce 
to be important for the energy transition. 
For example, the International Energy Agency’s 
‘The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy 
Transitions’ report3 highlights the critical role 
of copper and nickel, and BHP’s own 1.5°C 
scenario4 indicates the case for copper, nickel 
and potash could be more compelling as the 
world takes action to decarbonise. Iron ore 
also fares slightly better under our 1.5°C 
scenario versus certain other scenarios, as 
steel requirements of the energy transition are 
expected to be considerable. 

In FY2022, we consulted with investors, 
industry and standard setters to explore 
ways of establishing clear methodologies 
for classification and measurement of green 
revenue within the resources sector. As yet, no 
agreed or established approach exists. A green 
revenue measure based on end use continues 
to be challenging for copper and steel as they 
undergo multiple stages of processing and have 
a diverse range of end uses. This challenge 
is despite the widely recognised importance 

1  There are inherent limitations with scenario analysis and it is difficult to predict which, if any, of the scenarios might eventuate. Scenarios do not constitute definitive outcomes 

for us. Scenario analysis relies on assumptions that may or may not be, or prove to be, correct and may or may not eventuate, and scenarios may be impacted by additional 
factors to the assumptions disclosed.

2  A green economy is defined by the UN Environment Programme (unep.org/regions/asia-and-pacific/regional-initiatives/supporting-resource-efficiency/green-economy) as 

low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. In a green economy, growth in employment and income are driven by public and private investment into such economic 
activities, infrastructure and assets that allow reduced carbon emissions and pollution, enhanced energy and resource efficiency, and prevention of the loss of biodiversity and 
ecosystem services. 

3  The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions – World Energy Outlook Special Report, May 2021.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

43

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

of copper for the energy transition and the 
ongoing role for steel in development as well 
as decarbonisation. 

We are continuing our approach to reporting 
green revenue based on end use, using 
nickel and uranium by way of illustration 
as they are the most straightforward of our 
commodities for which to determine contribution 
to the energy transition from their end use. 
Battery manufacture contributes to climate 
change mitigation.1 Therefore, for illustrative 
purposes,2 we have measured the revenue 
from our sales to battery materials suppliers as 
green revenue. Battery-suitable nickel is defined 
as nickel briquettes, nickel powder and nickel 
sulphate. It does not include off-specification 
nickel metal. A total of 87 per cent of BHP’s 
battery-suitable nickel was sold to global battery 
material suppliers in FY2022,3 an increase of 15 
per cent on FY2021. For FY2022, BHP’s green 
revenue from battery-suitable nickel amounted 
to US$1,164 million,4 an increase of 53 per cent 
on FY2021. 

Australian uranium is sold for nuclear power 
generation only, a low emissions source 
of electricity. Therefore, also for illustrative 
purposes, we have measured all revenue 
from uranium as green revenue. For FY2022, 
BHP’s green revenue from uranium was 
US$207 million, which is a decrease of 17 per 
cent on FY2021.

Emissions intensity of production

As well as assessing commodities based 
on their end uses, it is important to consider 
the GHG emissions associated with the 
production of commodities in determining their 
role in the transition to a net zero economy. 
Given production of many commodities is 
expected to need to continue or even increase, 
it is critical that their production has the lowest 
possible associated GHG emissions and 
optimal performance under other sustainability 
indicators. For example, our Chilean copper 
operated asset, Escondida, is aiming to have 
100 per cent renewable electricity supply by 
the mid-2020s and sources desalinated water 
for operational purposes, minimising water 
extraction from sensitive Andean aquifers. 

1 

 For example, the EU taxonomy recognises 
battery manufacture as a significant contributor 
to climate change mitigation. The EU Taxonomy 
is a classification system, establishing a list of 
environmentally sustainable economic activities. 
Note the EU taxonomy does not presently 
cover the mining sector. For more information 
refer to 32021R2139 – EN – EUR-Lex, 
available at eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/
TXT/?uri=celex%3A32021R2139.

2  Recognising that a settled methodology for 

3 

4 

classifying green revenue in the resources sector 
has yet to be determined.
 Based on percentage of battery-suitable nickel sales 
to battery material suppliers. Where a customer’s 
planned end use is not known with certainty 
to be for battery supply, assumptions of usage 
have been made using historical nickel usage for 
those customers.
 Calculated based on gross revenue from battery-
suitable nickel multiplied by percentage of BHP’s 
sales of battery-suitable nickel, as applicable to 
battery material suppliers.

44

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Annual Report 2022

2021 Carbon Intensity – Copper Mines1,2
Tonnes CO2-equivalent per tonne of copper equivalent
25

20

15

10

5

0

m
a
D
c
i
p
m
y
l
O

FY22 PPA Impacts

e
t
r
o
N
a
p
m
a
P

i

a
d
d
n
o
c
s
E

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

   Scope 1 & 2

Freight + Downstream

Scope 1 & 2 

Freight + Downstream

Source: Skarn Associates, BHP

2021 Carbon Intensity – Nickel2,3
Tonnes CO2-equivalent per tonne of nickel equivalent
200

160

120

80

40

0

t
s
e
W

l
e
k
c
i
N

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

   Scope 1 & 2

Upstream + Freight + Port + Ocean + Downstream

Scope 1 & 2

Freight + Port + Ocean

Source: Skarn Associates, BHP

1 

2 

3 

 The copper mines emissions intensity curve is based on CY2021 data estimates from Skarn Associates. 
The emissions intensity basis is tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of copper equivalent finished metal per mine. 
We have overlayed Escondida, Pampa Norte (comprised of Spence and Cerro Colorado) and Olympic Dam with 
reported BHP data points for CY2021 for: i) production (copper – concentrate and cathode; copper equivalent 
tonnes); ii) Scope 1 emissions; and iii) Scope 2 emissions. For copper cathode only, emissions intensity 
estimates from freight only are included and utilise Skarn Associates’ data. This is to avoid double counting as 
smelting and refining emissions would already be included in the Scopes 1 and 2 emissions of BHP assets for 
cathode production. Downstream emissions intensity estimates of copper concentrate, relating to smelting and 
refining – to produce finished metal as well as emissions from freight – utilise Skarn Associates’ data across the 
dataset. Noting the renewable PPA arrangements that commenced at Escondida and Spence in FY2022, we 
have also provided the indicative emission intensities for Escondida and Pampa Norte based on FY2022 data 
(noting the rest of the of data in the curve is based on CY2021 data).
 Copper-and-Nickel equivalent calculations: For the copper mines and nickel emission intensity curves, the basis 
of the intensity is tonne of copper equivalent and nickel equivalent production respectively. Copper equivalent 
and nickel equivalent production allows comparison of single commodity operations with those that produce by- 
and co-products. For example, Escondida’s copper equivalent production is calculated as Escondida’s CY2021 
revenue, divided by the CY2021 average realised copper price. For FY2022 estimates in the copper mines 
intensity curve – highlighting renewable PPA impacts – FY2022 revenue, divided by the FY2022 average realised 
copper price are used.
 The nickel emissions intensity curve is based on CY2021 data estimates from Skarn Associates. The emissions 
intensity basis is tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of nickel equivalent in first saleable metal. Under the Skarn 
Associates methodology, this includes processed output from the mine, concentrator and smelter (production 
and emissions from refineries are not included). For Nickel West, this includes only production attributable to 
BHP ores (Mt Keith and Leinster) and excludes any production and emissions from third party ores. We have 
overlayed Nickel West with reported BHP data points for CY2021 for: i) production attributable to BHP ores 
(nickel tonnes and nickel equivalent tonnes); ii) Scope 1 emissions; and iii) Scope 2 emissions. To calculate 
nickel equivalent production, we have used average realised CY2021 nickel prices as well as Skarn Associates’ 
estimate for the CY2021 cobalt price. For emissions, we have pro-rated Scopes 1 and 2 emissions from the 
Kalgoorlie smelter to account for emissions attributable to BHP production only (i.e. excluding third-party 
feed) and excluded emissions from the Kambalda concentrator. To avoid double counting, we have removed 
Skarn Associates’ estimated intensity for downstream processing (i.e. that attributable to smelting) and have 
not included emissions from the Kwinana refinery as this is outside of the boundary of the Skarn Associates’ 
methodology. Emissions intensity estimates for Upstream+Freight+Port+Ocean utilises Skarn Associates data 
across the dataset. Upstream emissions are applicable to only Nickel pig iron (NPI) and Ferro-nickel (FeNi) 
plants’ emissions relating to upstream mining and logistics per Skarn Associates’ methodology.

 
 
 
2021 Carbon Intensity – Seaborne Iron Ore1
Kilograms CO2-equivalent per tonne of iron ore (wet)
250

200

150

100

50

0

I

O
A
W

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

   Scope 1 & 2 (includes integrated: Rail + Port + Ocean)
Scope 1 & 2 (includes integrated: Rail + Port + Ocean)

Non-integrated: Rail + Port + Ocean
Non-integrated: Rail + Port + Ocean

Source: Skarn Associates, BHP

1  The iron ore emissions intensity curve is based on CY2021 data estimates from Skarn Associates for seaborne 

iron ore operations. The emissions intensity basis is kilograms of CO2-equivalent per tonne of iron ore (wet basis) 
produced per mine. BHP operations have been aggregated to WAIO level and overlayed with reported BHP 
data points for CY2021 for: i) iron ore production (wet basis); ii) Scope 1 emissions; and iii) Scope 2 emissions 
incorporating integrated rail, port and ocean emissions. Non-integrated Port + Rail + Ocean emissions intensity 
estimates utilise Skarn Associates data across the dataset. In case of WAIO, only the emissions from non-
integrated Ocean freight are applicable as Rail & Port emissions are included as part of Scopes 1 and 2 emissions.

2021 Carbon Intensity – Metallurgical Coal2
Tonnes CO2-equivalent per tonne of saleable metallurgical coal
2.00

1.60

1.20

0.80

0.40

0.0

0%

A
M
B

25%

50%

75%

100%

   Scope 1 & 2

Freight + Port + Ocean

Scope 1 & 2 

Freight + Port + Ocean

Source: Skarn Associates, BHP

2  The metallurgical coal emissions intensity curve is based on CY2021 data estimates from Skarn Associates. 
The emissions intensity basis is tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of saleable coal produced per mine. 
BHP operations have been aggregated to BMA level, noting BMC is not highlighted as a BHP operation given 
the recent divestment of BHP’s interest in BMC. BMA has been overlayed with reported BHP data points for 
CY2021 for: i) metallurgical coal production; ii) Scope 1 emissions; and iii) Scope 2 emissions incorporating BHP 
operated integrated rail and port emissions. Emission intensity estimates for Freight + Port + Ocean logistics 
of metallurgical coal products utilise Skarn Associates data across the dataset. As BMA utilises both integrated 
(included in Scopes 1 and 2 emissions) and third-party rail and port services, this may result in partial double 
counting of emissions. We have also updated the global warming potential factor for CH4 to the IPCC AR5 across 
the dataset for better comparability. 

This year, in addition to the absolute emissions 
from each of our operated assets, we disclose 
CY2021 GHG operational emissions intensity 
estimates for BHP’s iron ore, metallurgical coal, 
copper and nickel operated assets compared 
to other mines. Due to the different structure 
of various mines to aid comparability and 
consistency with the Skarn Associates3 data for 
the non-BHP mines, we have included select 
Scope 3 emissions estimates for downstream 
transport and processing of the commodity, 
where appropriate. Given the commencement 
of renewable PPAs at Escondida and at Spence 

(which, together with Cerro Colorado, comprises 
Pampa Norte) during FY2022, we have also 
overlayed the FY2022 intensity of Escondida 
and Pampa Norte to reflect an indicative change 
in emissions intensity on the curve from these 
initiatives from FY2022 onwards. Based on this 
analysis, GHG emissions intensity of BHP’s 
operated assets is estimated to be either in the 
lowest quartile or the lowest half of the mines 
covered. As our decarbonisation strategy is 
executed, we expect the emissions intensity of 
our operated assets to further decline.

Other sustainability indicators for our operated 
assets are disclosed in our ESG Standards and 
Databook available at bhp.com/sustainability. 
More information on our performance in 
relation to absolute GHG emissions is provided 
in ‘Operational GHG emissions and energy 
consumption’ and ‘Value chain GHG emissions’.

Equitable change and transitions

There are communities around the world that rely 
on mining certain commodities that may therefore 
be disproportionately impacted by the transition 
to a low-carbon economy. Solutions will require 
a multi-stakeholder approach including the local 
community, investors, financiers, government at 
all levels and, of course, resource companies 
such as BHP. 

We have outlined our approach to equitable 
change and transition, taking into account 
the Paris Agreement and the International 
Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Just Transition 
Guidelines, in OFR 7.1, recognising the role 
of BHP through changes and transitions. 
The approach to equitable change and transition 
will inform implementation of our strategy for 
decarbonisation and adaptation to the potential 
physical impacts of climate change, as well as 
apply to the intended closure of NSWEC.

Physical risks
Our Adaptation Strategy outlines the proactive 
and collaborative approach we need to take 
to build the safety, productivity and climate 
resilience of our operated assets, investments, 
portfolio, supply chain, communities and 
ecosystems by adapting to the physical risks 
of climate change. We have analysed specific 
climate-related hazards and developed a more 
detailed approach to enable financial and 
economic evaluation of physical climate risks 
and adaptation measures in future years.

BHP requires operated assets and functions to 
identify and progressively assess potential physical 
climate change risks (including to our value chain) 
and build climate change adaptation into their 
plans, activities and investments. In FY2022, we 
progressed our Adaptation Strategy, conducting 
a physical climate risk identification process 
for our operated assets and supply chain. 
Risks associated with each hazard were prioritised 
in accordance with our risk process under BHP’s 
Risk Framework, including consideration of their 
materiality. Across our portfolio of operated assets 
and associated value chains, we have identified a 
number of common, high potential impact physical 
climate risks; where the ‘Highest potential impact 
physical climate risks across BHP’s operated 
assets’ table presents the top eight.4 

3  For more information refer to skarnassociates.com/ghg. 
4   The first seven risks in the table were selected 

based on the number of operated assets that 
identified them as material in accordance with 
BHP’s Risk Framework and the average Maximum 
Foreseeable Loss severity rating assigned to each. 
The absence of a tick means either the risk was 
identified at the asset, but not rated as material 
under our Risk Framework, or that it was not 
identified for that asset. Legacy assets and non-
operated joint ventures have been excluded from 
the analysis. Legacy assets are to be included in 
the risk evaluations planned for FY2023. The eighth 
risk in the table is a collation of material value chain 
risks with implications across the regions; its position 
in the table does not indicate its level of potential 
impact relative to the other risks.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

45

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information  
7  Sustainability continued

Highest potential impact physical climate risks across BHP’s operated assets

Minerals Australia

Minerals Americas

Risk description

BMA

NSWEC

Nickel  
West

Olympic 
Dam

WAIO Escondida Jansen

Pampa  
Norte

Risk management1 

Geotechnical instability 
and erosion of tailings 
storage facility 
(TSF) landforms and 
structures under 
conditions of extreme 
rainfall, leading to 
TSF failure

Water shortages 
impacting production, 
associated activities 
(e.g. dust suppression, 
ore handling) and 
reputation due 
to changes in 
average rainfall 
and temperature/
evaporation

Flooding of mine and/
or key production 
infrastructure (e.g. 
plants, conveyor 
belts etc.) due to 
extreme precipitation

Disruption and/or 
damage to port and 
coastal infrastructure 
and operations due 
to higher sea levels, 
cyclones, storm 
surge and changes in 
marine ecosystems

Workforce health and 
safety incidents due to 
extreme events (e.g. 
extreme temperature 
causing heat stress)

Disruption and/or 
damage to electrical 
infrastructure (e.g. 
motors, cooling and 
control systems) due to 
extreme temperatures

Disruption and/or 
damage to water 
supply infrastructure 
due to extreme 
precipitation or flooding

Disruption in the 
supply of critical 
production inputs and 
critical infrastructure 
due to extreme 
weather events

Identified as value chain risks across the relevant regions

Our approach to TSF failure risk management at operated assets is 
multi-dimensional and includes the following key elements: maintenance 
of dam integrity; operation, surveillance and maintenance; emergency 
preparedness and response; TSF governance and standards; and 
Group-level oversight and assurance.

The Our Requirements for Tailings Storage Facilities standard is aligned 
to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) and 
we contribute to efforts to improve TSF management across the mining 
industry, including through the ICMM Tailings Working Group. For more 
information on our management of TSF failure risk refer to OFR 7.18.

We are working to incorporate climate risk management into the TSF 
life cycle and have conducted a detailed study on the potential impact 
of climate change on Laguna Seca TSF at Escondida.

We have a range of risk management measures for our water-related 
risks, including consideration of climate change projections as relevant 
(and where available), covered in more detail at bhp.com/water. 

Per above, risk management measures for our water-related risks are 
covered in more detail at bhp.com/water. 

We have developed internal guidance on incorporating climate change 
projections into mine water planning, hydrologic assessment and 
infrastructure design. 

We are conducting a pilot study on quantifying the potential impact of this 
risk, to inform future value-at-risk assessments. While our methodology is 
still under development, our intent is to support more effective decision-
making when prioritising capital investment in risk controls. 

We maintain response plans for various scenarios that could impact our 
ability to access key markets, including physical disruptions of outbound 
supply chain logistics. 

Stockpile and capacity management and use of weather forecasts are 
some of the tools that may assist in minimising operational disruption at 
our ports from weather and/or climate-related events.

We are undertaking more detailed evaluations of the potential climate 
change impacts for our port and coastal infrastructure, including at Port 
Hedland and Hay Point.

The Our Requirements for Health, Our Requirements for Safety and 
Our Requirements for Community standards, together with BHP’s Risk 
Framework, govern our health and safety risk management approach. 

At our operating sites, we have weather detection monitoring (e.g. 
wet bulb temperature) and associated weather preparation and response 
plans (including Trigger Action Response Plans (TARPs)) to enable 
our response to potential extreme weather events. Our sites also have 
Emergency Management Plans in place, and personnel trained in 
emergency response. 

We aim to operate our critical equipment in accordance with industry best 
practice and ensure that critical equipment components are compliant 
with relevant design standards. We have extensive inspection and 
maintenance routines, hold inventory of critical spares, and undertake 
detailed contingency planning, in order to remain resilient in the face 
of potential equipment failure or inefficiencies. 

A number of our sites in FY2023 will evaluate the potential impact 
on electrical infrastructure of extreme temperatures under different 
climate scenarios.

Regular maintenance of water infrastructure, such as treatment plants, 
pipelines and tanks is critical to ensure that water is adequate for our 
operated assets, both in quantity and quality.

BHP requires our water infrastructure to be designed and constructed to 
meet internal and external standards.

We assess supply categories according to commercial dependency and 
supplier risk, both elements that have informed our selection of key value 
chain inputs for further evaluation of physical climate risk. This work aims 
to minimise potential adverse impacts from physical climate risk in our 
value chain.

At our Spence copper asset, we have assessed supply chain resilience 
in relation to the impact that swells, extreme rainfall, earthquakes and 
tsunamis could have on the supply of diesel, sulphuric acid and supplies 
for concentrates. The assessment identified specific mitigating controls 
for consideration by the asset.

1  The risk management measures in this column describe our current approach, which is subject to review for new or additional climate-related measures arising from the 

subsequent risk evaluation work program planned across all of our operated assets (including legacy assets) in FY2023. 

46

BHP

Annual Report 2022

The risk management column in the table 
describes our current approach, which is 
subject to review for new or additional climate-
related measures arising from the subsequent 
risk evaluation work program planned for our 
operated assets (including legacy assets) 
in FY2023.

To underpin the subsequent risk evaluation 
work program planned across all of our 
operated assets (including legacy assets) 
and key supply chain infrastructure, we have 
sourced projections of acute and chronic 
climate variables from a leading climate science 
consultancy. The risk evaluation process will be 
a further step toward identifying and prioritising 
additional adaptation measures and reporting 
potential financial impacts in later years, 
including a value-at-risk range. We have already 
allocated US$200 million to studies on physical 
climate risk prevention and mitigation measures 
at our Minerals Americas operated assets.

We have also identified a number of 
opportunities to adapt to the potential physical 
impacts of climate change, primarily related to 
improving operational efficiency and innovation, 
taking collaborative action to grow the resilience 
of our value chain, and supporting local 
communities and ecosystems. In FY2023, 
we plan to undertake risk evaluations at our 
operated assets (including legacy assets) 
including assessment of chronic physical risks, 
implement any ‘quick win’ adaptation actions 
and initiate studies on measures expected to 
require significant capital investment. We also 
plan to further study prioritised value chain risks 
to understand with more specificity where risk 
is concentrated. These actions are intended 
to contribute to addressing the climate-related 
risks noted under the Inadequate business 
resilience risk factor in OFR 9.1. We also intend 
to continue to build an understanding of how 
the communities where we operate may be 
impacted by future climate events and embed 
consideration of ecosystem-based adaptation, to 
contribute to both climate resilience and BHP’s 
biodiversity commitments and goals. 

Operational GHG emissions and 
energy consumption 
We recognise the role we must play in helping 
the world achieve its decarbonisation ambitions. 
This includes reducing our operational emissions 
and working with our supply chains to reduce 
their emissions. Looking to the future, our aim 
remains to position BHP to thrive in a low-carbon 
world by minimising emissions from existing 
products while helping to provide commodities 
that the world needs to achieve a net zero future.

Refer to ‘BHP’s climate change targets and 
goals’ for our operational emissions target 
and goal. 

1  Baseline adjusted to remove Discontinued 

operations (Onshore US assets and Petroleum) and 
BMC and for method changes (use of IPCC AR5 
Global Warming Potentials (GWP) and a move to 
facility-specific emissions calculation methodology 
for fugitives at Caval Ridge) to ensure ongoing 
comparability of performance. For more information 
refer to the BHP Scopes 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 
calculation methodology available at bhp.com/climate.

2   Original baseline adjusted in FY2019 to remove 
Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets).

We review our performance against targets 
annually and consider opportunities to 
accelerate ambition regularly. We have 
successfully achieved our short-term target 
set in 2018 to maintain operational GHG 
emissions at or below adjusted FY2017 levels by 
FY2022, while continuing to grow our business. 
Our performance against our short-term target 
is described in ‘Operational GHG emissions and 
energy consumption – FY2022 performance’.

Our operational GHG emissions are measured 
against our target performance based on an 
operational control, market-based methodology. 
We also disclose operational GHG emissions 
by equity share and financial control in our 
ESG Standards and Databook available at  
bhp.com/climate.

Operational GHG emissions and energy 
consumption – FY2022 performance

In FY2022, our operational GHG emissions 
were 15 per cent lower than the adjusted 
FY2017 baseline1 of 12.9 MtCO2-e on the 
basis of operated assets held by BHP as at 
30 June 2022, demonstrating achievement of 
our short-term target for FY2022. With inclusion 
of BHP’s recent divestments, Discontinued 
operations (Petroleum) and BMC operations 
(both annualised for FY2022), operational GHG 
emissions were also 15 per cent lower than the 
previously adjusted FY2017 baseline.2

In FY2022, total operational energy consumption 
decreased 4 per cent from FY2021. This was 
largely driven by reduced energy use at Olympic 
Dam due to scheduled maintenance and 
reduced fuel consumption at our operated coal 
assets. Scope 1 and 2 emissions decreased 
25 per cent from FY2021 primarily due to an 
increase in the renewable component of our 
energy consumption at Escondida and Pampa 
Norte in Chile.

Operational energy consumption by source (PJ)1,2

Year ended 30 June

2022

2021

2020

Consumption of fuel
– Coal and coke
– Natural gas
– Distillate/gasoline
– Other
Consumption of electricity
– Consumption of electricity from grid
Total operational energy consumption
Total operational energy consumption  
(adjusted for divested operations)8
Operational energy consumption from renewable sources3 
Operational energy intensity (gigajoules per tonne of copper 
equivalent production)9

Operational GHG emissions (MtCO2-e)1,4,5,11

Year ended 30 June 2022
Scope 1 GHG emissions6
Scope 2 GHG emissions7
Total operational GHG emissions
Scope 1 GHG emissions (adjusted for divested operations)8
Scope 2 GHG emissions (adjusted for divested operations)8
Total operational GHG emissions  
(adjusted for divested operations)8
Carbon offsets retired12
Total operational GHG emissions (including carbon offsets)12
Operational GHG emissions intensity  
(tonnes CO2-e per tonne of copper equivalent production)9
Percentage of Scope 1 GHG emissions covered under 
an emissions-limiting regulation10
Percentage of Scope 1 GHG emissions from methane13
Scope 2 GHG emissions (location based)7

112
1
22
87
2
37
33
149

132
17.1

18

2022

9.2
3.1
12.3
7.9
3.0

11.0
–
12.3

1.5

78%
18%
4.8

118
1
23
91
3
37
33
155

137
0.5

21

2021

10.1
6.2
16.3
8.8
6.1

14.9
0.3
16.0

2.2

81%
22%
5.0

114
1
21
90
2
36
32
150

135
0.0

19

2020

9.6
6.3
15.9
8.3
6.2

14.6

2.0

81%
19%
5.1

1  Data in italics indicates that data has been adjusted since it was previously reported. FY2021 originally reported 
energy data that has been restated is 92 PJ distillate/gasoline consumption, and 2 PJ other energy consumption, 
due to amended classification of petroleum based oils and greases to the ‘other’ category. FY2021 originally 
reported emissions data that has been restated is 10.0 MtCO2-e for Scope 1 GHG emissions and 16.2 MtCO2-e 
for total operational GHG emissions, due to minor amendments to fugitive emissions from the coal operated 
assets as part of the annual reconciliation process for Australian regulatory reporting purposes. FY2021 and 
FY2020 ‘Total operational GHG emissions (adjusted for divested operations)’ have been restated from 16.2 and 
15.9 Mt CO2-e respectively due to the exclusion of Discontinued operations (Petroleum) and BMC (also see 
footnote 8). Previously reported data excluded Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets) only. Additionally, 
non-material adjustments in prior year asset-level data and changes to presentation of the data has, in certain 
instances, resulted in minor impacts to the rounding of data since it was previously reported.

2  Calculated based on an operational control approach in line with World Resources Institute/World Business 
Council for Sustainable Development guidance. Consumption of fuel and consumption of electricity refers to 
annual quantity of energy consumed from the combustion of fuel; and the operation of any facility; and energy 
consumed resulting from the purchase of electricity, heat, steam or cooling by the company for its own use. 
Data has been rounded to the nearest 1 PJ to be consistent with asset/regional energy information in this Report. 
In some instances, the sum of totals for sources, commodities and assets may differ due to rounding.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

47

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

3  Renewable energy consumption includes third-party supplied electricity from renewable generation where 

PPAs are in place specifying generation requirements, evidenced by Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or 
supplier-provided documentation in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance unless otherwise 
specified. Renewable energy consumption at Escondida and Pampa Norte is currently sourced from invoice data; 
some refinements may need to be made to renewable energy reported from these assets in the future.

4  BHP currently uses GWP from the IPCC AR5 based on a 100-year timeframe for all operations. 

Minerals Americas operated assets transitioned from IPCC Assessment Report 4 (AR4) to AR5 GWP in FY2022; 
all other operated assets transitioned in FY2021.

5  Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions have been calculated based on an operational control approach (unless 
otherwise stated) in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. 
For more information refer to the BHP Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions calculation methodology available at 
bhp.com/climate. Data has been rounded to the nearest 0.1 MtCO2-e to be consistent with asset/regional GHG 
emissions information in this Report. In some instances, the sum of totals for sources, commodities and assets 
may differ due to rounding. 

6  Scope 1 refers to direct GHG emissions from operated assets. Scope 1 emissions currently include diesel 
consumed in explosives; some refinements may be made to emissions reported from this source in future.
7  Scope 2 refers to indirect GHG emissions from the generation of purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heat 
or cooling that is consumed by operated assets. Our Scope 2 GHG emissions have been calculated using the 
market-based method, in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance unless otherwise specified. 
A residual mix emission factor is currently unavailable to account for grid electricity emissions remaining after 
removal of quantities directly contracted between parties; this may result in double counting of low emissions 
or renewable electricity contributions across grid-supplied consumers. Scope 2 emissions from Escondida and 
Pampa Norte are currently sourced from metered data; some refinements may need to be made to emissions 
reported from these assets in the future.

8  Divested operations are BMC (sale completed on 3 May 2022), BHP’s Petroleum business (merger with 

Woodside completed on 1 June 2022) and Onshore US assets (sale completed on 31 October 2018). Non-
material acquisitions and divestments are included in the total.

9  For this purpose, copper equivalent production has been calculated based on FY2022 average realised product 
prices for FY2022 production, FY2021 average realised product prices for FY2021 production and FY2020 
average realised product prices for FY2020 production. Production figures used are consistent with energy and 
GHG emissions reporting boundaries (i.e. BHP operational control) and are taken on 100 per cent basis.

10  Scope 1 GHG emissions from BHP’s facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism administered by the Clean 

Energy Regulator in Australia, Saskatchewan Output-Based Performance Standards (OBPS) program in Canada, 
and the distillate and gasoline emissions from turbine boilers at the cathode plant at Escondida covered by the 
Green Tax legislation in Chile. FY2020 has been restated from 80 per cent due to changes in reported emissions 
at Australian Petroleum operations.

11  More information on our strategy to further reduce GHG emissions, including our investments in low-emissions 
technology and natural climate solutions, is available in the BHP Climate Change Report 2020 and the BHP 
Climate Transition Action Plan 2021 available at bhp.com/climate.

12  From FY2021, we have calculated an additional operational GHG emissions total for the reporting year including 

contributions from the retirement of a quantity of carbon offsets. This figure is calculated by subtracting the 
number of carbon offsets retired, if any (each equivalent to a single tonne of CO2-e reduced or ‘removed’ from 
the atmosphere) from the total GHG emissions reported under our operational control boundary for the year. 
This is not intended to establish a recurrent approach. More information on our approach to carbon offset use 
and the specifics of the carbon offsets retired in FY2021 is available at bhp.com/climate. BHP is committed to 
transparently disclosing the carbon offsets that we retire towards meeting our own climate change targets and 
goals. We did not retire any offsets for this purpose in FY2022.

13  In FY2022, the Caval Ridge operation moved to a facility-specific emissions calculation methodology for 

fugitive emissions as detailed in the NGER (Measurement) Determination 2008 (Method 2 – extraction of coal). 
When comparing FY2022 to FY2021, this methodology change contributed 1.6 per cent of the overall 4 per cent 
reduction in our Percentage of Scope 1 GHG emissions from methane.

Our operational 
decarbonisation pathway

Decarbonising electricity

Decarbonising electricity by switching to 
renewables at our operated assets is a priority 
decarbonisation lever for this decade, in 
addition to a focus on preparing the business for 
widespread diesel displacement in the 2030s. 
The majority of our electricity supply is delivered 
via electricity networks and is accounted for as 
Scope 2 emissions. We are currently working to 
reduce Scope 2 emissions via renewable energy 
PPAs, such as those already executed in Chile, 
Queensland, South Australia and grid connected 
sites in Western Australia. Additionally, work 
is underway to decarbonise remote power 
demands in Western Australia either through 
PPAs with independent power producers or via 
‘behind the meter’ renewable energy installations 
where we self-generate electricity in the Pilbara.

Power decarbonisation progressed with key 
successes in FY2022 including: 

–  The Minerals Americas PPAs became 

operational in August 2021 and January 2022, 
with Escondida and Spence aiming to use 100 
per cent renewable electricity by the mid-2020s. 

–  BMA’s PPA with CleanCo will deliver 

approximately 50 per cent of its annual 
electricity from renewable sources by 2025.1 

–  Nickel West signed PPAs to provide its 
operations with renewable power, with 
agreements for the Flat Rocks Wind Farm, 
the Merredin Solar Farm and the Northern 
Goldfields Solar Project.

–  Olympic Dam entered into renewable energy 
supply arrangements for up to 50 per cent of 
its electricity by 2025.2 

Decarbonising diesel 

Diesel displacement represents the largest 
technical challenge to our decarbonisation 
pathway for operated assets in terms of the 
magnitude of GHG emissions abatement 
required, predominantly driven by consumption 
by our haul truck fleet. We are taking steps now 
to accelerate the essential role that original 
equipment manufacturers must play in the 
development of new equipment to address 
emissions from our trucks and rail fleet. 
This includes partnerships to trial battery-
electric locomotives, to develop electrified haul 
trucks and collaboration such as the ‘Charge 
On Innovation Challenge’ aimed at developing 

Including the purchase of large-scale generation certificates (LGCs).

1 
2   Including the purchase of LGCs. A portion of the LGCs are to be created from the new Port Augusta Renewable 

Energy Park.

48

BHP

Annual Report 2022

concepts for large-scale haul truck electrification 
and charging systems. In addition to progressing 
the availability of fleet solutions for zero 
emission material movement, we are working 
on readying the business for electrification of 
material movement by better understanding the 
energy balance associated with a fully electrified 
operation, quantifying future electricity demand 
and associated infrastructure requirements (e.g. 
transmission lines), modelling potential changes 
to our concept of operations, and evaluating our 
reliance on supporting infrastructure such as 
trolley lines and fast charging capabilities.

Decarbonising fugitive emissions 

Although currently relatively small in relation 
to other emissions sources at BHP’s operated 
assets, fugitive methane emissions pose 
considerable technical and economic challenges 
for our abatement ambitions. We are working 
closely with a range of leading organisations 
in technology, research and industry across 
the globe, to develop new approaches and 
address the issue collectively. This includes 
investigating opportunities for improving the 
comprehensiveness and accuracy of methane 
emissions measurement. Under current 
reporting requirements, we use a combination 
of direct measurement and default, production-
based factors for different coal mine methane 
sources. While emerging satellite and aerial-
based sensing technology is providing new 
and potentially valuable perspectives, much 
more work is required to understand its 
practical application to geographically large, 
diffuse sources of very dilute methane such as 
open-cut coal mines – particularly in crowded 
neighbourhoods such as the Bowen Basin and 
Hunter Valley where numerous mines co-exist in 
close proximity with a range of other significant 
industrial and agricultural methane sources.

Project prioritisation 

Through studies and our capital allocation 
process, we seek to optimise the risk and reward 
proposition for operational decarbonisation 
projects to allocate capital and optimise 
decarbonisation at a portfolio level. We have 
developed an internal marginal abatement cost 
curve designed to support the allocation of 
capital towards the most economically efficient 
and effective decarbonisation projects. 

We regularly monitor our forecasted operational 
GHG emissions to check we are on track. 
As a result of actions taken in recent years, 
particularly securing the supply of renewable 
energy at some operations, we achieved our 
short-term target, for FY2022, and our currently 
projected performance in FY2030 is tracking 
to plan against our medium-term target. 
Progression of planned project studies are 
regularly reviewed. 

Value chain GHG emissions
We recognise the importance of supporting the 
climate transition in our value chain. In 2020, 
BHP set Scope 3 emissions goals for 2030 
to support decarbonisation for processing 
of our steelmaking products and maritime 
transportation of our products. In 2021, we 
added to these goals with a long-term goal and 
targets for Scope 3, supported by an action 

plan of working with industry, including our 
customers and suppliers, to achieve sectoral 
decarbonisation. Refer to ‘BHP’s climate 
change targets and goals’ for our goals and 
targets for Scope 3 emissions. As a producer 
of materials that are essential building blocks 
of decarbonisation, BHP is supporting the global 
transition to a more sustainable development 
trajectory by evolving the solutions we provide  
to our customers and the solutions we procure 
from our suppliers and partners.

Progress in FY2022

Steelmaking

In FY2022, we progressed our work in 
supporting the steelmaking industry to 
accelerate decarbonisation. To support positive 
climate outcomes in both the near term and long 
term, we believe it is important to help enable 
our customers at whatever stage of the ‘steel 

Steel decarbonisation framework 

decarbonisation framework’ they are in. This 
‘steel decarbonisation framework’ is designed 
by BHP to describe the technology pathways 
to decarbonising the global integrated iron and 
steel industry.

BHP’s customers in steelmaking are diverse, 
with some integrated steelmakers in the 
‘optimisation’ stage, focused on energy and 
process efficiency, increasing scrap ratios and 
raw materials optimisation. Other customers 
are exploring ‘transition’ stage solutions like 
alternative fuels, modified blast furnace (BF) 
operations, and end-of-pipe solutions like 
Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) and 
Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage 
(CCUS). Some companies are investigating 
the viability of ‘green end-state’ technologies, 
such as hydrogen-based direct reduction iron 
(DRI) with electric arc furnace steelmaking 
and direct electrolysis processes, like molten-
oxide electrolysis. 

Potential 
emissions 
intensity 
reduction

Customer  
partnerships

Optimisation stage
20% CO2 reduction vs. BAU1

Transition stage

Green end state

50-60% CO2 reduction vs. BAU

90% CO2 reduction vs. BAU

–  HBIS: Enhanced 
lump utilisation, 
slag recycling

–  Baowu: Modified 
BF oxygen and 
hydrogen injection

–  POSCO: Coke 

–  Baowu & POSCO: 

–  HBIS: Hydrogen DRI 

–  JFE: DRI pathways with 

BHP ores

quality optimisation

–  JFE: Coking coal 

and iron ore impact 
on agglomeration

Innovation & 
technology

–  R&D novel  

beneficiation  
technologies

CCUS application within 
integrated steelmaking

–  Tata: Use of biomass 

and CCU

–  R&D ultramafic  
sequestration

–  R&D with Hatch and 

–  R&D microalgae 

blending for premium 
coking coal quality

University of Newcastle 
on hydrogen injection into 
modified BF

–  Supported the CCUS 

Knowledge Centre, as a 
member of the CO2CRC

–  Ventures completed lab 

trials producing metallic iron 
using BHP ores with Boston 
Metal and Electra Steel

Product &  
portfolio

–  Studying beneficiation at our Jimblebar iron 

ore operation 

–  Studying improvements of BMA metallurgical 

coal quality

–  Testing programs to assess 
performance of BHP’s ores 
in DRI and electric furnace 
steel production

Advocacy &  
standards

–  Joined the Global Low-Carbon Metallurgy Innovation Alliance, which is led by Baowu and 

includes World Steel Association and many steel industry stakeholders 

–  Engage with industry decarbonisation initiatives, including our customers, 

Responsible Steel, and the Australia Industry Energy Transition Initiative, by sharing 
expertise and participating in consultation on emissions standards and accelerating 
decarbonisation pathways

1  BAU means business as usual, referring to a trajectory of steelmaking emissions intensity if no changes occur.

Our strategy to support steelmaking is to 
partner, innovate, advocate and supply the 
optimal products across these stages. Access by 
steelmakers to higher-quality metallurgical coal 
and iron ore products, which enables them to 
be more efficient and lower-emissions intensity, 
is an important component of the transition 
to a low-carbon future. To support this, we 
are assessing the opportunity to implement 
beneficiation at our Jimblebar iron ore operation 
and metallurgical coal product improvements at 
our BMA operations.

In FY2022, BHP signed a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) to partner with South 
Korean steelmaking company POSCO to 
study optimising coal/coke quality for low-
carbon blast furnace operation and CCUS. 
This is in addition to our existing partnerships 
with Baowu, JFE and HBIS. Across the four 
partnerships, we are working with companies 
that represent approximately 12 per cent of 
reported global steel production capacity, 
covering 31 per cent of our direct sales in iron 
ore and 19 per cent in metallurgical coal in 
FY2022. BHP has committed to invest up to 
US$75 million in research and development 

of steel decarbonisation pathways through 
these customer partnerships. The goal of these 
partnerships is to support the maturation and 
scaling-up of fit-for-purpose solutions across 
the steelmaking value-chain in all stages of 
steel decarbonisation.

We intend to progress our customer partnerships 
over three phases: 

1.   Conduct feasibility studies or lab/bench-scale 
research and development in priority areas. 

2.   Pilot-scale trial, where we jointly test potential 

solutions to key technical challenges 
at a larger scale that is sufficient to 
understand the impact of raw material and 
operational parameters.

3.   Trial at a customer plant, where we focus 
on optimal, high impact decarbonisation 
solutions for deployment on a limited basis 
at select sites.

In FY2023, we intend to progress a subset of 
existing customer partnerships on projects that 
in aggregate have the potential to deliver 30 per 
cent emissions intensity reduction if adopted at 
scale post-2030. We will also continue exploring 
other partnerships that are complementary to 
our geographic or technology priorities, or that 
can help make existing projects more effective 
and efficient. For instance, on 20 July 2022, 
we announced a new MOU with Tata Steel 
to collaborate on the use of biomass as a 
source of energy and the application of CCU 
in steel production. 

Maritime

Our strategy for supporting the maritime 
industry’s climate transition includes advocacy, 
adoption of low- and zero-emissions fuels or 
other efficiency technologies (like wind-assisted 
propulsion) and deploying real-time data 
analytics to optimise vessel and route selection 
to improve operational efficiency. For example, 
in FY2022:

–  Advocacy: We signed the industry call to 

action with more than 150 other organisations 
urging governments to commit to 
decarbonising international shipping by 2050, 
surpassing the levels of ambition set out in 
the International Maritime Organisation’s 
Initial GHG Strategy. This is in addition to the 
advocacy work we do with the Global Centre 
for Maritime Decarbonisation in Singapore, 
of which we became a founding member 
in FY2021. 

–  Zero-emission fuels: We joined the US 
Government’s First Mover’s Coalition, 
launched at COP26 in Glasgow, as a member 
in the shipping sector. This means we commit 
to 10 per cent of BHP’s products shipped to 
our customers on our time charter vessels 
being on vessels using zero-emissions 
fuels by FY2030.2 BHP has also formed a 
consortium with Rio Tinto, Oldendorff, Star 
Bulk and the Global Maritime Forum to 
analyse and support the development of an 
iron ore maritime green corridor, fuelled by 
green ammonia. 

2  Subject to the availability of technology, supply, 
safety standards and the establishment of 
reasonable thresholds for price premiums. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

49

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

–  Transition fuels: We progressed use of LNG 
as a transitional fuel. BHP has chartered the 
world’s first LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk 
carriers to transport iron ore from Western 
Australia to Asia from Eastern Pacific Shipping 
(EPS) for five years and awarded the LNG 
fuel contract to Shell. The fuel, along with 
improved efficiency of the vessel design, is 
expected to reduce GHG emissions intensity 
by up to 30 per cent on a per voyage basis. 
We have already operationalised two vessels 
and expect to deliver another three vessels 
in FY2023. BHP is also exploring biofuels as 
an interim GHG emission abatement option 
for shipping. In FY2022, we issued a Request 
for Proposal for procurement of sustainable-
certified (REDII or ISCC)1 biodiesel. 

Procurement

In FY2022, we conducted a survey and 
assessment of the climate positions of our top 
500 direct suppliers, representing approximately 
76 per cent of our spend.2 Through this study, 
we found that 27 per cent of the suppliers 
surveyed have Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets 
and/or goals aligned with our own. In the coming 
years, we intend to systematise our tracking 
and engagement of suppliers in relation to their 
public climate strategies. 

In order to engage and incentivise our suppliers, 
we integrated climate commitments into our 
sourcing document and evaluation criteria. 
We intend to continue to refine and integrate 
metrics related to incentivising positive climate 
outcomes from our suppliers going forward.

Scope 3 GHG emissions 
performance
The most material part of BHP’s reported 
Scope 3 emissions inventory comes from 
the downstream processing of our products, 
in particular from the emissions generated 
by steelmaking through the processing of 
iron ore and metallurgical coal. We estimate 
that in FY2022, emissions associated with 
the processing of our sold products was 
307 MtCO2-e, an increase of 2 per cent from 
FY2021. The increase comes primarily from 
an increase in the production of iron ore 
from Samarco. 

After the merger of our Petroleum business with 
Woodside, emissions associated with the use 
of our energy products is now only from energy 
coal,3 which in FY2022 was 38 MtCO2-e.

We are also progressing and improving our 
approach and methodology for GHG emissions 
estimations. Key refinements to our methodology 
for Scope 3 this year, in line with the GHG 
Protocol, include:

–  Categories 1 and 2 Purchased goods and 
services (including capital goods): We 
piloted switching the emissions estimation 
of high-spend goods from select categories 
(including explosives, grinding media, 
conveyor belts, tyres, and select bulk 
materials) from spend-based emissions 

factors to industry average quantity-based 
emissions factors or emissions factors 
sourced directly from suppliers. 

and non-battery products to increase 
transparency as our nickel business grows 
to be sufficiently material to report. 

–  Categories 4 and 9 Upstream and 
downstream transportation and 
distribution: We successfully developed 
and operationalised a carbon accounting 
and decision support system tailored 
to ship chartering, leveraging DNV’s 
Veracity platform. 

–  Category 10 Processing of sold products: 

–  We increased the granularity of calculations 
for downstream emissions associated with 
the processing of our copper products, 
removing the double counting of our Scope 
1 and 2 emissions previously present in 
our calculations. 

–  We also began reporting downstream 

Scope 3 emissions for nickel processing 
accounting for emissions from battery 

–  Category 11 Use of sold products: BHP 
has historically marketed a small portion of 
BMA products against thermal coal indexes. 
In FY2022, this portion was approximately 
6 per cent, up from 2 per cent in FY2021. 
For purposes of enhancing the transparency 
and accuracy of our Scope 3 emissions 
reporting, for FY2022 we have broken out 
the energy coal portion of BMA product. 
The portion of energy coal in BMA’s product 
mix is influenced by both production and 
market forces; we anticipate that assessments 
into improved product quality will support 
a reduction in BMA products marketed as 
thermal coal. 

For more information refer to the 
BHP Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 
calculation methodology available  
at bhp.com/climate.

Scope 3 GHG emissions by category (MtCO2-e)1

Year ended 30 June

Upstream
Purchased goods and services  
(including capital goods)2
Fuel and energy related activities

Upstream transportation and distribution3
Business travel4
Employee commuting4
Downstream
Downstream transportation and distribution5
Investments (i.e. our non-operated assets)6
Processing of sold products7
GHG emissions from steelmaking8
– Iron ore processing to crude steel
– Metallurgical coal processing to crude steel9
Copper processing10
Nickel processing11
Total processing of sold products
Use of sold products
Energy coal12,13
Natural gas13
Crude oil and condensates13
Natural gas liquids13
Total use of sold products
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions  
(adjusted for divested operations)14

2022

2021

2020

9.9
1.0

4.6
0.1
0.3

3.2
2.7

305.3
270.8
34.5
1.0
0.3
306.7

37.6
17.4
15.9
1.7
72.6
401.2

364.3

10.1
1.1

4.8
0.1
0.4

3.1
2.7

300.5
260.7
39.8
1.0

301.5

38.3
19.5
16.8
1.8
76.4
400.1

359.7

9.8
1.2

4.6
0.1
0.2

2.9
2.7

292.9
252.8
40.1
1.0

294.0

56.4
20.6
17.9
1.9
96.8
412.3

369.5

1  Scope 3 GHG emissions have been calculated using methodologies consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol 

2 

3 

Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard (Scope 3 Standard). Scope 3 GHG emissions 
reporting necessarily requires a degree of overlap in reporting boundaries due to our involvement at multiple points in 
the life cycle of the commodities we produce and consume. For more information on the calculation methodologies, 
assumptions and key references used in the preparation of our Scope 3 GHG emissions data refer to the BHP Scope 
1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions calculation methodology available at bhp.com/climate.
In FY2022, we made further improvements in how we calculate Scope 3 GHG emissions associated with the 
‘Purchased goods and services (including capital goods)’ category by switching the emissions estimation of high-
spend goods from select categories (including explosives, grinding media, conveyor belts, tyres, and select bulk 
materials) from spend-based emissions factors to industry average quantity-based emissions factors or emissions 
factors sourced directly from suppliers. Previously reported GHG emissions for the ‘Purchased goods and services 
(including capital goods)’ category were 8.9 MtCO2-e in FY2021 and 8.8 MtCO2-e in FY2020. 
Includes product transport where freight costs are covered by BHP, for example under Cost and Freight (CFR) 
or similar terms, as well as purchased transport services for process inputs to our operations. In FY2022, we 
successfully developed and operationalised a carbon accounting and decision support system tailored to ship 
chartering, leveraging DNV’s Veracity platform. This also resulted in a restatement of our maritime emissions in 
the ‘Upstream transportation and distribution’ category for FY2021 and FY2020. For FY2022, we have also added 
GHG emissions associated with inbound freight to this category of purchased goods that we transitioned to a 
quantity method in the ‘Purchased goods and services (including capital goods)’ category. Previously reported GHG 
emissions for the ‘Upstream transportation and distribution’ category were 3.8 MtCO2-e in both FY2021 and FY2020.

4  Minor restatements of emissions for Scope 3 GHG emissions associated with the ‘Business travel’ and ‘Employee 

commuting’ categories, resulting from adjustments to underlying data due to spend data reclassifications, have been 
made for both FY2021 and FY2020. 

1  Renewable Energy Directive or International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.
2  This percentage is calculated as a share of our total spend in FY2021, and total spend is defined as the categories of spend that are relevant to Scope 3 emissions reporting 
categories, which excludes intra-company payments, internal payroll, community and charitable donations, and expenses associated with regulatory compliance and taxation.
In line with our reporting methodology for Scope 3 emissions, we define our energy products as oil, gas and energy coal. We account for metallurgical coal within the 
‘Processing of sold products’ category (within emissions from steelmaking).

3 

50

BHP

Annual Report 2022

5  This category includes emissions associated with transportation of BHP’s products to the customer where we do 

not cover the freight costs, for example under Free on Board (FOB), Ex Works (EXW) or similar terms. In FY2022, 
we successfully developed and operationalised a carbon accounting and decision support system tailored to ship 
chartering, leveraging DNV’s Veracity platform. This also resulted in a restatement of our maritime emissions in the 
‘Downstream transportation and distribution’ category for FY2021 and FY2020. Previously reported GHG emissions 
for this category were 3.8 MtCO2-e in FY2021 and 4.0 MtCO2-e in FY2020.

6  For BHP, this category covers the Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions (on an equity basis) from our assets that 

are owned as a joint venture but not operated by BHP. In FY2022, all GHG emissions estimates from non-operated 
assets were developed from data provided directly by operators. Emissions from Tamakaya Energía SpA (i.e. 
the Kelar Power plant) that are additional to the emissions reported under Scope 2 for Escondida and Pampa Norte 
under the operational control boundary are reported in the Scope 3 ‘Investments’ (i.e. our non-operated assets) 
category. The categorisation of Scope 3 emissions from Tamakaya Energía SpA is under review and may change 
in the future. Tamakaya Energía SpA emissions for FY2021 and FY2020 have been restated to include emissions 
associated with Kelar Power Plant generation that was sold to the grid and to update data that was provisional in 
FY2021. Due to the effective economic date of 31 December 2020 for the sale of BHP’s interest in Cerrejón, Scope 
1 and Scope 2 emissions (on an equity basis) from Cerrejón are not included in FY2022. Scope 1 and 2 emissions 
(on an equity basis) from our Petroleum non-operated assets are reported for the Rhourde Ouled Djemma (ROD) 
Integrated Development, Algeria up to the date of divestment of our interest in the ROD Integrated Development 
in April 2022, and for the other Petroleum non-operated assets up to the completion date of the merger of our 
Petroleum business with Woodside of 1 June 2022. Previously reported GHG emissions for this category were 
2.5 MtCO2-e in FY2021 and 2.6 MtCO2-e in FY2020.

7  Scope 3 GHG emissions associated with downstream processing of our zinc, gold, silver, ethane, cobalt, and 
uranium oxide products are not currently included, as production volumes are relatively low and a large range 
of possible end uses apply and/or downstream emissions are estimated to be immaterial. Processing/refining of 
petroleum products is also excluded as these emissions are considered immaterial compared to the end-use product 
combustion reported in the ‘Use of sold products’ category.

8  All our iron ore and metallurgical coal products are assumed to be processed into steel. Allocation of steelmaking 

GHG emissions to BHP’s metallurgical coal is based on the global average input mass ratio of metallurgical coal vs 
iron ore to the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steelmaking route. The GHG emission factor used to 
estimate Scope 3 GHG emissions reflects the blast furnace integrated steelmaking route into which the majority of 
BHP’s steelmaking raw materials portfolio is sold. The estimation also considers BHP iron ore product quality and 
its impact on the amount of ore required to produce steel. We will monitor and adjust, as required, the balance of 
intensity factors to reflect any evolution in our product quality and/or flows through to other pathways (such as direct 
reduced iron electric arc furnace (DRI-EAF)).

9  Emissions associated with customers’ processing of metallurgical coal products (on an equity basis) from BMC 

are reported up to the completion date of divestment of our interest in BMC of 3 May, 2022. This does not have an 
impact on total GHG emissions reported from steelmaking due to the integrated nature of our calculations with our 
iron ore production volumes, and therefore does not impact the illustrative ‘Total Scope 3 emissions (adjusted for 
divested operations)’ figure provided at the end of the table. See footnote 14 for more details.

10  In FY2022, we increased the granularity of calculations for downstream emissions associated with the processing of 
our copper products. We now split our product volumes into copper concentrates that are processed into cathodes 
by third parties and our own copper cathodes, which are assumed to be processed into copper semi-fabricated 
products. This has also removed the double counting of our Scope 1 and 2 emissions previously present in our 
calculations. This has resulted in a restatement of copper processing in the ‘Processing of sold products’ category for 
FY2021 and FY2020. Previously reported GHG emissions for copper processing in the ‘Processing of sold products’ 
category were 5.0 MtCO2-e in FY2021 and 5.2 MtCO2-e in FY2020.

11  In FY2022, we also began reporting downstream Scope 3 emissions for nickel processing to increase transparency 
as our nickel business grows to be sufficiently material to report. Our methodology covers downstream emissions 
from customers’ processing of BHP’s nickel products in four segments. Based on sales data, we estimate emissions 
of (1) our nickel intermediates that goes to third-party refiners; (2) nickel metal that goes into stainless steel and 
alloys production; (3) nickel metal that goes into nickel sulphate (NiSO4) for battery value chains; and (4) BHP’s 
NiSO4 that goes directly into battery precursor active material production. Historical emissions have not been 
retroactively reported as GHG emissions for nickel processing in the ‘Processing of sold products’ category are 
estimated to be immaterial. 

12  BHP has historically marketed a small portion of BMA products against thermal coal indexes. In FY2022, this portion 
was approximately 6 per cent, up from 2 per cent in FY2021. For purposes of enhancing the transparency and 
accuracy of our Scope 3 emissions reporting, for FY2022 we have estimated the energy coal component of BMA 
production based on the percentage of BMA product marketed as thermal coal and associated GHG emissions and 
included that under energy coal in the ‘Use of sold products’ category. We have not restated energy coal emissions 
in the ‘Use of sold products’ category for FY2021 and FY2020 as the energy coal component of BMA’s sales in those 
years is estimated to be immaterial. We will continue to review the energy coal contribution from BMA in future years. 
Due to the effective economic date of 31 December 2020 for sale of BHP’s interest in Cerrejón, Scope 3 emissions 
for customers’ processing of product from Cerrejón are not included in FY2022.

13  All crude oil and condensates are conservatively assumed to be refined and combusted as diesel. Energy coal, 

natural gas and natural gas liquids are assumed to be combusted. Scope 3 emissions associated with customers’ 
use of energy products from our Petroleum business were reported up to the date of divestment of our interest in 
the ROD Integrated Development in April 2022, and up to the effective date of the merger of our Petroleum business 
with Woodside of 1 June 2022 for the other Petroleum assets.

14  Due to the merger of our Petroleum business with Woodside (completed on 1 June 2022), divestment of our interest 
in the ROD Integrated Development (completed in April 2022), divestment of our interest in BMC (completed on 
3 May 2022), and divestment of our interest in Cerrejón (completed 31 December 2020), associated downstream 
Scope 3 emissions from the ‘Use of sold products’ and ‘Investments’ categories are removed to generate this 
illustrative total, noting that other categories have not been removed for the merger or divestments due to the 
complexity of underlying data. Due to the current methodology we use for estimating steelmaking emissions, the 
removal of BMC emissions does not impact the total for ‘Processing of sold products’ category (also see footnote 9). 
Due to the effective economic date of 31 December 2020 for sale of BHP’s interest in Cerrejón, Scope 3 emissions 
(on an equity basis) from Cerrejón are not included in FY2022 reporting. As a result, the removal of Cerrejón 
only impacts FY2021 and FY2020 emissions totals for the ‘Total Scope 3 GHG emissions (adjusted for divested 
operations)’ figure.

Natural climate solutions
Investing in natural ecosystems is a cost-
effective and immediately available solution 
to mitigate climate change that often provides 
sustainability co-benefits, such as biodiversity 
conservation, improved water quality or 
support for local communities. We support 
the development of market mechanisms that 
channel private sector finance into projects 
that increase carbon storage or avoid GHG 
emissions through conservation, restoration 
and improved management of terrestrial 
landscapes, wetlands and coastal and marine 

ecosystems. We focus on project support, 
governance, knowledge and innovation, and 
market stimulation for carbon credits generated 
by these projects. For example, in FY2022 we 
launched a new A$3 million grants program to 
help drive the development of the Australian blue 
carbon market by providing funding and support 
to emerging blue carbon projects.1

Governance

BHP advocates for the development of efficient 
global carbon markets that facilitate high-quality 
offsetting that is both cost-effective and delivers 

broader sustainability co-benefits. We are an 
active member on several international carbon 
markets bodies including the International 
Emissions Trading Association and the Taskforce 
on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets.

Use of carbon credits or offsets

BHP prioritises emissions reduction at our 
operated assets to achieve our Scope 1 
and 2 target and goal, with investments in 
external carbon offset projects considered 
complementary to this ‘structural abatement’. 
Although we prioritise internal emission 
reduction, we acknowledge a role for offsets 
in a temporary or transitional capacity while 
abatement options are being studied, as well 
as for ‘hard to abate’ emissions with limited or 
no current technological solutions, and where 
access to renewable energy is constrained. 

BHP has five potential ‘use cases’ for carbon 
offsets, to complement the structural emissions 
abatement that we prioritise (refer to the ‘BHP 
Carbon Offset Use Cases’ table). This includes 
contributing to our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission 
reduction targets and goals and complying 
with emissions regulations (e.g. under the 
Australian Safeguard mechanism) as we 
work to decarbonise our business. We use 
our social investment to fund research into 
new and emerging natural carbon offsetting 
methodologies, and to fund offsets projects with 
social value co-benefits in line with our social 
value framework.2 We also explore commercial 
opportunities to work with organisations in our 
value chain to supply offsets to supplement their 
focus on emissions abatement, including the 
bundling of offsets into product transactions.3

Sourcing

We perform due diligence designed to ensure 
we invest in carbon offsets that adhere to the 
following minimum quality standards:4

–  Registered under an internationally 

recognised standard that independently 
verifies and issues voluntary carbon credits 
and/or satisfies national carbon offset 
standards for compliance offsets.

–  Adheres to a robust emission reduction 

accounting methodology to provide 
assurance of the volume of emissions 
reduced through a project. 

–  Demonstrates that the emissions 

reductions are additional to ensure that the 
emissions would not have been reduced in 
the absence of a carbon offset market.

–  Has a high likelihood of permanence to 

ensure the emissions reduction are ongoing 
and not reversed (e.g. in the case of forestry 
projects, the trees are not cut down or 
destroyed by a natural disaster).

–  Provides robust mitigation against leakage 

ensuring an offsetting project does not 
increase emissions elsewhere (e.g. an area is 
protected from deforestation through offsetting 
but another forest area is destroyed).

1  For more information refer to bhp.com/news/articles/2022/06/new-bhp-grants-to-support-blue-carbon-market.
2  For more information refer to bhp.com/sustainability/communities/social-investment.
3  For example, we undertook a pilot carbon neutral commodity transaction with US copper cable and wire manufacturer, Southwire. We did not retire any of the offsets tied to 

that transaction against our own voluntary targets or goals. For more information refer to bhp.com/news/media-centre/releases/2021/10/bhp-and-southwire-collaborate-for-
first-carbon-neutral-copper-cathode-delivery.

4  For more information refer to bhp.com/sustainability/climate-change/carbon-offsets.

BHP

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51

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

BHP carbon offset use cases

BHP may use carbon offsets in five cases, to complement the structural emissions abatement that we prioritise

1.  
Scope 1 and 2 
voluntary targets 
and goals

2. 
Scope 3 voluntary 
targets and goals

3. 
Regulatory compliance

4. 
Social investment

5. 
Commercial 
opportunities

–  Demonstrates high environmental and 

social integrity ensuring no broader social 
or environmental harm (e.g., hydropower 
projects that require forest clearing and 
community displacement).

–  Restrict early vintage years to avoid 

claiming emissions reduction from activities 
that occurred a long time ago; typically this 
means not purchasing offsets with a vintage 
greater than five years.

BHP’s carbon offsets are from a variety of 
sources including (but not limited to) spot 
markets and project origination. We see a 
role for offsets from solutions that remove 
atmospheric carbon as well as avoid emissions. 
While we prioritise offsets from nature-based 
solutions, we also consider the sourcing of 
offsets from engineered solutions. 

BHP is committed to transparently disclosing the 
carbon offsets that we retire towards meeting our 
own climate change targets and goals. We did 
not retire any offsets for this purpose in FY2022.

Engagement and disclosure
Achieving the aims of the Paris Agreement will 
require supportive policy across jurisdictions 
globally. The policy-making process is complex, 
and change is unlikely to be smooth or linear. 
We believe BHP can best support policy 
development by ensuring we meet our own 
climate targets, goals and strategies, continuing 
to make the case for the economic opportunities 
arising from the energy transition, and focusing 
on those policy areas where we are likely to 
have the greatest ability to influence change. 

Our Global Climate Policy Standards clarify 
how our policy positions on climate change 
should be reflected in our own advocacy and 
the advocacy of the associations we belong to. 
Over the past five years, we have introduced a 
range of measures to strengthen governance 
of our membership of industry associations and 
monitor their climate change advocacy. 

More information on our approach to 
industry associations is available at  
bhp.com/about/operating-ethically/ 
industry-associations.

BHP was one of the first companies to 
align its climate-related disclosures with the 
recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s 
TCFD, of which our Vice President Sustainability 

52

BHP

Annual Report 2022

and Climate Change, Dr Fiona Wild, has been 
a member since its inception in late 2015. 
We published our Climate Change Report in 
2020, and also participate in the CA100+ Net Zero 
Carbon Benchmark (NZCB), which assesses the 
world’s largest corporate GHG emitters on their 
progress in the transition to the net zero future. 

In September 2021, we published the CTAP, 
which sets out the steps BHP intends to take to 
reduce GHG emissions to net zero within our 
own operations and to pursue net zero in our 
value chain. The CTAP received approval from 
84.9 per cent of shareholders in the ‘Say on 
Climate’ advisory vote at our AGMs in 2021.

We also engage on policy matters directly with 
government and through our membership of 
industry associations and issue-specific coalitions 
and initiatives. Examples of these engagements 
are provided at bhp.com and in the ’Climate policy 
engagement’ section of our CTAP.

Our TCFD-aligned disclosures and information in 
support of our NZCB assessment can be found 
throughout this Report, in our BHP Climate Change 
Report 2020 and CTAP and at bhp.com. For a 
navigator showing where to find relevant information 
in relation to the TCFD recommendations refer to 
‘TCFD index’ in OFR 7.1. 

7.9  Value chain 
sustainability
Our role as both a supplier and a customer 
means it is important we have a coordinated and 
integrated approach to sustainability across the 
value chain. We strive to work with our customers, 
suppliers and other stakeholders in the value chain 
to create social value through sustainable practices 
across the full life cycle of our products.

BHP takes a systems approach to value chain 
sustainability, designed to assess and work with 
others to improve the sustainability impacts 
of our upstream supply chains, inbound and 
outbound logistics, and our products as they 
move through extraction, processing and use. 

In FY2022, BHP developed a sustainability 
standards strategy that defines our pathway 
for the implementation of responsible mining 
and sourcing standards. The strategy is 
focused on the foundations needed to enable 
a more efficient adoption of standards to better 
position BHP’s participation in the sustainability 

standards landscape. We also established a 
global sustainability standards team to enhance 
our systems and processes, integrate planning 
and enable a more strategic approach to the 
governance and implementation of sustainability 
standards across BHP’s operated assets. 
This team also has accountability for sustainability 
reporting and disclosure, bringing together our 
work on sustainability standards and further 
strengthening our approach to transparency and 
standards across the value chain.

The standards that form part of our strategy are:

–  the Copper Mark

–  the London Metal Exchange (LME) Policy on 
Responsible Sourcing of LME-Listed Brands

–  the ICMM Mining Principles and associated 

Performance Expectations

–  the Global Industry Standard on 

Tailings Management 

–  Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM)

Accreditations
Our Chilean operations Escondida and Spence, 
and Olympic Dam in Australia were awarded the 
Copper Mark during FY2022 to recognise their 
responsible production practices. The Copper 
Mark is a voluntary assurance framework that 
independently assesses participants in 32 critical 
areas, including environment, community, 
human rights and governance issues for mining, 
smelting and refining operations. 

Escondida, Spence and Olympic Dam also 
completed independent third-party verification 
of self-assessments against the ICMM Mining 
Principles and associated Performance 
Expectations. The ICMM Mining Principles require 
member companies to conduct a prioritisation 
process to determine which assets will be subject 
to third-party validation across a three-year cycle. 

All BHP’s operated assets have completed their 
self-assessments and the external validation 
sequence has been determined in consideration 
of commitments made by BHP to other 
standards, such as Copper Mark and the LME 
Policy on Responsible Sourcing of LME-Listed 
Brands, to enable operational efficiencies.

We recognise the importance of engaging in 
the sustainability standards ecosystem and 
we support simplification of the standards 
landscape and convergence of standards. 
Integrating multiple global and commodity-

Using offsets to meet the target and goal that we have set for our operational emissions, as we work to decarbonise our business. Working with our suppliers and customer on the use of offsets to supplement their focus on emissions abatement.Using offsets to comply with regulation in our operational locations, as we work to decarbonise our business.Offsets generated through our actions to develop global carbon markets, invest in nature and support communities to deliver social value.Bundling offsets into BHP product transactions to differentiate our products and supplement our customers’ focus on emissions abatement. specific standards is a complex task and in 
FY2022 we engaged in a number of forums 
focused on sustainability standards – through 
the ICMM, the Minerals Council of Australia and 
the Mining Association of Canada as well as with 
standard-setting bodies like the Copper Mark, 
and the OECD and LME.

In FY2022, BHP disclosed aspects of our 
sustainability performance through the 
LMEpassport, which is the LME’s new digital 
credentials register to enable companies 
that trade LME-listed brands to disclose their 
sustainability metrics and certifications at 
corporate, asset and brand levels. BHP added 
information related to our copper and nickel 
LME-registered products from Olympic Dam, 
Escondida, Pampa Norte and Nickel West.

Due diligence
In FY2022, a cross-functional team defined 
a clear scope and began developing a 
due diligence management system for our 
minerals and metals supply chain that aligns 
with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for 
Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from 
Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD 
Guidance). This means that, for our operated 
assets and our inbound supply chain of minerals 
and metals, BHP intends to adopt the OECD 
Guidance’s Annex I five-step, risk-based due 
diligence framework in the form of a new due 
diligence management system. The new system 
will involve updating policies and procedures, 
and ensuring appropriate resources designed 
to identify, assess and manage risks in our 
minerals and metals supply chain where there 
is any origin, transport or trade association with 
conflict-affected and/or high-risk areas. 

Alignment with the OECD Guidance is a 
reflection of better practice supply chain due 
diligence and it is also a requirement under 
the responsible sourcing standards of leading 
mining and metals industry bodies, including 
the LME, the Copper Mark, the ICMM, and 
TSM. In FY2023, we aim to finalise our OECD-
aligned due diligence management system and 
commence implementation of that system for our 
minerals and metals supply chain. 

For more information about the scope of 
our OECD-aligned due diligence refer to 
our Modern Slavery Statement 2022 to be 
published in September 2022 at bhp.com.

Emerging sustainability initiatives
We also continue to identify sustainability-related 
opportunities in BHP’s value chain. 

We see traceability as a key enabler to lifting 
sustainability standards across the value chain. 
In FY2022, BHP and leading US copper cable 
and wire manufacturer, Southwire, completed their 
first ‘carbon neutral’1 copper transaction, involving 
delivery from BHP’s mines in Chile to Southwire’s 
processing activities in Georgia, United States. 
The pilot forms part of a collaboration for BHP 
that reflects our Climate Transition Action Plan 
commitment to support industry to develop 

technologies for improved traceability and the 
pursuit of carbon-neutral production. 

Additionally, circular economy principles 
are an increasingly critical consideration for 
building sustainable supply chains in relation 
to our commodities that meet growing demand 
for our products, support goals to reduce 
GHG emissions and minimise the impact 
of mining and downstream processing on 
the environments and communities where 
we operate. Across the business, we are 
working to identify opportunities that leverage 
our capabilities to create solutions that can 
contribute towards a circular economy.

7.10 Community
Making a positive contribution to the social and 
economic wellbeing of the communities where we 
operate requires long-term partnerships based on 
respect, transparency and trust. Our actions and 
approach are governed by the Our Requirements 
for Community standard and Our Code.

Community understanding
We understand our activities have the potential 
to create social, cultural, environmental and 
human rights impacts, both positive and 
negative. To analyse the potential risks to 
communities where we operate, we conduct 
due diligence to better understand social and 
human rights contexts, work collaboratively 
with our community stakeholders, and look for 
opportunities to create social value. 

As part of our due diligence processes, we 
conduct community perception research in local 
host communities for each of our operated assets 
every two years. In FY2022, quantitative and 
qualitative surveys at all operated assets provided 
insights into the public’s general concerns and 
priorities as well as perceptions of mining sector 
and BHP performance. Globally, community 
perceptions of our overall performance is positive, 
being on par or above average when compared 
to others in the sector in most markets. We tend 
to be perceived as being safety driven, behaving 
in a way that promotes diversity and inclusion, 
having a positive relationship with the community, 
and providing opportunities for local employment 
and procurement. The areas where people 
perceive room for improvement include exceeding 
regulatory requirements, doing the right thing 
by the environment, being a leader in water 
management and taking a more active role in the 
global response to climate change. 

Our operated assets are also required to 
maintain annual stakeholder engagement 
plans and conduct regular engagement 
activities, including one-on-one meetings, 
multi-stakeholder roundtables, issue-based 
consultation and written communications. 
These engagements provide a valuable space 
for more open and in-depth dialogues with 
stakeholders on issues such as those raised in 
our community perception research, exploring 
mutually beneficial solutions and building trust.

Community events, complaints  
and grievances
With no significant community events recorded as 
resulting from BHP operated activities in FY2022, 
our five-year target of no significant community 
events between FY2018 and FY2022 has been 
met.2 There were 50 community concerns and 
106 complaints (five of which were classified 
as grievances)3 received globally across our 
operated assets through our local complaints 
and grievance mechanisms. This represented a 
total increase of 8 per cent from FY2021 figures. 
The increase is attributable in large part to an 
overall rise in the level of community reporting, 
which we consider to be a positive sign that 
provides earlier opportunities to seek to address 
issues and understand sentiment to avoid or 
reduce the adverse impact and risk of escalation. 

These concerns, complaints and 
grievances included:

–  The two most common themes across BHP 
operated assets were concerns regarding: 
(i) the continued impacts of the COVID-19 
pandemic and associated recovery initiatives; 
and (ii) local employment. 

–  In Chile, community concerns focused 

on environmental impacts and the overall 
sustainability of the mining industry, the 
development of local communities and the 
impacts of automation. Complaints about 
contractor behaviour included claims that 
certain commitments were not honoured and 
some local Indigenous community stakeholders 
raised concerns about water resources in the 
high Andean wetlands and greater employment 
opportunities at Escondida.

–  In Canada, community concerns and 

complaints related to the increase in activity 
at the Jansen Potash Project, including routes 
of haul trucks and greater community support 
and local procurement opportunities. 

–  In Australia, key community issues centred 
on local employment and associated skills 
and labour shortages, the impact on local 
procurement from supply chain delays, and our 
COVID-19 vaccination mandate with particular 
mental health and wellbeing concerns raised 
by Traditional Owners. Community complaints 
also related to operational impacts, largely 
lighting, dust, noise, odour, emissions, blasting 
overpressure and vibration.

–  Following the announcement of the divestment 
of our interest in BMC, some local stakeholders 
focused on whether community support would 
continue under new ownership and the local 
Traditional Owners sought assurance that the 
Indigenous Land Use Agreement would be 
honoured by the new owners. 

–  The announcement that BHP would retain New 

South Wales Energy Coal and intends to proceed 
with a managed process to cease mining at 
the asset by the end of FY2030 was received 
in a neutral to positive manner overall, with 
community stakeholders generally expressing 
support for BHP retaining the asset to a managed 
closure rather than selling to new owners.

1 

‘Carbon neutral’ is not intended to imply certification under any standard or application of a particular methodology and includes all those greenhouse gas emissions as 
defined for BHP reporting purposes. 

2  A significant event resulting from BHP operated activities is one with an actual severity rating of four or above, based on our internal severity rating scale (tiered from one 

to five by increasing severity) as defined in our mandatory minimum performance requirements for risk management.

3  An event or community complaint relating to an adverse impact/event that has escalated to the point where a third-party intervention or adjudication is required to resolve it.

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Annual Report 2022

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Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

While we have collected information and sought 
to understand community issues for some time, 
in FY2022 we identified opportunities to enhance 
the visibility and representation of community 
issues across BHP, including: 

–  broadening our community data sets to create 

a more integrated and multidimensional 
understanding of community issues, including 
the incorporation of inputs received via 
Indigenous-specific engagement channels

–  greater data triangulation and the overlay 
of regional, national, global and industry 
emerging trends analysis with local insights

–  implementing an enterprise-wide stakeholder 

management system with linkages to 
our local community complaint and 
grievance mechanisms 

–  enhancing internal understanding of reporting 

processes, systems and requirements 

More information on community is 
available at bhp.com/community.

Stakeholder concerns by region1

7.11  Human rights
Governance and capability 
The basis for BHP’s human rights approach is 
an ongoing commitment to operate in a manner 
consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on 
Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the 
10 UN Global Compact Principles. 

Our Human Rights Policy Statement (HRPS) 
details our commitment, including the additional 
issue-specific frameworks we adhere to as well 
as the standards and processes set out for our 
people, business partners and other relevant 
parties. Updates to the HRPS commenced 
in FY2022 to more clearly articulate how our 
human rights governance and due diligence 
approach is organised.

Our Code of Conduct (Our Code), which applies 
to everyone who works for us, with us, or on 
our behalf, includes a section on human rights. 
Annual training on Our Code is mandatory 
and we provide an additional introductory 
human rights training video on our internal 
learning system and our website. Teams within 

Corporate Affairs and Commercial who lead 
our operational and supply chain human rights 
practices completed further human rights training 
with an external expert to better support their 
capabilities to identify and manage human rights 
risks and potential impacts. Our Directors also 
participated in human rights training, led by an 
external expert.

Due diligence 
In FY2022, we used human rights impact 
assessments completed in FY2021 to conduct 
a gap analysis of each operated assets’ material 
risk profile (as recorded in our enterprise 
risk management system) and identified 
opportunities for improvement, including: 

–  better representing the human rights context 
and potential impacts to human rights for 
existing material risks, including labour 
conditions (such as sexual harassment and 
mental health) and environment (such as 
climate change, water and biodiversity)

–  improving representation of specific human 
rights risks in our risk profile, such as risks 
in local procurement programs that operate 

–  Environmental performance and sustainability of 

the industry

–  Local employment
–  Automation
–  Air quality (Spence)
–  Contractor behaviours (Spence)

–  Road and traffic impacts due to enhanced 

operations

–  Legitimacy of Community Perception Survey
–  Contractor behaviour and performance
–  Lack of small business opportunities

–  Emissions – dust and noise
–  Crime and anti-social behaviour
–  Traditional Owner engagement
–  Lack of access to health services
–  Heritage protection

Chile

Canada

Western Australia

New South Wales
–  Operational impacts including lighting, blasting 

overpressure and vibration

–  Divestment uncertainty
–  Thermal coal export markets
–  COVID-19 impacts and recovery

Queensland
–  Local employment including skills and labour shortages
–  Local procurement and supply chain delays for goods and 

services

–  COVID-19 including workforce vaccination mandates, Traditional 
Owner engagement, labour and supply chain shortages, and 
mental health impacts

–  Cost of living, housing affordability and availability
–  Regional childcare availability
–  Divestment of BMC asset and continuity of community 

commitments

South Australia
–  Lack of childcare availability
–  Availability and affordability of 

community flights
–  Youth mental health
–  Smelter maintenance campaign

1  Data includes BMC up to the date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022).

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Annual Report 2022

 
Human rights signpost 

Priority area

FY2022 update 

Health and safety

Given the scope, scale and nature of our business, our workforce health and safety conditions 
are an important focus area for human rights considerations.

OFR 7.4 – Safety details the ongoing work to eliminate the risk of fatalities and injuries, create 
workplaces safe from sexual harassment, as well as improve our workplace culture through 
field leadership and contractor relationships.

OFR 7.6 – Health details the ongoing work to prevent or mitigate occupational exposures and 
illnesses, address COVID-19 and support mental health.

Our Code brings our values to life. It includes an emphasis on respecting human rights and is 
reviewed annually. 

Ethics and business  
conduct

OFR 7.7 – Ethics and business conduct describes how we apply Our Code and provides an 
update on progress related to transparency, accountability and anti-corruption. 

OFR 6 – People and culture describes our approach to inclusion and diversity, gender balance 
and employee relations. 

There are many human rights potentially relevant to the communities where we operate, 
including rights related to freedom of expression and self-determination as well as economic, 
social and cultural rights, such as health and wellbeing, work, adequate housing and water 
and sanitation. 

Community

OFR 7.10 – Community details our work to build and maintain respectful, mutually beneficial 
relationships with the communities where we operate. 

OFR 7.14 – Social investment describes how we seek to support key community 
priorities across our operational footprint through our voluntary investment to social and 
environmental initiatives.

Indigenous peoples

We recognise our approach must be founded on a deep respect for the distinct rights, cultures, 
perspectives, aspirations and needs of Indigenous peoples. 

OFR 7.13 – Indigenous peoples provides an update on our Global Indigenous 
Peoples Framework. 

Climate  
change

Environment, 
water, biodiversity  
and land

Tailings storage 
facilities

We recognise climate change is a human rights issue, with potential risks to the fundamental 
rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living. We continue to progress our 
climate targets, goals and strategies and implement our Adaptation Strategy, which includes 
a focus on building the safety, productivity and climate resilience of our operated assets, 
investments, portfolio, supply chain, communities and ecosystems by adapting to the physical 
risks of climate change. 

OFR 7.8 – Climate change details our ongoing work in this space. 

We acknowledge the nature of our operations can have significant environmental impacts and 
those impacts can affect people and their human rights. 

OFR 7.15 – Environment details our overall approach to environmental management, 
including seeking to avoid, minimise and mitigate our adverse impacts and contribute to the 
resilience of the natural environment.

OFR 7.16 – Water provides an update on our Water Stewardship Position Statement, 
which emphasises working with communities on shared water challenges, including water 
infrastructure, access, sanitation and hygiene. 

OFR 7.17 – Biodiversity and land provides an update on our work to develop a marine and 
terrestrial biodiversity framework for BHP and the revision and formalisation of our global-level 
biodiversity strategy. 

We recognise the failure of a tailings storage facility could result in adverse health and safety 
outcomes and environmental damage, potentially infringing on the rights to health, property, 
an adequate standard of living and at worst, the right to life. 

OFR 7.18 – Tailings storage facilities provides an update on our ongoing commitment to 
the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management and our aspiration to achieve zero harm 
from tailings. 

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55

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

independently of our global procurement 
process, the risk of violating consultation 
and consent frameworks that respect the 
rights of Indigenous peoples, the risk of 
lacking accessible and effective complaints 
and grievance mechanisms, and analysis 
regarding potential impacts specific to 
vulnerable groups (such as Indigenous 
peoples, women and LGBT+ community)

We are reflecting these learnings in our internal 
governance standards and processes, which are 
planned to be updated in FY2023.

In FY2023, relevant risk owners and regional 
teams will work with our human rights subject 
matter experts to progress these opportunities 
for improvement. We intend to also pursue 
opportunities to improve our overall due 
diligence process, such as enhancing our 
external human rights research, better 
highlighting stakeholder voices throughout our 
due diligence and better integrating human rights 
analysis into business planning cycles and our 
Risk Framework. 

Our Modern Slavery Statement 2022, prepared 
under the Australian Modern Slavery Act 
(2018) and UK Modern Slavery Act (2015), 
provides additional information regarding the 
management of modern slavery risks for our 
operations and global supply network and will be 
available in September 2022 at bhp.com. 

Response and remedy 
In FY2022, we continued to evaluate feedback 
from our stakeholders, external experts and 
internal teams on how to make our complaints 
and grievance mechanisms more accessible and 
our internal culture and processes more effective 
in identifying concerns that have a human rights 
connection. We plan to embed this feedback in 
our approach by the end of FY2023. 

We recognise our business activities create 
human rights risks and potential impacts across 
several different areas. In FY2023, we will 
continue to integrate a human rights perspective 
when designing, implementing and evaluating 
our ways of working related to these issues. 
The human rights signpost table highlights the 
priority areas identified by our human rights 
impact assessments and where key updates 
may be found in this Report. 

Reporting and disclosure 
During FY2023, we intend to develop a 
refreshed human rights reporting framework 
that will: 

–  better align to the UNGP Reporting 

Framework Index 

–  include quantitative metrics for our operations 
and our supply chain, as well as qualitative 
commentary and the voices of rights holders 

–  focus on mid- to long-term outcomes in 

addition to short-term outputs 

7.12 Security services
Security risk management 
Identifying, understanding and managing 
physical security risks is critical to the protection 
of BHP’s people, assets and reputation. 

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Annual Report 2022

The security risks we face are complex, 
constantly evolving and differ across the 
jurisdictions where we operate. We seek to 
understand the physical security threats we face, 
to inform the development of security programs 
that protect our people within a dynamic and 
constantly changing external environment. 
We use security controls and mandatory 
minimum performance requirements to reduce 
the likelihood of security risks materialising and 
mitigate their impact if they do. We support this 
with external environment monitoring, including 
through our enterprise emerging risk process, 
to identify changes in the external environment 
that could shift our exposure to security threats 
across the jurisdictions where we operate. 

BHP is committed to aligning with the Voluntary 
Principles on Security and Human Rights 
and sets mandatory minimum performance 
requirements for our operated assets, to support 
implementation of these principles. 

Responding to a rapidly changing 
external environment
We are operating in an increasingly volatile, 
uncertain world, where the physical security 
risks we face are evolving from local criminal 
activity and asset protection risks to more 
complex transnational threats, which transcend 
traditional asset and jurisdictional boundaries. 
Key emerging themes include social activism, 
international criminal enterprise, global terrorism 
and war. We are also seeing the increasingly 
integrated nature of physical security with other 
risk areas, including the physical security threats 
that stem from cybersecurity risks or climate-
related risks. These threats are developing 
against a backdrop of increasing anti-
government sentiment, inequality and political 
polarisation across the globe; challenges that 
have been exacerbated by COVID-19. 

To respond to this shifting external landscape, 
in FY2022 we established a new Group Security 
function, to provide additional expertise and 
support to the business and conduct assurance 
over security risk management globally. 

Priorities for the function include revising our 
security framework, to refresh BHP’s mandatory 
minimum global security requirements 
and developing a consistent taxonomy for 
defining and categorising security threats. 
This is designed to support robust security 
risk identification across our operated assets 
and functions. The team will also build upon 
its existing network of intelligence sources in 
FY2023, by establishing an integrated approach 
to threat intelligence. This will provide decision-
makers with a tailored and consolidated 
view of security insights and support risk-
informed decisions.

We are also enhancing BHP’s understanding 
of the key intersecting security risks that 
could impact us to provide an integrated 
view of potential vulnerabilities. This will be 
complemented by the implementation of a 
structured global assurance program.

7.13 Indigenous 
peoples
We respect the distinct identities and 
perspectives of Indigenous peoples and 
recognise the rights, cultures, insights, 
aspirations and needs that result from those 
identities and perspectives. We also recognise 
our responsibility to develop partnerships based 
on respect and to pursue mutually beneficial 
outcomes. These responsibilities are central to 
BHP’s Global Indigenous Peoples Framework. 

The Global Indigenous Peoples Framework 
consists of three key elements: 

1   BHP Indigenous Peoples Policy Statement

2 

 BHP Indigenous Peoples Strategy and Good 
Practice Guidance

3   Regional Indigenous Peoples Plans

First adopted in FY2015, this Framework has 
played a key part in guiding BHP towards being 
an organisation that engages meaningfully and 
respectfully with Indigenous peoples. However, 
it has been several years since it was developed 
and during this time the external environment 
and BHP’s own purpose, strategy and operating 
footprint have significantly evolved. Accordingly, 
BHP has undertaken a review of the Framework, 
informed by an extensive process of internal and 
external research and consultation, including 
extensive engagement with Traditional Owners 
and First Nations representative organisations, 
leading external experts, BHP employees and 
leaders, and several investors. 

This review has identified a number of 
opportunities for BHP to further strengthen 
the Framework, so that it continues to be 
aligned with our purpose, advances across 
our mandatory minimum requirements for 
community and human rights, and our social 
value framework and new 2030 goals. 

BHP agreement-making processes are built 
on the core principles of good faith negotiation 
aimed at achieving consent, with a focus on 
understanding the historical, legal, social, 
cultural and political contexts relevant to 
Indigenous peoples in the areas where we 
operate or seek to operate; and how our 
activities might impact the rights of potentially 
affected Indigenous peoples. 

The newly established Global Indigenous 
Engagement and Community team continues to 
progress immediate opportunities for alignment 
and improvement initiatives across our operated 
assets and functions, globally. New senior 
Indigenous leaders have been appointed and 
are actively working with the regional teams 
to support our approach to cultural heritage 
management, agreement-making, procurement, 
employment and social investment – all of which 
are core components of our Global Indigenous 
Peoples Framework.

Global Indigenous Peoples Framework

BHP Indigenous Peoples Policy Statement

BHP aims to be a partner of choice for Indigenous peoples through which our relationships 
contribute to their economic empowerment, social development needs and cultural wellbeing.

BHP Indigenous Peoples Strategy

Governance

Indigenous peoples should derive 
significant and sustainable benefit 
from BHP operations through 
the effective governance and 
management of land access, 
cultural heritage management, 
agreement-making and benefit 
distribution processes.

Economic  
empowerment

BHP seeks to contribute to the 
economic empowerment of 
Indigenous peoples through 
investment which provides 
opportunities for employment, 
training, procurement and Indigenous 
enterprise support.

Outcomes

Social and  
cultural support

BHP will seek to contribute to 
improved quality of life for Indigenous 
peoples through voluntary social 
investment, support for reinforcement 
and promotion of Indigenous culture 
and building the Indigenous cultural 
awareness of our workforce.

Public  
engagement

BHP will seek to contribute to specific 
initiatives, programs and public 
policy processes which advance 
the interests of Indigenous peoples 
consistent with the BHP Indigenous 
Peoples Policy Statement. 

Regional Indigenous Peoples Plans

BHP Good Practice Guidance

Minerals Australia
Indigenous cultural heritage protections are 
a key component of our relationships with 
Indigenous peoples and our ability to operate 
sustainably. We seek to ensure our standards 
are best practice and forward looking. 
On 18 October 2021, the Commonwealth Joint 
Standing Committee on Northern Australia 
handed down its report into the destruction of 
Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge. 
While there were no adverse findings or 
recommendations made specifically in relation 
to BHP, we are committed to understanding 
the lessons available from this extensive body 
of work.

Significantly, the finalisation of the Committee’s 
Report has coincided with important law reform 
in Western Australia. The Aboriginal Cultural 
Heritage Act 2021 (WA) provides a revised 
framework for the recognition, protection, 
conservation and preservation of Western 
Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage. The new 
Act repeals the outdated Aboriginal Heritage Act 
1972 (WA) and removes the former section 18 
approvals process.

In advance of this law reform, in FY2021, BHP 
confirmed to Traditional Owners that we would 
not act on existing section 18 approvals from 
the Western Australian Government without 
further extensive consultation with the Traditional 
Owners. In the case of the South Flank project, 
BHP and the Banjima people established 
a Heritage Advisory Council. In the period 
since, the Heritage Advisory Council has met 
many times to consider appropriate heritage 
management practices in the Central Pilbara and 
to record this common understanding in the form 
of Cultural Heritage Management Plans that will 
guide BHP’s operations at those locations. 

We are committed to the making of land use 
agreements to formalise relationships in a 
manner that is responsive to the aspirations 
of Traditional Owners and in compliance 
with the law. These agreements create 
partnerships designed to realise mutually 
beneficial outcomes.

Further to the Indigenous Land Use Agreement 
reached between BMC and the Barada Barna 
people in FY2021, in April 2022, BMC and the 
Widi people entered into a native title project 
agreement for shared country where both the 
Barada Barna and Widi peoples hold determined 

native title rights in the vicinity of BMC’s South 
Walker Creek Mine. In assuming majority 
ownership and operational control of BMC, 
Stanmore Resources will be subject to this 
agreement and its commitments. 

With our existing Reconciliation Action 
Plan (RAP) having concluded in FY2022, 
we commenced the development of a new 
FY2023–FY2027 RAP. In a commitment to 
moving beyond consultation, BHP has been co-
developing this new RAP with our stakeholders 
including, Traditional Owners, Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander organisations, community 
partners and our employees across Australia. 
This process has involved nine separate RAP 
forums held across Australia. The new RAP will 
also align to and embed the principles of our 
Global Indigenous Peoples Framework.

BHP’s spend with Indigenous businesses has 
steadily increased over the past four years. 
In FY2022, Minerals Australia saw an 75 per 
cent increase, to US$149.9 million, in our direct 
spend with Indigenous businesses across our 
operated assets compared to FY2021 levels. 
Compared to FY2021 levels, we also increased 
the number of Indigenous businesses we directly 
procure from by 53 per cent.

In May 2022, we announced that WAIO intends 
to more than double its spend with Indigenous 
vendors to more than US$300 million by the 
end of FY2024, as it looks to create more 
opportunities for Indigenous businesses. 
We also achieved a significant milestone in 
FY2022 by reaching our Australian Indigenous 
employment target of 8 per cent, three years 
ahead of schedule.

In FY2022, in support of efforts to ensure 
COVID-19 vaccination was accessible 
to Indigenous Australians, BHP provided 
A$2 million to Aboriginal Community Controlled 
Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across 
Australia. These funds enabled Queensland, 
Western Australian, New South Wales and South 
Australian ACCHOs each to receive A$500,000 
to distribute to their local Aboriginal Medical 
Service members or to collective programs 
that help local medical services accommodate 
demand. This contribution builds on a donation 
of A$3.9 million in FY2021, which laid the 
foundation for partnerships between BHP and 
organisations in the Indigenous-led health sector 
as COVID-19 emerged.

Minerals Americas
In line with our Indigenous Peoples Plan for 
South America, we seek to work closely with 
the communities where we operate to make a 
positive contribution, including through reaching 
agreements with local communities.

In FY2022:

–  We created and resourced a new Minerals 
Americas Indigenous Engagement team 
to centralise accountability for Indigenous 
engagement. This promotes alignment across 
our regions of operation and enables us to 
share standards and processes designed to 
support Indigenous communities affected by 
our existing operations. 

–  We delivered against our commitment to 
strengthen our cultural heritage practices 

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Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

within the Americas. Commencing with a 
particular emphasis on our operations in 
Chile, we:

–  established new critical controls and 

procedures to manage cultural heritage 
values within and around our operations

–  introduced new information systems and 

geospatial tools to track and protect cultural 
heritage sites

–  created a dedicated team within our HSE 
function to administer cultural heritage 
management activities at the asset level

–  reinforced the consideration of cultural 

heritage management dimensions within 
our agreement-making practices

–  engaged independent experts to analyse 
existing practice against the emerging 
Indigenous policy landscape 

At Escondida, we continued to advance the 
implementation of the agreement concerning 
the environmental sustainability of the Salar 
de Punta Negra, signed at the end of FY2021 
between Escondida, the Chilean Attorney 
General’s Office, the Peine Atacameño 
Indigenous community and the Council 
of Atacameño Peoples. Key governance 
mechanisms have been established and the 
terms of reference for the conduct of technical 
studies are currently under development.

At Cerro Colorado, as part of the Indigenous 
consultation process for operational continuity 
of this asset, we reached agreement with the 
San Isidro de Quipisca Indigenous agricultural 
association. Within the framework provided by 
the Opportunity Agreement Development Plans, 
FY2022 saw BHP support the advancement 
of electrical infrastructure that benefits 
approximately 80 rural families within the 
Parca Aymara Indigenous community.

Across our Chilean assets, FY2022 delivered 
steady increases in our levels of Indigenous 
workforce participation – with representation 
reaching 8.7 per cent at year-end. In total, BHP’s 
regional annual spend with Indigenous business 
for the period was US$9.2 million. 

In Canada, following the approval of our Jansen 
Potash Project in Saskatchewan, we continued 
our commitment to strengthening our Indigenous 
relationships and engagement practices with 
those Indigenous communities impacted by the 
project. There are six primary First Nations in the 
vicinity of the Jansen Potash Project. BHP has 
entered into Opportunity Agreements with all 

six. Two of these agreements were targeted for 
refresh in FY2022. In the period, we finalised 
the review of our Opportunity Agreement with 
the Fishing Lake First Nation and reached an 
agreement in principle with regards to refreshing 
our Opportunity Agreement with the Beardy’s 
& Okemasis’ Cree Nation. The Opportunity 
Agreements we have entered with our 
Indigenous partners continue to provide a 
governance framework and a platform to enable 
economic participation. 

In support of the Canadian Government 
Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls 
to advance the process of reconciliation in 
Canada, we plan to develop our first RAP for 
Canada in FY2023. The RAP will be designed to 
enable BHP to address the needs and interests 
of Indigenous communities within our direct 
area of influence. The RAP is expected to be 
co-developed with the stakeholders we seek 
relationships with, using similar principles to the 
process undertaken in Australia.

Resolution Copper 
Resolution Copper Mining is owned by Rio 
Tinto (55 per cent) and BHP (45 per cent) and 
managed by Rio Tinto. 

We acknowledge the Resolution Copper 
project area includes areas of cultural 
significance for Native American Tribes and 
their members. Development of the project 
continues to be studied and remains subject 
to regulatory reviews by federal, state and 
local governments. Resolution Copper Mining 
continues to cooperatively engage in these 
regulatory processes and has publicly stated its 
commitment to deepening ongoing engagement 
with, Native American Tribes and other 
stakeholders to understand and seek to mitigate 
potential negative impacts. We are monitoring 
and supporting Resolution Copper Mining’s 
engagement processes.

7.14 Social investment
Social investment is a further tool to create 
social value and contribute to the resilience 
of communities and the environment, in line 
with our broader business priorities. Our long-
standing commitment is to invest not less than 1 
per cent of pre-tax profits1 in voluntary social and 
environmental initiatives. For FY2023–FY2030, 
our social investment will be assessed as a total 
over the seven-year goals period to FY2030, 
rather than calculated as an average of the 
previous three years’ pre-tax profit. Our social 

Indigenous community investment1 

RAP target deliverable or 
metric2
Indigenous spend3
Indigenous community 
investment4

Performance

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

US$42.8m

US$57.5m

US$67.4m

US$85.5m

US$149.9m

US$11.1m

US$8.2m

US$16.6m

US$12.5m

US$29m

1  Data includes BMC up to the date of completion of the sale (3 May 2022), operated assets in our Petroleum 

business up to the date of the merger with Woodside (1 June 2022) and Onshore US assets up to the date of 
completion of the sale (31 October 2018), as applicable.

2  These RAP targets concluded 31 December 2021.
3  RAP target – The identification of specific opportunities for business development and engagement for Aboriginal 

and Torres Strait Islander communities in Local Procurement Plans and associated targets.

4  RAP target – Australian operations engage and consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in 

social research that is conducted to understand local and regional contexts, that then informs social investment 
planning and outcomes.

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Annual Report 2022

investment performance in the last five years 
saw BHP fund US$681.4 million in projects with 
a continued focus on good governance, human 
capability, social inclusion and environment. 
For more information on our performance 
against these and other targets refer to OFR 7.3.

In FY2022, our voluntary social investment 
totalled US$186.4 million, an increase of 7 per 
cent compared with FY2021. This investment 
consisted of US$99.4 million in direct community 
development and environmental projects and 
donations, US$14.5 million equity share to 
non-operated joint venture social investment 
programs, a US$52.4 million donation to the 
BHP Foundation and US$1.5 million under the 
Matched Giving Program. Administrative costs2 
to facilitate direct social investment activities 
totalled US$16.1 million and US$2.5 million 
supported the operations of the BHP Foundation. 

More information on social investment, 
including case studies and other 
initiatives to support communities where 
we operate is available at bhp.com.

With our most recent five-year sustainability 
targets completing in FY2022, BHP developed 
new 2030 goals to further lift our ambitions 
as we look to the end of the decade. 
They represent a shift towards partnership, 
listening and co-creation, and recognise that 
addressing challenges like community and 
environment resilience requires close community 
and stakeholder collaboration. 

For more information on our 2030 goals 
refer to OFR 2.2.

The 2030 goals are intended to be 
complemented by a continued commitment to 
social investment of at least 1 per cent of pre-
tax profit³ in addition to our direct operational 
decision-making and financial contributions.

We intend to continue to report annually 
our contribution to social value through our 
social investment.

The BHP Foundation
The BHP Foundation is a charitable organisation 
established and funded by BHP that blends 
ambition, transformational partnerships and 
business acumen to catalyse new solutions to 
some of the world’s most complex social and 
environmental challenges. The BHP Foundation 
partners with NGOs and international 
institutions with the goal of driving systemic 
change. Globally the Foundation focuses 
on the governance of natural resources, 
environmental resilience and education equity. 
These global programs are complemented by 
the Foundation’s country programs in Australia, 
Canada, Chile and the United States which 
work towards improving long-term, economic, 
social and environmental sustainability at a 
national level.

1  To date, our voluntary social investment has been 
calculated as 1 per cent of the average of the 
previous three years’ pre-tax profit.

2  The direct costs associated with implementing 

social investment activities, including labour, travel, 
research and development, communications 
and costs to facilitate the operation of the 
BHP Foundation.

3  For FY2023–FY2030, our social investment will be 

assessed as a total over the seven-year goal period 
to FY2030, rather than calculated as an average of 
the previous three-years’ pre-tax profit. 

Social investment framework

Theme

Aim

FY2022

Future of work

We aim to enhance human 
capability and social inclusion 
through education and vocational 
training and skills development.

Future of 
environment

Future of 
communities

We aim to contribute to 
environmental resilience through 
biodiversity conservation, 
ecosystem restoration, water 
stewardship and climate change 
mitigation and adaptation.

We aim to contribute to the 
understanding, development and 
sustainable use of resources to 
support communities to be more 
adaptive and resilient.

The Foundation’s focus is complementary 
to the social investment work of BHP. 
Its partnerships include:

–  Healthy environment: the Great Barrier Reef 
Foundation’s Resilient Reefs Initiative has 
been recognised by UNESCO as a model 
for successful resilience-based coral reef 
management and will be promoted as a 
global model for the management of all 
World Heritage listed reefs. 

–  Safe inclusive, and future-ready 

workforce: UN Women’s Second Chance 
Education project is providing more than 
90,000 marginalised women access to 
quality learning, entrepreneurship and 
employment opportunities. 

–  Thriving, empowered communities: 

Open Contracting Partnership works with 
governments and key stakeholders to ensure 
money flowing from natural resource wealth 
is converted into better outcomes for citizens, 
for example, the implementation of open 
contracting in Chile has reduced the cost of 
some medicines. 

–  Indigenous partnerships: Reconciliation 

Australia’s Narragunnawali: Reconciliation 
in Education program has resources and 
tools for schools and early learning services 
to contribute to the reconciliation movement. 
Approximately 10,000 Australian schools 
and early learning services registered to 
develop a Reconciliation Action Plan on the 
Narragunnawali platform.

–  Through our support, 22,401 people completed 

education or training courses in digital, 
technology, leadership and/or problem-solving 
initiatives. Over 10,469 of these participants were 
Indigenous people and 7,583 were women.

–  426 education institutions aligned course content 
to business needs to better prepare participants 
for future work readiness.

–  1,249 participants found paid employment 

following completion of their training.

–  We made 131 investments in nature-

based solutions.

–  We contributed to improved management of 

approximately 8 million hectares.

–  77 scientific or thought leadership papers 
or specific knowledge sharing events 
were supported. 

–  Through our support, 940 organisations 

enhanced their internal capability to be able to 
support and deliver solutions that contribute to 
building efficient and sustainable communities.

–  1,168 organisations planned or delivered 

initiatives that increase/improve infrastructure, 
use technology and/or use resources that 
enhance community resilience, including 171 
initiatives specific to Indigenous peoples.

7.15 Environment
We are committed to preventing or minimising 
our adverse environmental impacts and 
contributing to the resilience of the natural 
environment. Our operations and growth 
strategy depend on obtaining and maintaining 
the right to access environmental resources. 
However, with growing pressure on and 
competition for these resources, and with climate 
change amplifying certain sensitivities of our 
natural systems, our environmental performance 
and management of our environmental impacts 
on the communities where we operate is critical 
to creating social value. This is recognised in 
our social value framework where the objective 
under our healthy environment goal is to create 
nature-positive outcomes by having at least 
30 per cent of the land and water we steward 
under conservation, restoration or regenerative 
practices by 2030.

At every stage in the life cycle of our operated 
assets, we seek to avoid, minimise and mitigate 
our adverse environmental impacts in line with 
our defined risk appetite. 

We recognise our activities have an 
environmental footprint and commit to making 
voluntary contributions to support environmental 
resilience across the regions where we operate. 
Our Group-wide approach to environmental 
management is set out in the Our Requirements 
for Environment and Climate Change standard 
and our mandatory minimum performance 
requirements for risk management. 

These standards have been designed 
taking account of the ISO management 
system requirements, including ISO14001 
for Environmental Management Systems, 
and set the basis for how we manage risk, 
including realising opportunities, to achieve 
our environmental objectives.

The Our Requirements for Environment and 
Climate Change standard requires us to take an 
integrated, risk-based approach to managing 
any actual or reasonably foreseeable adverse 
and positive impacts (direct, indirect and 
cumulative) on biodiversity, land, water and air. 
This includes establishing and implementing 
environmental risk monitoring and reviewing 
practices throughout our business planning 
and project evaluation cycles. In addition to 
the broader environment-specific components, 
the standard includes climate change related 
requirements for our operated assets. 

To support continuous improvement, each of 
our operated assets is required to have an 
Environmental Management System (EMS) that 
aligns with ISO14001 standards and set target 
environmental outcomes for biodiversity, land, 
air and water resources that are consistent 
with the assessed risks and potential impacts. 
Target environmental outcomes are included 
in the life-of-asset plan and approved by the 
relevant Asset President or equivalent. We verify 
our EMS by ISO14001 certification (for sites 
currently holding ISO14001 certification) or 
through our internal assurance processes.

In FY2022, no significant environmental events 
resulting from BHP operated activities were 
recorded, resulting in our five-year public target 
of no significant environmental events between 
FY2018 and FY2022 being met.

During FY2022, we successfully delivered 
the full suite of five-year environment-related 
sustainability targets. We also continued work to: 

–  develop a more integrated nature-positive 
approach and healthy environment goal as 
part of our 2030 goals

–  refresh our Water Stewardship Strategy and 

formalise our biodiversity strategy

–  invest in voluntary conservation projects as 
part of BHP’s contribution to environmental 
resilience more broadly 

BHP joined the Taskforce for Nature-related 
Financial Disclosure (TNFD) Forum (a group 
of organisations that support the TNFD 
Member Group) in recognition of the increasing 
awareness and understanding needed on 
nature-related risk and the implications for the 
resilience of economies and society.

More information on our environmental 
approach, the Our Requirements for 
Environment and Climate Change standard, and 
our environmental management and governance 
processes is available at bhp.com/sustainability.

Contributing to a 
resilient environment
Biodiversity is essential to maintain healthy 
ecosystems and the clean air, water and 
productive landscapes and seascapes we all 
need to survive and thrive. We are seeing an 
increasing societal focus on the urgent need to 
reverse current trends in biodiversity loss and 
protect vital ecosystems that are the foundation 
of the world’s economic security. As a global 
resources company, we acknowledge we have 
a role to play in contributing to environmental 
resilience both inside and outside our footprint. 
We do this through our Group-wide water 
stewardship and biodiversity strategies, our 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

59

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

social investment strategy and our work with 
strategic partners and communities. In June 
2022, we expressed our aspiration via our 
2030 healthy environment goal (described 
above) to create nature-positive outcomes. 
‘Nature positive’ is a high-level goal and a 
concept describing a future state of nature (e.g. 
biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural 
capital) which is greater than the current state. 
This definition comes from the TNFD. 

Our collaborative work with strategic partners, 
including Conservation International, and 
local communities is focused on contributing 
to enduring environmental and social benefits 
through biodiversity conservation and 
ecosystem restoration, water stewardship and 
climate change mitigation and adaptation. 
Our preference is to invest our voluntary social 
investment funds in projects that contribute to 
cultural, economic and community benefits in 
addition to environmental resilience. 

Since FY2011, we have invested more than 
US$95 million of our social investment funds 
in voluntary environmental resilience initiatives 
outside our operational area. This funding is 
in addition to our investment in day-to-day 
environmental management activities relating 
to our operations. 

More information on the environment and 
our environmental projects is available at 
bhp.com/environment.

Our focus on environmental resilience is 
complementary to the work of the BHP 
Foundation under its Environmental Resilience 
Global Program. 

More information is available at 
bhp.com/foundation.

7.16 Water
Access to safe, clean water is a basic human 
right and essential to maintaining healthy 
ecosystems. Water is also integral to what we 
do and we cannot operate without it. In FY2017, 
we adopted a Water Stewardship Strategy to 
improve our management of water, increase 
transparency and contribute to the resolution 
of shared water challenges. Our Water 
Stewardship Position Statement was developed 
in FY2019 and outlines our 2030 vision. 
In FY2022, we made minor updates to our Water 
Stewardship Position Statement and Strategy 

1  Where ‘withdrawal’ is defined as water withdrawn 

and intended for use (in accordance with ‘Water 
Reporting, Good Practice Guide (2nd Ed), ICMM 
(2021)). ‘Fresh water’ is defined as waters other 
than seawater, wastewater from third parties and 
hypersaline groundwater. Freshwater withdrawal 
also excludes entrained water that would not be 
available for other uses. These exclusions have 
been made to align with the target’s intent to reduce 
the use of freshwater sources of potential value to 
other users or the environment.

2  The FY2017 baseline data has been adjusted to 
account for: the materiality of the strike affecting 
water withdrawals at Escondida in FY2017 and 
improvements to water balance methodologies 
at WAIO and BMA, and exclusion of hypersaline, 
wastewater, entrainment, supplies from desalination 
and Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets 
and Petroleum) and the divestment of BMC.

60

BHP

Annual Report 2022

to align with the ambitions of our business and 
society, and developed our new 2030 healthy 
environment goal. 

More information is available at 
bhp.com/water.

We recognise our responsibility to effectively 
manage our interactions with and prevent 
or minimise our adverse impacts on water 
resources. Effective water stewardship begins 
within our operations. We use water in many 
ways, including but not limited to: 

–  extracting it for ore processing and to 

access ore 

–  dust suppression

–  processing mine tailings 

–  providing drinking water and 

sanitation facilities

–  using marine water for desalination 

We work to reduce stress on water resources 
from our operations and to collaborate with 
others on challenges and opportunities like water 
scarcity or high variability in water supply.

We have achieved our public sustainability target 
to reduce FY2022 freshwater withdrawal1 by 15 
per cent from FY2017 levels2 across our operated 
assets. Our FY2022 result demonstrated a 29 per 
cent reduction on our adjusted FY2017 baseline. 
Achievement of the target is primarily due to the 
gradual replacement of groundwater sources with 
desalinated water for our Escondida operations. 
This resulted in the cessation of groundwater 
withdrawal for operational water consumption from 
the Salar de Punta Negra aquifer in 2017 and from 
the Monturaqui aquifers in FY2020. This cessation 
was 10 years ahead of schedule and involved an 
investment of around US$4 billion in large-scale 
desalination capability. For more information refer 
to bhp.com/news/case-studies/2020/09/breaking-
the-water-energy-nexus.

Our global freshwater withdrawals from FY2017 
to FY2022 are shown in the chart below. 

While minimisation of freshwater withdrawal will 
remain important for us, in some of the regions 

where we operate it may not be the key water-
related risk. In recognition of the variation of 
challenges and opportunities across the regions 
where we operate, we committed in our Water 
Stewardship Position Statement to developing 
context-based water targets (CBWTs). 
These CBWTs are intended to contribute more 
effectively to addressing the shared water 
challenges in our operating regions. 

During FY2022, we engaged third parties to 
review publicly available information and engage 
with stakeholders to identify shared water 
challenges through Water Resource Situation 
Analyses (WRSAs). We also began development 
of CBWTs for each of our operated assets, which 
are informed by BHP’s view of water-related 
risks in the catchments and by the shared water 
challenges identified in the WRSAs. The WRSAs 
are expected to be made publicly available 
to support continued collaboration between 
stakeholders in the shared water resources of 
our operating regions. 

During FY2023, we intend to publicly release 
CBWTs for our operated assets and from 
FY2023 we will report publicly on progress 
against the CBWTs. 

More information on the WRSAs is 
available at bhp.com/water. 

Water accounting and reporting
We report on water metrics and on the 
management of water-related risks on our 
water webpage, in line with the ICMM’s Water 
Reporting, Good Practice Guide (2nd Ed) (ICMM 
guidance) and the Minerals Council of Australia’s 
Water Accounting Framework (WAF). 

Generally, these reporting frameworks align with 
the reporting requirements of the GRI Standards 
and the CEO Water Mandate.

More information on water accounting 
and reporting of metrics required by the 
ICMM guidance is available at bhp.com/
water and in our BHP ESG Standards 
and Databook available at bhp.com/
sustainability.

Performance against freshwater withdrawal reduction target1
Megalitres

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0

FY2017

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

Freshwater withdrawal         FY2022 15% reduction target  

1  The freshwater withdrawal data includes data from all operated assets under BHP ownership at the end 

of FY2022. In FY2022, we merged our Petroleum business with Woodside and divested our interest in 
BMC. Data for the Petroleum business and BMC has been excluded from the FY2017 baseline and annual 
performance data for our FY2018–FY2022 public sustainability targets for our withdrawal of freshwater (together 
with our occupational exposures and GHG emissions) to ensure ongoing comparability of performance.

 
the aim of catalysing actions to improve water 
governance, increase recognition of water’s 
diverse values and advance sustainable 
solutions. We continue to collaborate with 
the CEO Water Mandate1 to support the 
development of catchment-scale resilience 
as part of our commitment to strengthen 
transparency and collaboration across all 
sectors for improved water governance. We also 
continue our collaboration with the University 
of Notre Dame (United States of America) to 
develop an approach to water management that 
considers the human rights to access water.

As reported in our Annual Report 2021, in 
August 2021 an individual commenced an 
environmental damage action against Cerro 
Colorado alleging that Cerro Colorado’s water 
extraction from the Lagunillas aquifer has 
damaged the aquifer and a nearby lagoon and 
wetlands. Following a series of injunctions in 
February 2022, new orders were received that 
permit water extraction, subject to ongoing 
monitoring of aquifer water levels. If the 
conditions are complied with, the orders permit 
four staged and gradual increases through to 
the expiry of the current environment licence 
in FY2024. The hearing for the environmental 
damage action was held in April 2022 with the 
outcomes still pending.

In March 2022, the Chilean Environmental 
Regulator (SMA) sanctioned Escondida, 
concluding it had breached its environmental 
permit from 2005 until 2019, causing 
irreparable environmental damage due to its 
water extraction from the Monturaqui aquifer. 
Escondida’s infraction was classified as ‘very 
serious’, and the SMA imposed a fine of 
approximately US$8.3 million. Escondida has 
lodged a reconsideration motion before the 
SMA. A decision on the reconsideration motion 
before the SMA is expected in the second half of 
2022. Appeal rights remain an option following 
the decision.

An environmental damage claim was lodged 
by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) against 
Escondida, Albemarle and Compañía Minera 
Zaldívar (the latter two being other companies 
that extract water (or previously extracted) 
from the Monturaqui aquifer) before the First 
Environmental Court of Antofagasta during 
FY2022. The AGO alleges the defendants’ 
extraction of water from the Monturaqui aquifer 
has caused environmental damage. The Peine 
Community (an Indigenous community) has 
lodged a claim against Escondida based on the 
same facts. Both claims have been consolidated 
into a single proceeding. Escondida filed its 
answer to the claims on 15 June 2022. 

More information on our approach to water 
stewardship, progress against our Water 
Stewardship Strategy, water performance 
in FY2022 and case studies on activities we 
are undertaking to progress towards meeting 
our water stewardship vision is available at  
bhp.com/water.

In FY2022, we continued to report on water 
volumes for those operated assets classed by 
the World Wildlife Fund Water Risk Filter as 
being located in areas of high or extremely high 
water stress. The disclosure of water data in 
high-stress areas is required by several reporting 
frameworks, including the ICMM guidance. 
In FY2022, freshwater withdrawal from those 
operating assets in high or extremely high water 
stress areas made up approximately 15 per cent 
of our total freshwater withdrawals.

During FY2021, BHP contributed to improving 
mining sector water reporting through 
participation in the ICMM Water Working Group 
to strengthen the ICMM guidance and align it 
with the GRI requirements. The most significant 
change for BHP of applying the 2021 update 
of the ICMM guidance was that the guidance 
recommends (non-mandatory) reporting of 
the annual change in water storage volumes. 
We have taken the first step to implement this 
recommendation by including changes in water 
storage volumes in our asset water accounts 
for those operated assets where water storage 
changes are considered material. In FY2022, 
we assessed which sites may have changes in 
water storage volumes that were material to their 
water management; our coal operated assets 
(where changes in water storage are the most 
material within BHP) were a particular focus. 
In line with our commitment for continuous 
improvement of our water accounts and data, we 
continued to review assumptions for accounting 
for water storage, and other metrics, in asset 
water models and water balances, recognising 
that water modelling and balances contains a 
degree of uncertainty which must be understood. 
We have now included reporting of material 
water storage changes across BHP, but note 
the accuracy of this metric (as for other metrics 
that we reported for many years) is expected to 
continue to improve in the forthcoming years as 
our knowledge and understanding grows.

We continue to seek to minimise our withdrawal 
of high-quality water. In FY2022, seawater 
continued to be our largest source of water 
withdrawal, representing 61 per cent of total 
withdrawals, predominantly for desalination at 
Escondida. Groundwater remained our most 
significant non-sea water source in FY2022, 
at close to one-fifth of total water withdrawals. 
In FY2022, approximately 75 per cent of our 
water withdrawals consisted of water classified 
as low quality. The definitions for water quality 
types is available in section 2.2.4 of the WAF.

Stakeholder engagement and 
legal matters
Beyond our operational activities, we have 
committed to engaging across communities, 
government, business and civil society with 

1  The CEO Water Mandate is a UN Global Compact 
initiative that mobilizes business leaders on water, 
sanitation and the Sustainable Development 
Goals. Endorsers of the CEO Water Mandate 
commit to continuous progress against six 
core elements of stewardship and in so doing 
understand and manage their own water risks. 
Companies that endorse the Mandate agree to 
continuous improvement in six core areas of their 
water stewardship practice: Direct Operations, 
Supply Chain & Watershed Management, Collective 
Action, Public Policy, Community Engagement 
and Transparency. BHP is an active signatory of 
the Mandate.

7.17 Biodiversity 
and land
The nature of our activities means we have a 
significant responsibility for biodiversity and land 
management. As at 30 June 2022, we owned 
or managed more than 8 million hectares of 
land and sea; however, just under 2 per cent is 
disturbed (physical or chemical alteration that 
substantially disrupts the pre-existing habitats 
and land cover) for our operational activities. 
The area we own or manage has decreased 
by 8 per cent from FY2021, predominantly 
due to the merger of our Petroleum business 
with Woodside.

At each of our operated assets, we look to 
manage threats and opportunities to achieve 
our environmental objectives. We apply the 
mitigation hierarchy (avoid, mitigate, rehabilitate 
and, where appropriate, apply compensatory 
measures) to any potential or residual adverse 
impacts on marine or terrestrial ecosystems.

We respect legally designated protected areas 
and commit to avoiding areas or activities where 
we consider the environmental risk is outside our 
risk appetite. As part of our commitments: 

–  We do not explore or extract resources 
within the boundaries of World Heritage 
listed properties.

–  We do not explore or extract resources 

adjacent to World Heritage listed properties, 
unless the proposed activity is compatible with 
the outstanding universal values for which the 
World Heritage property is listed.

–  We do not explore or extract resources 

within or adjacent to the boundaries of the 
International Union for Conservation of Nature 
(IUCN) Protected Areas Categories I to IV, 
unless a plan is implemented that meets 
regulatory requirements, takes into account 
stakeholder expectations and contributes 
to the values for which the protected area 
is listed.

–  We do not operate where there is a risk of 
direct impacts to ecosystems that could 
result in the extinction of an IUCN Red List 
Threatened Species in the wild.

–  We do not dispose of mined waste rock or 
tailings into a river or marine environment.

Our operated assets are required to have plans 
and processes that reflect local biodiversity risks 
and regulatory requirements. We revised and 
formalised a global-level biodiversity strategy in 
FY2022 that outlines our purpose and strategic 
priorities, and is designed to inform operational 
decision-making across the full life cycle of 
mining operations at our operated assets. 
The global-level strategy provides a clear 
direction that aligns asset-level biodiversity and 
land objectives and supports delivery of the new 
2030 healthy environment goal. 

For more information on our 2030 goals 
refer to OFR 2.2 and 7.1.

In FY2022, we delivered our most recent 
five-year sustainability target related to 
biodiversity. This was to improve marine and 
terrestrial biodiversity outcomes by developing 
a framework to evaluate and verify the benefits 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

61

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7  Sustainability continued

of our actions, in collaboration with others, 
which has been tested at all our operated 
assets, and contribute to the management of 
areas of national or international conservation 
significance exceeding our disturbed land 
footprint, also known as the ‘area conserved’ 
target. The application of the biodiversity 
framework is intended to enable us to monitor 
the impacts of our activities and the effect of 
our management responses on biodiversity in a 
consistent way across BHP’s operated assets. 
The biodiversity framework was developed with 
the support of Conservation International and 
Proteus, a cross-sector partnership between 
the UN Environment Programme World 
Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC) 
and business. 

For our ‘area conserved’ target, the total land 
set aside for conservation on land where 
we operate and other land we steward was 
65,870 hectares in FY2022. In addition to these 
conservation areas, we made several voluntary 
investments over the target period, including to 
the Terrebonne Biodiversity Resilience Project (a 
coastal restoration project in Louisiana) and the 
Martu Living Desert Project in Australia (support 
for management and conservation activities 
on Martu Country). Under the Conservation 
International and BHP alliance, Conservation 
International supported an assessment of 
whether these projects could contribute towards 
achievement of this target and found that the 
area that could reasonably be claimed was 
4,465,260 hectares. Given BHP’s FY2022 total 
disturbed land footprint was 149,312 hectares, 
our ‘area conserved’ target has been achieved 
by our operational and voluntary conservation 
investments over the target period. 

In addition, we signed a grant agreement in 
FY2022 with Conservation International to pilot 
a framework to improve marine and coastal 
protections and enhance resilience (known as 
the ‘Seascape Approach’) in Fiji, with the aim 
of enhancing resilience of coastal Indigenous 
communities and Lau’s marine and coastal 
ecosystems. This is expected to be a significant 
investment in marine biodiversity conservation 
in Fiji’s eastern islands of the Lau Province and 
its surrounding waters. The agreement is aligned 
with the longer-term goal released in FY2018 
of supporting actions aligned with the UN 
Sustainable Development Goals 14 and 15. 

More information on our approach to 
biodiversity and land management and 
current performance is available at  
bhp.com/biodiversity.

7.18  Tailings storage 
facilities
Ensuring the integrity of our tailings storage 
facilities (TSFs) is a primary focus across our 
business. Our aspiration is to achieve zero harm 
from tailings and we will continue to work with 
others and share our progress in an effort to 
make this a reality. 

In 2015, after the tragic failure of the Fundão 
dam at Samarco, BHP initiated a Dam 
Risk Review to assess the management of 
major TSFs. The catastrophic failure of the 
Brumadinho dam at Vale’s operation in Brazil in 

62

BHP

Annual Report 2022

January 2019 further strengthened our resolve to 
reduce TSF failure risk. 

For information about the Samarco 
tragedy and our progress with the 
response refer to OFR 8.

Governance and the Global 
Industry Standard on Tailings 
Management
We are committed to the 2020 Global Industry 
Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) 
and are working to implement the requirements 
in line with the timelines outlined by the ICMM. 
Our Tailings Storage Facility Policy Statement 
has been published on our website, outlining 
our commitment to the safe management 
of TSFs, emergency preparedness and 
response, recovery in the event of a failure 
and transparency. 

Delivery of the GISTM implementation plans 
was a priority in FY2022 and we made notable 
progress across our operated assets, which 
was tracked and reported to the Sustainability 
Committee. As part of our commitment to 
GISTM and continuous improvement in 
tailings management, we conducted a mid-
implementation review that confirmed we are 
on track to achieve conformance in line with 
the ICMM timelines. We also implemented 
our Accountable Executive (AE) model, 
whereby AEs are direct reports of the BHP 
Chief Executive Officer and answerable to 
the Sustainability Committee as stipulated in 
GISTM’s requirements. The AEs cover both 
direct operational accountability for BHP’s TSFs 
as well as an AE accountable for oversight of 
BHP’s TSF governance framework. AEs are 
accountable for the safety, environmental and 
social impacts of TSFs. Front line employees 
are the first line (under our three lines risk 
management model) and manage the day-to-day 
operations and safety at site, while connected 
via regular communication to the relevant AE. 

We continued to progress work on TSF failure 
risk management in FY2022 with a focus 
on the delivery of the risk remediation plans 
completed in FY2021. These plans are in 
addition to the range of ongoing governance 
activities we have in place to ensure effective 
management of TSF failure risk, including Dam 
Safety Reviews, Independent Tailings Review 
Boards and project-specific Independent Peer 
Reviews. Key risk indicators (KRIs) set by 
management help to monitor performance of our 
TSFs in dam integrity and design, overtopping/
flood management and emergency response 
planning. These KRIs have been updated to 
align to the GISTM. 

For more information on BHP’s 
approach to risk management including 
KRIs refer to OFR 9.

Strategy 
Our short-term strategy continues to focus 
on improving KRI performance in line with 
defined targets. We are completing studies 
at our operated assets focused on reducing 
and mitigating potential downstream impacts 
particularly to populations at risk (PAR). 

The studies resulted in a diverse range of 
options to reduce PAR exposure at our TSFs or 

mitigate TSF failure risk. With this information 
our assets optimised the design and execution 
of their risk remediation plans, which collectively 
are intended to materially reduce PAR across 
the portfolio in the short to medium term. 

Our medium- and long-term strategies focus 
on the development of technologies to improve 
tailings management and storage, which we 
believe are important in our aspiration of zero 
harm from tailings. Asset-specific strategies 
have been developed for all our operated assets 
(including legacy assets) and seek long-term 
alternative tailings solutions. In addition, while 
our non-operated joint ventures (NOJVs) 
are independently controlled and have their 
own operating and management standards, 
we encourage NOJVs to consider long-term 
alternative tailings solutions as an option in 
asset planning. 

Industry collaboration
As part of our commitment to achieving 
zero harm from tailings, we are accelerating 
transformative approaches and technologies 
through a wide range of initiatives in 
collaboration with external industry partners. 
In FY2022, Future Tails (which is an initiative 
focused on training, education, research and 
best-practice guides in the tailings management 
space that is supported by BHP, Rio Tinto and 
the University of Western Australia) established 
training programs tailored to executives, 
operators and technical tailings engineers. 
These have been positively received by 
the industry. 

A consortium of industry peers was formed in 
FY2022, to jointly conduct focused research on 
tailings innovation solutions and share results 
and learnings. Expansion of the program 
is planned for the coming years to bring in 
additional industry partners and represents a 
significant opportunity for industry knowledge 
and capability uplift. 

As part of this program, we have created 
partnerships with Rio Tinto and the University 
of Melbourne designed to both develop novel 
tailings dewatering technologies and mitigate 
the risk involved in the large-scale application 
of known tailings dewatering technologies. 
Dewatering is a sustainable approach to tailings 
processing that supports our public commitment 
to reduce water usage. The BHP Tailings 
Challenge received over 150 applications from 
19 countries in FY2022 and following a rigorous 
assessment process, two finalists were selected 
to progress solutions for repurposing tailings into 
fertiliser and construction material. The program 
will continue through FY2023 culminating in an 
on-site pilot ahead of full solution development.

Transparency
We fully support the GISTM and are working 
towards implementation at our sites. We have 
prioritised and actioned a phased disclosure 
approach towards conformance, starting with 
an update to our previously published Church 
of England Disclosure1. We have contributed to 
improvements in tailings storage management 
across the mining industry, including through 
the ICMM Tailings Working Group. We are 
participants in other tailings working groups 
globally, including those associated with the 

Canadian Dam Association, Australian National 
Committee on Large Dams, Australasian 
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Minerals 
Council of Australia, Mining Association of 
Canada, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and 
Exploration, and Fundación Chile. 

We have continued to participate in the Investor 
Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative, an investor-
led engagement convening institutional investors 
active in extractive industries, including major 
asset owners and asset managers. 

We continued our work to fulfil our commitment 
to provide detailed, transparent and integrated 
disclosure of TSF management in FY2022. 
In addition to our work with industry partners 
to support the development of credible and 
meaningful disclosure standards, we have 
sought to enable the consistent application 
of these in our own business through the 
development and rollout of our Sustainability 
Standards Portal. The portal is a data platform 
to integrate multiple ESG standards, simplify 
data management for our assets and further 
strengthen the process, data quality and 
governance improvements achieved to date. 

Operated and non-operated 
tailings portfolio
The classifications described in this Report 
align to the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) 
classification system. The TSF classification is 
one element of TSF risk management, but does 
not represent risk itself. It reflects the modelled, 
hypothetical, most significant possible failure 
and consequences without controls. It does 
not reflect the current physical stability of the 
TSF and it is possible for TSF classifications 
to change over time, for example, following 
changes to the operating context of a dam. 

The TSF classification informs the design, 
surveillance and review components of risk 
management. Therefore, TSFs with a higher-level 

classification will have more rigorous requirements 
than TSFs that have a lower level of classification.

As at 30 June 2022, there were 71 TSFs2 at our 
operated assets, 28 of which are of upstream 
design. Of the 71 operated facilities, none 
are extreme and a further 20 are classified 
as very high. The three facilities classified as 
extreme in FY2021 have been reclassified to a 
lower-consequence classification following the 
completion of risk mitigation works this year. 
In FY2022, two TSFs were removed from the 
operated TSF portfolio following the divestment 
of our interest in BMC and one new active TSF, 
a low-consequence, upstream facility at Olympic 
Dam, has been added. A substantial portion of 
our inactive portfolio (56) at our assets is due 
largely to the number of historic tailings facilities 
associated with our North American legacy 
assets portfolio. 

More information on the risk reduction 
work underway for high-consequence 
classification facilities is provided earlier 
in the Governance and Strategy sections 
and online, including in our case studies.

There are 10 TSFs at our NOJVs, which are 
all located in the Americas. The three active 
TSFs are located at Antamina in Peru, which 
is of downstream construction, and two TSFs 
at Samarco in Brazil, Alegria Sul TSF, which is 
co-mingled dry stack, and Alegria Sul Pit, an 
in-pit TSF. In addition, there are seven inactive 
facilities. These include two upstream facilities 
at Samarco (Germano) in Brazil (that are being 
decommissioned following the February 2019 
rulings by the Brazilian Government on upstream 
dams); three upstream inactive facilities and 
one inactive modified centreline facility at 
Resolution Copper in the United States; and 
one downstream inactive facility at Bullmoose in 
Canada. In FY2022, two NOJV TSFs at Cerrejón 
in Colombia were removed from our TSF 
portfolio following the sale of the asset.

1 

In April 2019, the Church of England Pensions Board 
and the Council on Ethics Swedish National Pension 
Funds wrote to approximately 700 mining firms to 
request specific disclosures of their tailings facilities.

2  The number of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) 

is based on the definition agreed to by the ICMM 
Tailings Advisory Group at the original time of 
submission and expanded to align with the TSF 
definition established in the Global Industry 
Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM). 
We keep this definition under review. In FY2022, 
four TSFs were removed from the BHP TSF portfolio 
following the sale of our interests in two assets: two 
TSFs at Cerrejón (NOJV) in January 2022 and two 
TSFs at BMC (operated joint venture) in May 2022. 
One new, active TSF, TSF 6 at Olympic Dam, has 
been included.

Classification of operated tailings 
storage facilities1,2,3,4

Types of operated tailings 
storage facilities5

Operational status of  operated 
tailings storage facilities6

   Extreme  

  Very high  

  High  

  Significant  

  Low  

  N/A  

   Centreline  

  Downstream 

  Upstream  

  Other 

0

20

15

15

18

3

   Active 

  Inactive  

8

18

28

17

15

56

1  The following classifications aligned to the CDA classification system. It is important to note that the classification is based on the modelled, hypothetical, most significant 

failure mode and consequences possible without controls, and not on the current physical stability of the dam. 

2  For the purposes of this chart, ANCOLD and other classifications have been converted to their CDA equivalent. 
3  Hamburgo TSF at Escondida is an inactive facility where tailings were deposited into a natural depression. Hamburgo TSF is not considered a dam and is, therefore, not 

subject to CDA classification. 

4  SP1/2 and SP3 TSF at New South Wales Energy Coal are inactive facilities which have been assessed to have no credible failure modes and are therefore shown as not 

having a CDA classification.
‘Other’ includes dams with a raising method that combines upstream, downstream and centreline or are of in-pit design.
‘Inactive’ includes facilities not in operational use, under reclamation, reclaimed, closed and/or in post-closure care and maintenance.

5 
6 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

63

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information7.19  Independent Assurance Report to the Management 
and Directors of BHP Group Limited (BHP)

What we assured
Ernst & Young (EY) was engaged by BHP to provide limited assurance over certain sustainability data and disclosures in 
BHP’s Annual Report and ESG Standards and Databook and online for the year ended 30 June 2022 in accordance with 
the noted Criteria, as defined in the following table:

What we assured (Limited Assurance Subject Matter) What we assured it against (Criteria)

BHP’s qualitative disclosures in sections 6 and 7 of the 
Operating and Financial Review within BHP’s Annual 
Report 2022
BHP’s sustainability policies and standards as 
disclosed in the ICMM tab in BHP’s ESG Standards 
and Databook at bhp.com/sustainability

BHP’s identification and reporting of its material 
sustainability issues, risks and opportunities described 
within the BHP Annual Report 2022 and online at bhp.
com/sustainability/approach
BHP’s implementation of systems and approaches 
to manage its material sustainability risks and 
opportunities
BHP’s reported performance of its material 
sustainability issues, risks and opportunities in sections 
6 and 7 of the Operating and Financial Review within 
BHP’s Annual Report 2022 and ESG Standards and 
Databook, referenced above.

Water stewardship reporting, at an operated asset 
level, in the BHP Annual Report 2022, ESG Standards 
and Databook, referenced above, and supporting 
disclosures included online at bhp.com/sustainability/
environment/water

–  Management’s own publicly disclosed criteria

–  International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) 

Mining Principles and relevant Performance 
Expectations (PE) (2020) and mandatory Position 
Statements (Subject Matter 1)

–  ICMM Subject Matter 2

–  Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Principles for defining 

report content

–  ICMM Subject Matter 3

–  ICMM Subject Matter 4

–  Management’s own publicly disclosed criteria including 

GRI Topic Specific Standards and Sustainability 
Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Mining and 
Metals Standard

–  World Resource Institute/World Business Council for 

Sustainable Development (WRI/WBCSD) Greenhouse 
Gas Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) 
Standard

–  BHP Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions calculation 

methodology 2022

–  ICMM guidance and minimum disclosure Standards: 
Water Reporting: Good practice guide (2nd edition), 
2021

In addition, we were engaged by BHP to provide reasonable assurance over the following information (Reasonable 
Assurance Subject Matter) in accordance with the noted criteria: 

What we assured (Reasonable Assurance Subject Matter) What we assured it against (Criteria)

Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions as 
reported in section 7 of the Operating and Financial 
Review within BHP’s Annual Report 2022 and ESG 
Standards and Databook, referenced above.

–  World Resource Institute/World Business Council for 

Sustainable Development (WRI/WBCSD) Greenhouse 
Gas Protocol

–  BHP’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions calculation 

methodology 2022

Our Conclusions
–  Limited Assurance 

Based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained, nothing has come to our attention 
that suggests the Limited Assurance Subject Matter has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with 
the Criteria defined above.

–  Reasonable Assurance 

In our opinion, the Reasonable Assurance Subject Matter is prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the 
Criteria defined above.

Emphasis of Matter
We draw attention to section 7 of the Operating and 
Financial Review within BHP’s Annual Report 2022 and 
related disclosures online at bhp.com/water in which BHP 
describes the uncertainty associated with water modelling 
techniques, and consequent process improvements that 
have been undertaken throughout the reporting period and 
are proposed going forward. Our conclusion is not modified 
in respect of this matter.

Key responsibilities  
EY’s responsibility and independence
Our responsibility was to express limited and reasonable 
assurance conclusions on the noted subject matter as 
defined in the ‘what we assured’ column in the tables above 
(Subject Matter).

We were also responsible for maintaining our 
independence and confirm that we have met the 
requirements of the APES 110 Code of Ethics for 
Professional Accountants (including Independence 
Standards) and have the required competencies and 
experience to conduct this assurance engagement.

BHP’s responsibility 
BHP’s management was responsible for selecting the 
Criteria and ensuring the Subject Matter was appropriately 
prepared to present its content fairly, in all material respects 
in accordance with that Criteria. This responsibility includes 
establishing and maintaining internal controls, adequate 
records and making estimates that are reasonable in 
the circumstances. 

Our approach to conducting the Review
We conducted our procedures in accordance with 
Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of 
Historical Financial Information (ISAE 3000), the Standard 
for Assurance on Greenhouse Gas Statements (ISAE 
3410) and the terms of reference for this engagement as 
agreed with BHP on 27 January 2022.

We adapted our approach to undertaking our procedures 
in response to COVID-19 travel restrictions and social 
distancing requirements. ‘Site visits’ were undertaken 
virtually by video-conference. The performance of the year 
end corporate review procedures at head office was also 
conducted remotely and was supported through the use 
of collaboration platforms for discussions and delivery of 
requested evidence.

The procedures we performed were based on our professional  
judgement and included, but were not limited to:

–  Interviewing select corporate and site personnel to 

understand the reporting process at group, business, 
asset and site level, including management’s processes 
to identify BHP’s material issues 

–  Reviewing BHP policies and management standards 

to determine alignment with the ICMM’s 10 Sustainable 
Development principles and position statements 

–  Checking BHP’s Annual Report 2022 to understand how 
BHP’s identified material issues, risks and opportunities 
are reflected within the qualitative disclosures

–  Evaluating whether the information disclosed in the 

Subject Matter is consistent with our understanding of 
sustainability management and performance at BHP 

64

BHP

Annual Report 2022

–  Evaluating the suitability and application of the Criteria 
and that the Criteria have been applied appropriately to 
the Subject Matter 

–  Conducting virtual site procedures at seven BHP 

locations to evidence site level data collection and 
reporting to Group as well as to identify completeness of 
reported water and greenhouse gas emission sources 

–  Undertaking analytical procedures of the quantitative 

disclosures in the Subject Matter

–  Reviewing data, information or explanation about the 

sustainability performance data and statements included 
in the Subject Matter

–  Reviewing other information within the BHP Annual 
Report 2022 for consistency and alignment with the 
Subject Matter

–  On a judgemental sample basis, re-performing 
calculations to check accuracy of claims in the 
Subject Matter

–  Checking the water balance for each operated asset 

and judgementally selecting a sample of water streams 
for further testing

–  On a sample basis, based on our professional 

judgement, agreeing claims and underlying data to 
source information to check accuracy and completeness 
of claims, which included invoices, incident reports, 
meter calibration records, and meter data

–  For our reasonable assurance of Scope 1 and Scope 
2 greenhouse gas emissions, selecting key items and 
representative sampling based on statistical audit 
sampling tables and agreeing to source information to 
check accuracy and completeness of performance data, 
which included invoices, metre calibration records and 
metre data.

We believe that the evidence obtained is sufficient and 
appropriate to provide a basis for our reasonable and 
limited assurance conclusions.

Other Matters
We have not performed assurance procedures in respect of 
any information relating to prior reporting periods, including 
those presented in the Subject Matter.  Our report does 
not extend to any disclosures or assertions made by BHP 
relating to future performance plans and/or strategies 
disclosed in BHP’s Annual Report 2022, ESG Standards 
and Databook, and supporting disclosures online.  

While we considered the effectiveness of management’s 
internal controls when determining the nature and extent 
of our procedures, our assurance engagement was 
not designed to provide assurance on internal controls. 
Our procedures did not include testing controls or 
performing procedures relating to checking aggregation or 
calculation of data within IT systems. 

Limited and Reasonable Assurance
Procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement 
vary in nature and timing from, and are less in extent than 
for, a reasonable assurance engagement. Consequently, 
the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance 
engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that 
would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance 
engagement been performed. 

While our procedures performed for our reasonable 
assurance engagement are of a higher level of assurance, 
due to the use of sampling techniques, it is not a guarantee 
that it will always detect material misstatements.

Use of our Assurance Statement
We disclaim any assumption of responsibility for any 
reliance on this assurance report to any persons other than 
management and the directors of BHP, or for any purpose 
other than that for which it was prepared.      

Ernst & Young 
Melbourne, Australia 

2 September 2022

Mathew Nelson  
Partner

 
 
they suffered, such as cart drivers, sand 
miners, artisanal miners and street vendors. 
More than 166,000 people have applied to 
join the Novel system to 30 June 2022.

Updates on the progress of Fundação 
Renova’s compensation program 
are available at fundacaorenova.
org/en/repair-data/indemnities-and-
productive-resumption

Some families have chosen not to join the 
resettlement of their previous community and 
instead resettle elsewhere. For these families, 
88 houses and plots have been purchased, built 
and/or renovated, and 13 are under construction 
or renovation as at 30 June 2022. Other families 
have opted for a cash payment in lieu of any 
of the other resettlement solutions offered by 
Fundação Renova.

Resettlement

One of Fundação Renova’s priorities is the 
resettlement of the communities of Bento 
Rodrigues, Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira. 
This involves ongoing engagement and 
consultation with a large number of stakeholders, 
including the affected community members, their 
technical advisers, state prosecutors, municipal 
leaders, regulators and other interested parties.

The resettlement process for Bento Rodrigues 
and Paracatu de Baixo involves designing new 
towns on land chosen by the communities, to 
be as close as possible to the previous layout, 
attending to the wishes and needs of the 
families and communities, while also meeting 
permitting requirements.

Mandated COVID-19 workforce restrictions 
and suspensions of works on-site, increases 
to the technical scope for resettlement of 
the communities and permitting delays 
have impacted the timeline for completion. 
Ongoing efforts to accelerate completions 
continued throughout FY2022.

A total of 48 houses have been completed and 
158 are under construction and mobilisation at 
Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo as at 
30 June 2022. Plans for families to move into 
their completed houses are progressing. 

Infrastructure at Bento Rodrigues is complete, 
including roads, power, water and sewer 
networks. Public services are also complete, 
including the health and services centres, a 
municipal school and sewage treatment station. 
Infrastructure at Paracatu de Baixo is complete, 
including roads, power, treated water pipeline, 
storm water and sewer networks. Public services 
are under construction, including an elementary 
school, kindergarten, health centre, water 
treatment station and sewage treatment station.

At Gesteira, Fundação Renova offered the 
families a payment solution in which they would 
be able to purchase property through a ‘letter of 
credit’. Most families of Gesteira have chosen 
this option, and the 12th Federal Court has 
ratified their agreements.

Updates on the progress of Fundação 
Renova’s resettlement program are 
available at fundacaorenova.org/
en/repair-data/resettlement-and-
infrastructure

Other socio-economic programs

Fundação Renova continues to implement a 
wide range of socio-economic programs in 
addition to the compensation and resettlement 
programs. These programs cover health and 
infrastructure projects in the Rio Doce basin, 
promotion of economic development in the 
impacted communities and sewage treatment 
facilities to improve the water quality in the 
Rio Doce.

Environmental remediation 

Since December 2019, the riverbanks and 
floodplains have been vegetated, river margins 
stabilised and in general, water quality and 
sediment qualities have returned to historic 
levels. Long-term remediation work is continuing 
to re-establish agriculture and native vegetation.

A ban on fishing activities along the coast of 
Espírito Santo and a precautionary conservation 
restriction preventing fishing for native fish 
species in the Rio Doce in Minas Gerais remain 
in place. Fundação Renova continues to support 
the recovery of habitats and aquatic ecology and 
engage with the authorities with the goal of lifting 
the restrictions.

Updates on the progress of 
Fundação Renova’s environmental 
remediation programs are available 
at fundacaorenova.org/en/repair-data/
socio-environmental-repairs

Legal proceedings

BHP Group Limited, BHP Group (UK) Ltd 
(formerly BHP Group Plc) and BHP Brasil are 
involved in legal proceedings relating to the 
Samarco dam failure. 

For more information on the significant 
legal proceedings involving BHP refer 
to Additional information.

8  Samarco

The Fundão dam failure
On 5 November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam 
operated by Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) 
failed. Samarco is a non-operated joint venture 
(NOJV) owned by BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda (BHP 
Brasil) and Vale S.A. (Vale), with each having a 
50 per cent shareholding.

A significant volume of tailings (39.2 million cubic 
metres) resulting from the iron ore beneficiation 
process was released. Tragically, 19 people 
died – five community members and 14 people 
who were working on the dam. The communities 
of Bento Rodrigues, Paracatu de Baixo and 
Gesteira were flooded and other communities 
and the environment downstream in the Rio 
Doce basin were also affected.

Samarco restarted its operations at a reduced 
production level in December 2020.

For information on Samarco’s 
operations refer to OFR 5.2.

Our response and support for  
Fundação Renova 

BHP Brasil has been and remains fully 
committed to supporting the extensive ongoing 
remediation and compensation efforts of 
Fundação Renova in Brasil.

The Framework Agreement entered into 
between Samarco, Vale and BHP Brasil and 
the relevant Brasilian authorities in March 2016 
established Fundação Renova, a not-for-
profit, private foundation that is implementing 
42 remediation and compensatory programs. 
BHP Brasil provides support to Fundação 
Renova, including through representation on the 
foundation’s governance structures. 

To 30 June 2022, BHP Brasil has provided 
US$1.8 billion to fund Framework Agreement 
programs when Samarco has been unable to 
do so.

Fundação Renova

Compensation and financial assistance

Fundação Renova continues to provide fair 
compensation to people impacted by the 
dam failure. 

Compensation and financial assistance of 
approximately R$11.2 billion (approximately 
US$2.3 billion)¹ has been paid to support 
approximately 388,000 people affected by the 
dam failure up until 30 June 2022. This includes:

–  More than 22,000 general damages claims 

(including loss of life, injury, property damage, 
business impacts, loss of income and moral 
damages) have been resolved, and more 
than 290,000 people have been paid a total of 
approximately R$305 million (approximately 
US$69 million)1 for temporary water 
interruption as at 30 June 2022. 

–  Approximately R$7.1 billion (approximately 
US$1.4 billion)¹ has been paid to more than 
66,000 people under the court-mandated 
simplified indemnity system (known as 
the ‘Novel’ system) as at 30 June 2022. 
The Novel system is designed to provide 
compensation for informal workers who 
have had difficulty proving the damages 

1  USD amount is calculated based on actual transactional (historical) exchange rates related to Renova funding.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

65

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information 
9  How we manage risk

Risk management helps us to protect and create 
value, and is central to achieving our purpose 
and strategic objectives. 

Our Risk Framework has 
four pillars: risk strategy, risk 
governance, risk process and 
risk intelligence. 

Risk strategy

Risk classification
We classify all risks to which BHP is exposed 
using our Group Risk Architecture. This is a tool 
designed to identify, analyse, monitor and report 
risk, which provides a platform to understand 
and manage risks. Similar risks are considered 
together in groups and categories. This gives 
the Board and management visibility over the 
aggregate exposure to risks on a Group-wide 
basis and supports performance monitoring and 
reporting against BHP’s risk appetite.

Risk appetite
BHP’s Risk Appetite Statement is approved 
by the Board and is a foundational element of 
our Risk Framework. It provides guidance to 
management on the amount and type of risk 
we seek to take in pursuing our objectives. 

Key risk indicators
Key risk indicators (KRIs) are set by 
management to help monitor performance 
against our risk appetite. They also support 
decision-making by providing management with 
information about financial and non-financial 
risk exposure at a Group level. Each KRI has a 
target, or optimal level of risk we seek to take, as 
well as upper and lower limits. Where either limit 
is exceeded, management will review potential 
causes to understand if BHP may be taking too 
little or too much risk and to identify whether 
further action is required. 

Risk culture

Our risk management approach is underpinned 
by a risk culture that supports decision-making 
in accordance with BHP’s values, objectives 
and risk appetite. We use a common foundation 
across BHP to build the tools and capabilities 
required to enable us to understand, monitor 
and manage our risk culture. These include 
tailored second-line cultural reviews, Group-wide 
risk culture dashboards and the inclusion of 
risk-culture assessments as part of our internal 
audit plan.

Strategic business decisions
Strategic business decisions and the pursuit 
of our strategic objectives can inform, create 
or affect risks to which BHP is exposed. 
These risks may represent opportunities as well 
as threats. Our Risk Appetite Statement and 
KRIs assist in determining whether a proposed 
course of action is within BHP’s risk appetite. 

Our focus when managing risks associated with 
strategic business decisions is to enable the 
pursuit of high-reward strategies. 

66

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Annual Report 2022

Therefore, as well as having controls designed to 
protect BHP from threats, we seek to implement 
controls to enable and/ or enhance opportunities. 

Risk governance

Three lines model
BHP uses the ‘three lines model’ to define the 
role of different teams across the organisation 
in managing risk. This approach sets clear 
accountabilities for risk management and 
provides appropriate ‘checks and balances’ to 
support us in protecting and growing value. 

The first line is provided by our frontline 
staff, operational management and people in 
functional roles – anyone who makes decisions, 
deploys resources or contributes to an outcome 
is responsible for identifying and managing the 
associated risks. 

The Risk team and other second-line teams are 
responsible for providing expertise, support, 
monitoring and challenge on risk-related 
matters, including by defining Group-wide 
minimum standards. 

The third line, our Internal Audit team, is 
responsible for providing independent 
and objective assurance over the control 
environment (governance, risk management and 
internal controls) to the Board and Executive 
Leadership Team. Additional assurance may 
also be provided by external providers, such as 
our External Auditor.

As of 1 August 2022, the Risk team and Internal 
Audit team were combined to form a Risk and 
Internal Audit sub-function, led by a Chief Risk 
and Audit Officer. This reflects the maturity of our 
Risk Framework and risk management capability 
across the first and second lines. The integration 
of these areas in one sub-function is designed 
to improve overall effectiveness of both teams, 
including through further alignment of second 
and third line assurance activities across BHP. 
The Risk team and Internal Audit team will 
continue to operate in the second and third 
lines respectively.

BHP Board and Committees
The Board reviews and monitors the 
effectiveness of the Group’s systems of financial 
and non-financial risk management and internal 
control. The broad range of skills, experience 
and knowledge of the Board assists in providing 
a diverse view on risk management. The Risk 
and Audit Committee (RAC) and Sustainability 
Committee assist the Board by reviewing and 
considering BHP’s material risk profile (covering 
operational, strategic and emerging risks) on a 
biannual basis. 

Performance against risk appetite is monitored 
and reported to the RAC, as well as the 
Sustainability Committee for HSEC matters, 
supporting the Board to challenge and hold 
management to account. 

Second line risk-based reviews are undertaken 
to provide greater oversight and enhance our 
understanding and management of the Group’s 
most significant risks, with outcomes reported 
to management, the RAC and the Sustainability 
Committee. These outcomes may be used to 
develop remediation plans, adjust BHP’s Risk 
Appetite Statement or KRIs, enhance our Risk 
Framework or inform strategic decisions.

For information on other Board Committee 
activities that support risk governance at BHP 
refer to Corporate Governance Statement 5. 

Risk process

Our Risk Framework requires identification 
and management of risks (both threats and 
opportunities) to be embedded in business 
activities through the following process: 

–  Risk identification – threats and opportunities 
are identified and each is assigned an owner 
or accountable individual.

–  Risk assessments – risks are assessed using 
appropriate and internationally recognised 
techniques to determine their potential 
impacts and likelihood, prioritise them and 
inform risk treatment options.

–  Risk treatment – controls are implemented to 
prevent, minimise and/or mitigate threats, and 
enable and/or enhance opportunities.

–  Monitoring and review – risks and controls 
are reviewed periodically and on an ad hoc 
basis (including where there are high-
potential events or changes in the external 
environment) to evaluate performance.

–  Communication – relevant information is 

recorded in our enterprise risk management 
system to support continuous improvement 
and share risk intelligence across the Group.

Our Risk Framework includes requirements and 
guidance on the tools and process to manage 
current and emerging risks. 

Current risks
Current risks are risks that could impact BHP 
today or in the near future and comprise current 
operational risks (risks that have their origin 
inside BHP or occur as a result of our activities) 
and current strategic risks (risks that may 
enhance or impede the achievement of our 
strategic objectives).

Current risks include material and non-material 
risks (as defined by our Risk Framework). 
The materiality of a current risk is determined 
by estimating the maximum foreseeable loss 
(MFL) if that risk was to materialise. The MFL 
is the estimated impact to BHP in a worst-case 
scenario without regard to probability and 

assuming all risk controls, including insurance 
and hedging contracts, are ineffective. 

Our risk factors are described 
in OFR 9.1.

Our focus for current risks is to prevent their 
occurrence or minimise their impact should they 
occur, but we also consider how to maximise 
possible benefits that might be associated with 
strategic risks (as described in the ‘Risk strategy’ 
section). Current material risks are required 
to be evaluated once a year at a minimum to 
determine whether our exposure to the risk is 
within our risk appetite.

Emerging risks
Emerging risks are newly developing or 
changing risks that are highly uncertain and 
difficult to quantify. They are generally driven 
by external influences and often cannot 
be prevented.

BHP maintains a ‘watch list’ of emerging 
themes and monitors associated signals to 
interpret external events and trends, providing 
an evolving view of the changing external 
environment and how it might impact our 
business. We use the watch list and signal 
monitoring to support the identification and 
management of emerging risks, as well as to 
inform and test our corporate strategy. 

Once identified, our focus for emerging risks 
is on structured monitoring of the external 
environment, advocacy efforts to reduce 
the likelihood of the threats manifesting and 
identifying options to increase our resilience to 
these threats.

Risk intelligence

The Risk team provides the RAC, Sustainability 
Committee and senior management with insights 
on risk management across BHP. Risk reports 
may include trends and aggregate exposure for 
our most significant risks, performance against 
risk appetite, updates on the Risk Framework 
and risk management priorities, an overview of 
(and material changes in) BHP’s material risk 
profile and updates on emerging risk themes and 
signals, and risk culture. In FY2022, risk reports 
were supported by an opinion from the Chief 
Risk Officer. 

We maintain a risk insights dashboard designed 
to provide current, data-driven and actionable 
risk intelligence to our people at all levels 
of the business to support decision-making. 
This tool empowers the business to manage 
risks more effectively, with increased accuracy 
and transparency.

The Board, RAC and Sustainability Committee 
also receive reports from other teams to 
support the Board to review and monitor the 
effectiveness of BHP’s systems of financial and 
non-financial risk management. These include 
internal audit reports, ethics and investigations 
reports, compliance reports and the Chief 
Executive Officer’s report. 

Our risk factors are described 
in OFR 9.1.

9.1  Risk factors
Our risk factors are described 
below and may occur as a 
result of our activities globally, 
including in connection with 
our operated and non-operated 
assets, third parties engaged by 
BHP or through our value chain. 

These risks, individually or collectively, could 
threaten our viability, strategy, business model, 
future performance, solvency or liquidity 
and reputation. They could also materially 
and adversely affect the health and safety 
of our people or members of the public, the 
environment, the communities where we or our 
third-party partners operate, or the interests of 
our stakeholders, which could in each case, 
lead to litigation, regulatory investigation or 
enforcement action (including class actions or 
actions arising from contractual, legacy or other 
liabilities associated with divested assets), or a 
loss of stakeholder and/or investor confidence. 
References to ‘financial performance’ include 
our financial condition and liquidity, including 
due to decreased profitability or increased 
operating costs, capital spend, remediation costs 
or contingent liabilities. BHP is also exposed to 
other risks that are not described in this section.

Each risk factor may present opportunities as 
well as threats. We take certain risks for strategic 
reward in the pursuit of our strategy and 
purpose, including to grow our asset portfolio 
and develop the right capabilities for the future of 
our business. Potential threats and opportunities 
associated with each of our risk factors are 
described below, along with the key controls to 
manage them. These controls are not exhaustive 
and many Group-wide controls (such as Our 
Code of Conduct, Risk Framework, mandatory 
minimum performance requirements for risk 
management, health, safety and other matters, 
dedicated non-operated joint venture teams and 
our Contractor Management Framework) help 
to support effective and efficient management of 
all risks in line with our risk appetite. While we 
implement preventative and/or mitigating 
controls designed to reduce the likelihood of a 
threat from occurring and minimise the impacts if 
it does, these may not be effective.

Operational events

Risks associated with operational events in 
connection with our activities globally, resulting 
in significant adverse impacts on our people, 
communities, the environment or our business.

Why is this important to BHP?
We engage in activities that have the potential 
to cause harm to our people and assets, 
communities, other stakeholders and/or the 
environment, including serious injuries, illness 
and fatalities, loss of infrastructure, amenities 
and livelihood and damage to sites of cultural 
significance. An operational event at our 
operated or non-operated assets or through 
our value chain could also cause damage or 
disruptions to our assets and operations, impact 
our financial performance, result in litigation or 
class actions and cause long-term damage to 
our licence to operate and reputation. 

The potential physical impacts of climate 
change could increase the likelihood and/or 
severity of risks associated with operational 
events. Impacts of operational events may also 
be amplified if we fail to respond in a way that 
is consistent with our corporate values and 
stakeholder expectations. 

Examples of potential threats
–  Failure of a water or tailings storage facility, 
such as the tragic failure of the Fundão dam 
at Samarco in 2015 or a failure at one of our 
facilities in Australia, Chile, Peru, the United 
States, Canada or Brazil. 

–  Unplanned fire events or explosions (on the 

surface and underground). 

–  Geotechnical instability events (such as failure 

of underground excavations, unexpected 
large wall instabilities in our open pit mines, 
or potential interaction between our mining 
activities and community infrastructure 
or natural systems), including at our 
underground or open pit mines in Australia, 
Chile, Peru, the United States, Canada 
or Brazil.

–  Air, land (road and rail) and marine 

transportation events (such as aircraft 
crashes or vessel collisions, groundings 
or hydrocarbon release) that occur while 
transporting people, supplies or products to 
exploration, operation or customer locations, 
which include remote and environmentally 
sensitive areas in Australia, South America, 
Asia, the United States and Canada. 

–  Critical infrastructure or hazardous 

materials containment failures, other 
occupational or process safety events, or 
workplace exposures.

–  Operational events experienced by third 

parties, which may also result in unavailability 
of shared critical infrastructure (such as 
railway lines or ports) or transportation 
routes (such as the Port Hedland channel in 
Western Australia). 

Examples of potential 
opportunities
–  Our focus on safety and the wellbeing of our 
people, communities and the environment 
may increase operational resilience and 
stakeholder confidence, enhancing our ability 
to attract and retain talent and access (or 
lower the cost of) capital.

–  Collaborating with industry peers and relevant 
organisations on minimum standards (such 
as the internationally recognised Flight 
Safety Foundation’s Basic Aviation Risk 
Standard, Global Industry Standard on 
Tailings Management, Large Open Pit Project 
guidelines on open-pit mining design and 
management, and the Cave Mining 2040 
Consortium on deep mining design and 
management) supports improvements to 
wider industry management of operational 
risks and may also identify opportunities to 
improve our own practices.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

67

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information9  How we manage risk continued

Key management actions
–  Planning, designing, constructing, operating, 

maintaining and monitoring surface and 
underground mines, water and tailings 
storage facilities, and other infrastructure and 
equipment in a manner designed to maintain 
structural integrity, prevent incidents and 
protect our people, assets, communities, the 
environment and other stakeholders.

–  Specifying minimum requirements and 
technical specifications, such as for 
transportation (including high-occupancy 
vehicles, aircraft and their operators) and 
geotechnical (including characterisation, 
design, ground control and monitoring), and 
compliance with operating specifications, 
industry codes and other relevant standards, 
including BHP’s mandatory minimum 
performance requirements.

–  Defining key governance roles, such as a 

dam owner (an internal BHP individual who 
is accountable for maintaining effective 
governance and integrity of each tailings 
storage facility) and providing training and 
qualifications for our people.

–  Inspections, technical reviews, audits 

and other assurance activities, such as 
independent dam safety reviews and 
geotechnical review boards.

–  Maintaining evacuation routes, supporting 

equipment, crisis and emergency response 
plans and business continuity plans. 

–  Incorporating future climate projections into 
risks associated with operational events 
through ongoing assessment of potential 
physical climate change risks.

FY2022 insights 
Our exposure to risks associated with operational 
events decreased in FY2022 as the divestment of 
our interests in Cerrejón and BMC and the merger 
of our Petroleum business with Woodside removed 
associated risks (including the risk of an offshore 
well blow out) from BHP’s risk profile. Otherwise, 
our exposure to risks associated with operational 
events remained relatively unchanged.

For more information refer to:
•  OFR 7.4 – Safety
•  OFR 7.18 – Tailings storage facilities
•  OFR 8 – Samarco
•  bhp.com/sustainability

68

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Accessing key markets

Risks associated with market concentration 
and our ability to sell and deliver products into 
existing and future key markets, impacting our 
economic efficiency.

Why is this important to BHP? 
We rely on the sale and delivery of the 
commodities we produce to customers around 
the world. Changes to laws, international trade 
arrangements, contractual terms or other 
requirements and/or geopolitical developments 
could result in physical, logistical or other 
disruptions to our operations in, or the sale or 
delivery of our commodities to, key markets. 
These disruptions could affect sales volumes 
or prices obtained for our products, adversely 
impacting our financial performance, results of 
operations and growth prospects.

Examples of potential threats
–  Government actions, including economic 

sanctions, tariffs or other trade restrictions, 
imposed by or on countries where we 
operate or into which we sell or deliver our 
products may prevent BHP from trading 
or make it more difficult for BHP to trade 
in key markets. For example, the Ukraine 
conflict and corresponding implementation 
of economic sanctions, export controls and 
other restrictive measures by the United 
States, United Kingdom, European Union 
and other jurisdictions against Russia 
contributed to increased volatility for some 
of the commodities we sell and some of 
the key supplies we buy (including diesel 
and ammonia).

–  Physical disruptions to the delivery of our 
products to customers in key markets, 
including due to the disruption of shipping 
routes, closure or blockage of ports or land 
logistics (road or rail) or military conflict. 
In some cases, physical disruptions may 
be driven or intensified by weather, climate 
variability or other manifestations of 
climate change. 

–  Legal or regulatory changes (such as 

royalties or taxes, port or import restrictions 
or customs requirements, shipping/
maritime regulatory changes, restrictions on 
movements or imposition of quarantines, 
or changing environmental restrictions or 
regulations, including measures with respect 
to carbon-intensive industries or imports) 
and commercial changes (such as changes 
to the standards and requirements of 
customers) may adversely impact our ability 
to sell, deliver or realise full market value for 
our products. 

–  Failure to maintain strong relationships with 

customers, or changes to customer demands 
for our products may reduce our market share 
or adversely impact our financial performance. 

–  Increasing geopolitical tensions (such as the 
escalation of events relating to the Ukraine 
conflict) may adversely affect our strategic 
and business planning decisions and/or 
increase the time it takes us to manage our 
access to key markets, particularly if we 
fail to detect or anticipate deviations in the 
geopolitical environment in a timely manner.

Examples of potential opportunities
–  Monitoring macroeconomic, societal, 
geopolitical and policy developments 
and trends may reveal new markets or 
commodities, or identify opportunities 
to strengthen secondary markets for 
existing products. 

–  Developing strategic partnerships and strong, 

mutually beneficial relationships with our 
customers may enable us to create value.

–  Building a deep understanding of geopolitical 
threats and opportunities and their potential 
impacts on global trade flows and our 
business could enhance our strategy, 
business planning and response, providing 
a potential competitive advantage.

–  Identifying the potential for weather, climate 

variability or climate change to disrupt delivery 
of products and implementing management 
measures may increase the resilience of our 
operations and value chain. 

–  Signal monitoring and building relationships 
with and understanding the perspectives 
of influential stakeholders may improve our 
ability to understand and provide input to 
policy development, and to respond to and 
manage any impacts from policy changes 
(such as trade policies).

Key management actions
–  Monitoring and assessing our ability to 

access key markets, and maintaining sales 
plans, product placement and business 
resilience strategies and relationships with 
relevant stakeholders. 

–  Maintaining response plans for various 

scenarios (including physical disruptions of 
logistics) to mitigate disruptions to our ability 
to access key markets.

–  Monitoring geopolitical and macroeconomic 
developments and trends, including through 
signal monitoring and our enterprise-level 
watch list of emerging themes, to provide an 
early indication of events that could impact 
our ability to access key markets.

–  Identifying weather and/or climate-related 

vulnerabilities and implementing controls to 
mitigate disruptions to our ability to physically 
access key markets. 

–  Diversifying our asset and commodity 

portfolio, such as our ongoing investment 
in potash through the Jansen Potash 
Project, to reduce exposure to market 
concentration risks.

FY2022 insights 
Exposure to risks associated with our access 
to key markets increased in FY2022 due to 
changes in our external environment, over which 
we have limited influence. The Ukraine conflict 
and the corresponding international response 
has significantly increased volatility and 
uncertainty in the international trading, business 
and financial environment. Escalation or 
expansion of the conflict or the international 
response could cause greater disruption of 
global supply chains and affect macroeconomic 
conditions and our ability to sell to particular 
customers or markets. In addition, strategic 
competition between the United States and 
China continued. 

 Optimising growth and  
portfolio returns

Risks associated with our ability to position our 
asset portfolio to generate returns and value for 
shareholders, including through acquisitions, 
mergers and divestments.

Why is this important to BHP?
We make decisions and take actions in pursuit of 
our strategy to optimise our asset portfolio and to 
secure and create growth options in future facing 
commodities (such as copper, nickel and potash). 
These may include active portfolio changes 
(such as divestment of our interests in BMC and 
Cerrejón, and merger of our Petroleum business 
with Woodside), as well as maturing organic 
growth options across our existing portfolio. 
A strategy that does not support BHP’s objectives 
and/or ill-timed execution of our strategy 
(including as a result of not having sector-leading 
talent and capabilities) or other circumstances 
may lead to a loss of value that impacts our 
ability to deliver returns to shareholders and fund 
our investment and expansion opportunities. 
It may also result in our asset portfolio being 
less resilient to movements in commodity prices, 
which are determined by or linked to prices 
in world markets. In the short term, this may 
reduce our cash flow, ability to access capital 
and our dividends. A failure to optimise our asset 
portfolio for structural movements in commodity 
prices over the long term may result in asset 
impairments and could adversely affect the 
results of our operations, financial performance 
and returns to investors.

Examples of potential threats
–  Failure to optimise our portfolio through 

effective and efficient acquisitions, exploration, 
large project delivery, mergers, divestments 
or expansion of existing assets (including 
due to sub-optimal capital prioritisation) 
may adversely impact returns to investors. 
For example, a scarcity of growth options that 
align with our strategy could require us to mine 
deeper, lower-grade deposits, which may lead 
to higher operating and capital costs. 

–  Failure to identify potential changes in 

commodity attractiveness and missed entry 
or commodity exit opportunities may result 
in decreased return on capital spend for, or 
overpayment to acquire or invest in, new 
assets or projects, stranded assets or reduced 
divestment proceeds.

–  Failure to achieve expected commercial 
objectives from assets or investments, 
such as cost savings, sales revenues or 
operational performance (including as a result 
of inaccurate commodity price assumptions or 
resources and reserves estimates), may result 
in returns that are lower than anticipated and 
loss of value. Impacts could be exacerbated 
by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and 
Ukraine conflict, including supply chain 
disruptions (for example, disruption in 
the energy sector impacting our end-user 
markets), labour shortages, inflationary 
pressures on raw materials and unfavourable 
exchange rates, creating operational 
headwinds and challenging on-time and on-
budget project delivery.

–  Renegotiation or nullification of permits, 

inability to secure new permits or approvals, 
increased royalties, expropriation or 
nationalisation of our assets, or other 
legal, regulatory, political, judicial or fiscal 
or monetary policy instability or changes 
(for example, legislation, regulations 
or government policies implemented in 
Australia by the new federal government, 
which may include new rules governing the 
pay of contractors) may increase our costs 
or adversely impact our ability to achieve 
expected commercial objectives from 
assets or investments, access reserves, 
develop, maintain or operate our assets, 
enter new jurisdictions, or otherwise optimise 
our portfolio. 

–  Inability to predict long-term trends in the 
supply, demand and price of commodities 
and optimise our asset portfolio accordingly 
may restrict our ability to generate long-term 
returns from the portfolio. For example, 
slowing economic growth in China due to 
factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, 
political and trade tensions or the market 
volatility and uncertainty resulting from the 
Ukraine conflict may result in lower demand 
and prices for our products, which would 
adversely impact our portfolio returns.

–  Commodity prices have historically been 

and may continue to be subject to significant 
volatility, including due to global economic 
and geopolitical factors, industrial activity, 
commodity supply and demand (including 
inventory levels), technological change, 
product substitution, tariffs, interest rate 
movements and exchange rate fluctuations. 
Our usual policy and practice is to sell our 
products at prevailing market prices and, as 
such, movements in commodity prices may 
affect our financial performance. Long-term 
price volatility or sustained low prices may 
adversely impact our financial performance as 
we do not generally have the ability to offset 
costs through price increases. 

Examples of potential opportunities
–  Acquisition of new resources or acceleration 
of organic growth options in future facing 
commodities may strengthen and diversify our 
portfolio and protect and grow value over the 
long term.

–  Ability to predict long-term commodity 

demand, supply and price trends may lead 
to BHP being able to identify and acquire 
new future facing commodities and assets 
ahead of our competitors or exit from 
declining commodities in a timely manner, 
strengthening our portfolio and leading to 
long-term, higher portfolio returns.

–  BHP may be perceived as a welcome 
and valued or preferred partner for the 
development of new resource opportunities, 
enabling us to secure new assets or 
exploration opportunities to create long-term 
optionality in the portfolio.

Key management actions
–  Strategies, processes and frameworks 
to grow and protect our portfolio and to 
assist in delivering ongoing returns to 
shareholders include:

–  our exploration and business development 
programs, which focus on replenishing our 
resource base and enhancing our portfolio 
(including creating and securing more 
options in future facing commodities)

–  our long-term strategic outlook and ongoing 

strategic processes to assess our competitive 
advantage and enable the identification of 
threats to, or opportunities for, our portfolio 
through forecasting and scenario modelling

–  monitoring signals to interpret external 

events and trends, and designing 
commodity strategies and price protocols 
that are reviewed by management and 
the Board

–  our Capital Allocation Framework, corporate 
planning processes, investment approval 
processes and annual reviews (including 
resilience testing) of portfolio valuations

–  our balance sheet and liquidity framework, 
which is designed to maintain a robust 
balance sheet with sufficient liquidity and 
access to diverse sources of funding

–  Pursuing a considered approach to new 
country entry, including development 
of capability to operate in higher-
risk jurisdictions, in order to support 
portfolio opportunities.

–  Further developing BHP’s social value 

proposition to position BHP as a preferred 
partner for the development of resource 
opportunities in line with the expectations of 
local communities, host governments and 
other global stakeholders.

–  Managing commodity price exposure through 

the diversity of commodities, markets, 
geographies and currencies provided by 
our portfolio, as well as our financial risk 
management practices in relation to our 
commercial activities.

FY2022 insights
Our exposure to risks associated with optimising 
growth and portfolio returns increased in FY2022 
as a result of volatility and uncertainty across 
global economies, fiscal regimes and industrial 
relations, licencing-regulatory uncertainty 
and escalating social value expectations. 
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has contributed 
to inflationary pressures for key inputs across 
our value chain (such as diesel, acid, ammonia 
and explosives). In FY2022, we completed the 
divestment of our interests in BMC and Cerrejón, 
and the merger of our Petroleum business with 
Woodside which are intended to optimise and 
consolidate our portfolio to align with BHP’s 
long-term strategy.  

For more Information refer to:
•  OFR 3 – Positioning for the future
•  OFR 10 – Performance by commodity
•   Financial Statements note 23 
‘Financial risk management’

BHP

Annual Report 2022

69

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information–  Conducting regular research and impact 

assessments for operated assets to better 
understand the social, environmental, human 
rights and economic context. This supports 
us to identify and analyse stakeholder, 
community and human rights impacts, including 
modern slavery risks and emerging issues. 
We also complete due diligence screening on 
suppliers through our Ethical Supply Chain and 
Transparency program.

–  Integrating closure into our planning, decision-
making and other activities through the life 
cycle of our operated assets, as set out in our 
mandatory minimum performance requirements 
for closure.

FY2022 insights
Our exposure to risks with potentially significant 
social or environmental impacts increased in 
FY2022 due to environmental, political and 
regulatory developments, and increasing societal 
expectations, including of regulators and other 
stakeholders on Indigenous peoples’ rights, 
climate change and the potential impacts of our 
operations throughout the asset life cycle. 

We have continued to focus on improving 
engagement with Indigenous peoples, including 
the protection of cultural heritage. The economic 
importance of biodiversity is increasingly at the 
forefront of investor considerations (particularly 
following the Dasgupta Review in the United 
Kingdom in FY2021) and is expected to be 
strengthened through the development of 
institutional frameworks, including the Taskforce 
on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. 
The opportunity for BHP in measuring 
and ascribing value to natural assets is to 
gain a better understanding of the value of 
environmental impacts and dependencies, 
and the risks they may pose to delivery of our 
strategy, purpose and public targets, goals 
and commitments. 

For more Information refer to:
•  OFR 6 – People and culture
•   OFR 7.8 – Climate change
•  OFR 7.10 – Community
•  OFR 7.11 – Human rights
•  OFR 7.13 – Indigenous peoples
•  OFR 7.14 – Social investment
•  OFR 7.15 – Environment
•  OFR 7.16 – Water
•  OFR 7.17 – Biodiversity and land
•  bhp.com/sustainability

9  How we manage risk continued

 Significant social or  
environmental impacts

Risks associated with significant impacts of our 
operations on and contributions to communities 
and environments throughout the life cycle of our 
assets and across our value chain.

Why is this important to BHP? 
The long-term viability of our business is closely 
connected to the wellbeing of the communities 
and environments where we have a presence. 
At any stage of the asset life cycle, our activities 
and operations may have or be seen to have 
significant adverse impacts on communities and 
environments. In these circumstances, we may 
fail to meet the evolving expectations of our 
stakeholders (including investors, governments, 
employees, suppliers, customers and Indigenous 
peoples and other community members) 
whose support is needed to realise our strategy 
and purpose. 

This could lead to loss of stakeholder support 
or regulatory approvals, increased taxes and 
regulation, enforcement action, litigation or 
class actions, or otherwise impact our licence 
to operate and adversely affect our reputation, 
ability to attract and retain talent, ability to 
access capital, operational continuity and 
financial performance. 

Examples of potential threats
–  Engaging in or being associated with activities 
(including through non-operated joint ventures 
and our value chain) that have or are perceived 
to have individual or cumulative adverse 
impacts on the environment, biodiversity 
and land management, water access and 
management, human rights or cultural heritage. 

–  Failing to meet stakeholder expectations 

in connection with our legal and regulatory 
obligations, relationships with Indigenous 
peoples, community wellbeing and the way 
we invest in communities or our approach 
to environment, climate change, biodiversity 
and land management, water access and 
management, human rights or cultural 
heritage priorities. 

–  Political, regulatory and judicial developments 
(such as constitutional reform in Chile that 
could lead to adjustments to water and other 
resource rights) could increase uncertainty 
in relation to our operating environment, 
requiring us to adjust our business plans or 
strategy. For example, changes to regulations 
may require us to modify mine plans, limit 
our access to reserves and resources, delay 
the timing or increase costs associated with 
closure and rehabilitation of assets, or expose 
BHP to unanticipated environmental or other 
legacy liabilities.

–  Failing to identify and manage potential 

physical climate change risks to communities, 
biodiversity and ecosystems. For example, 
changes to species habitat or distribution as a 
result of sustained higher temperatures could 
result in land access restrictions or litigation, or 
limit our access to new opportunities.

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Examples of potential opportunities
–  Our support for responsible stewardship of 

natural resources may enhance the resilience 
of environments and communities to potential 
threats (including the potential physical impacts 
of climate change). For example, BHP has 
commenced a pilot study on developing a 
Natural Capital Account at a restored mine site 
to understand how we can better incorporate 
nature-related threats and opportunities into our 
strategic planning, risk management and asset 
allocation decisions.

–  Strong social performance, including 

sustainable mining and a focus on the wellbeing 
of communities, could generate competitive 
advantage in the jurisdictions where we 
operate. For example, BHP was recognised 
for our contribution to the development of 
female leaders in the Chilean mining sector 
(Inspirational Women in Mining Awards), which 
may enhance our attractiveness as a place to 
work and support talent retention.

–  Our global social value strategy may improve 

stakeholder relations, enhance community trust 
and increase investor confidence and demand 
for our commodities. 

–  Greater clarity, transparency and standards 

associated with regulatory regimes that support 
and protect communities and the environment 
may increase requirements across our 
sector, generating competitive advantage for 
companies that have already invested in social 
and environmental performance.

–  Building our reputation for sustainable and 
responsible operating practices (such as 
through the Copper Mark, which was awarded 
to three of our copper assets in FY2022) may 
increase demand for some of our commodities 
and improve our access to talent and capital.

Key management actions
–  The Our Requirements for Community and Our 
Requirements for Environment and Climate 
Change standards provide requirements and 
practices that are designed to strengthen 
our social, human rights and environmental 
performance. Our Human Rights Policy 
Statement, Water Stewardship Position 
Statement, Climate Transition Action Plan 2021 
and Indigenous Peoples Policy Statement set 
out our targets, goals, commitments and/or 
approach to these matters. 

–  Engaging in regular, open and transparent 

dialogue with stakeholders to better understand 
their expectations, concerns and interests, 
and undertaking research to better understand 
stakeholder perceptions.

–  Building social value into our decision-making 
process, along with financial considerations, 
including through our new social value 
framework and 2030 People, Planet and 
Prosperity goals. 

–  Building stakeholder trust and contributing 

to environmental and community resilience, 
including through collaborating on shared 
challenges (such as climate change and 
water stewardship), enhanced external 
reporting of our operated assets’ potential 
impacts on biodiversity and maximising the 
value of social investments through our social 
investment strategy. 

Inadequate business resilience

Risks associated with unanticipated or 
unforeseeable adverse events and a failure 
of planning and preparedness to respond to, 
manage and recover from adverse events 
(including potential physical impacts of 
climate change).

Why is this important to BHP? 
In addition to the threats described in our other 
risk factors, our business could experience 
unanticipated, unforeseeable or other adverse 
events (internal or external) that could harm our 
people, disrupt our operations or value chain, 
or damage our assets or corporate offices, 
including our non-operated assets in which BHP 
has a non-controlling interest. A failure to identify 
or understand exposure, adequately prepare for 
these events (including maintaining business 
continuity plans) or build wider organisational 
resilience may inhibit our (or our third-party 
partners’) ability to respond and recover in an 
effective and efficient manner. This could cause 
material adverse impacts on our business, 
such as reduced ability to access resources, 
markets and the operational or other inputs 
required by our business, reduced production or 
sales of commodities, or increased regulation, 
which could adversely impact our financial 
performance, share price or reputation, and 
could lead to litigation (including class actions).

Examples of potential threats
–  Geopolitical, global economic, regional or 

local developments or adverse events, such 
as social unrest, strikes, work stoppages, 
labour disruptions, social activism, terrorism, 
bomb threats, economic slowdown, acts 
of war or other significant disruptions in 
areas where we operate or have interests. 
For example, production at Escondida 
in FY2022 was impacted by public road 
blockades associated with social unrest. 

–  Natural events, including earthquakes, 

tsunamis, hurricanes, cyclones, fires, solar 
flares and pandemics. For example, continued 
COVID-19 related absences contributed to a fall 
in production volumes in the March 2022 quarter 
for copper, iron ore, nickel and energy coal. 

–  Potential physical impacts of climate change, 
such as acute risks that are event-driven 
(including increased frequency and severity 
of extreme weather events) and chronic risks 
resulting from longer-term changes in climate 
patterns. Hazards and impacts may include 
changes in precipitation patterns, water 
shortages, rising sea levels, increased storm 
intensity, prolonged extreme temperatures 
and increased drought, fire and tidal flooding.

–  Failure by suppliers, contractors or joint 

venture partners to perform existing contracts 
or obligations (including due to insolvency), 
such as construction of large projects or supply 
of key inputs to our business (for example, 
consumables for our mining equipment). 

–  Failure of our risk management or other 

–  Sourcing quality, centralised climate data 

processes (including controls) to prepare for 
or manage any of the risks discussed in this 
‘Risk factors’ section may inhibit our (or our 
third-party partners’) ability to manage any 
resulting adverse events and may disrupt our 
operations or adversely impact our financial 
performance or reputation.

Examples of potential opportunities
–  Risk identification and management supports 
proactive, focused and prioritised deployment 
of resources to reduce exposure to adverse 
events. It may be used to inform priorities 
and strategies across BHP, supporting a 
proportionate and cost-effective response, 
which could provide a competitive advantage 
at a regional or global level.

–  Building wider organisational resilience 
may enable us to maintain dividends to 
shareholders amid adverse external events 
and make growth-generating, counter-cyclical 
investments, as well as to help us mitigate 
the impacts of unforeseeable adverse events. 
For example, we have developed new agile 
and remote ways of working in response to the 
COVID-19 pandemic, which may also increase 
our resilience to other adverse events. 

–  Adapting to climate change across our 

operations and value chain could enhance the 
safety, productivity and climate resilience of our 
operated assets, position BHP as a supplier 
of choice and provide competitive advantage 
(for example, by fulfilling our commitment 
to security of supply). Support for climate 
vulnerable communities and ecosystems may 
also improve our social value proposition. 

Key management actions
–  Implementing Group-wide controls to enhance 
business resilience, including BHP’s mandatory 
minimum performance requirements for 
security, crisis and emergency management 
and business continuity plans, and seeking to 
maintain an investment grade credit rating.

–  Monitoring our current state of readiness 

(preparedness, redundancy and resilience), 
including through scenario analysis and 
business resilience exercises, supporting 
organisational capability in our operations, 
functions and senior management to effectively 
and efficiently respond to and recover from 
adverse events should they materialise.

–  Monitoring the external environment, including 
political and economic factors through signal 
monitoring, our geopolitical monitoring and 
public policy frameworks and our enterprise-
level watch list of emerging themes, to 
support early identification of policy changes 
or adverse events for which we may need to 
increase preparedness.

–  Identifying security threats that could directly 

or indirectly impact our operations and people 
in countries of interest to BHP.

–  Implementing our Adaptation Strategy with 
respect to the physical risks of climate 
change, including requiring operated assets 
and functions to identify and progressively 
assess potential physical climate change 
risks (including to our value chain) and build 
climate change adaptation into their plans, 
activities and investments. 

covering each of our operating locations so 
that our operated assets and functions have 
access to appropriate data to support climate 
studies that will inform investment decisions 
around enhancing our operational resilience.

FY2022 insights
Our exposure to risks associated with inadequate 
business resilience continued to grow in FY2022, 
with the external environment becoming increasingly 
volatile. Key emerging themes (including social 
activism, international criminal enterprise, global 
terrorism, cyber threats and war) signal heightened 
levels of global uncertainty and an increased 
likelihood of unexpected shocks or disruptions. 
At the same time, crisis events are increasing in 
frequency and scale. Some of these events directly 
impacted our business during FY2022, including the 
emergence of new COVID-19 variants and flooding 
in eastern and southern Australia (which flooded 
the road to Olympic Dam and impacted inbound 
critical consumables). In addition to continuing 
to build organisational resilience to such threats, 
adaptation of our business to the potential physical 
impacts of climate change continues to be at the 
forefront of our thinking, with the Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report 
noting the increased frequency and magnitude of 
climatic events. 

For more information refer to:
•   BHP Climate Change Report 2020
•   BHP Climate Transition Action Plan 2021
•  OFR 7.8 – Climate change
•  OFR 7.12 – Security services
•   bhp.com/sustainability/safety-health/safety

Low-carbon transition

Risks associated with the transition to a low-
carbon economy.

Why is this important to BHP? 
Transition risks arise from policy, regulatory, 
legal, technological, market and other societal 
responses to the challenges posed by climate 
change and the transition to a low-carbon 
economy. As a world-leading resources 
company, BHP is exposed to a range of 
transition risks that could affect the execution 
of our strategy or our operational efficiency, 
asset values and growth options, resulting 
in a material adverse impact on our financial 
performance, share price or reputation, including 
litigation. The complex and pervasive nature 
of climate change means transition risks are 
interconnected with and may amplify our 
other risk factors. Additionally, the inherent 
uncertainty of potential societal responses to 
climate change may create a systemic risk to the 
global economy. 

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Annual Report 2022

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Examples of potential threats
–  Introduction or improvement of low-carbon 

technologies or changes in customer 
preference for products that support the 
transition to a low-carbon economy may 
decrease demand for some of our products 
(which may be abrupt or unanticipated), 
increase our costs or decrease the availability 
of key inputs to production. For example:

–  ‘Green steel’ technologies may reduce 
demand for our metallurgical coal or 
iron ore.

–  Increased scrap-based steel production 

may reduce demand for our metallurgical 
coal and iron ore by limiting production that 
is required globally.

–  New battery technologies that use less 

nickel could enter the market and reduce 
demand for our nickel products.

–  Failure to address investor concerns on the 
potential impact of climate change on and 
from BHP’s portfolio and operations may 
result in reduced investor confidence. 

–  Social concerns around climate change may 
result in investors divesting our securities 
or pressure on financial institutions not to 
provide financing for our fossil fuel assets, 
which could limit our ability to access capital 
markets and potentially result in reduced 
access to financing or increased financing 
costs, or otherwise adversely impact our 
ability to optimise our portfolio. 

–  Perceived or actual misalignment of 

BHP’s climate actions (goals, targets and 
performance) with societal and investor 
expectations, or a failure to deliver our 
climate actions, may result in damage to our 
reputation, climate-related litigation (including 
class actions) or give rise to other adverse 
regulatory, legal or market responses. 

–  Sub-optimal selection, implementation or 

effectiveness of technology that is intended to 
contribute towards the delivery of our climate 
targets, goals and strategies, or unavailability 
of that technology (including due to a failure of 
external equipment manufacturers to deliver 
on schedule or competition for limited supply) 
could delay or increase costs in achieving our 
plans for operational decarbonisation.

–  Changes in laws, regulations, policies, 

obligations, government actions, and our 
ability to anticipate and respond to such 
changes, including GHG emission targets, 
restrictive licencing, carbon taxes, carbon 
offset regulations, border adjustments or the 
addition or removal of subsidies, may give 
rise to adverse regulatory, legal or market 
responses. For example, the implementation 
of regulations intended to reduce GHG 
emissions in the steel industry in China could 
adversely impact demand for our metallurgical 
coal and/or iron ore.

Examples of potential opportunities
–  Our copper, nickel, iron ore and metallurgical 
coal provide essential building blocks for 
renewable power generation and electric 
vehicles, and can play an important part in the 
transition to a low-carbon economy.

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–  Our potash fertiliser options can promote 
more efficient and profitable agriculture 
and alleviate the increased competition for 
arable land. 

–  Increased collaboration with customers, 

suppliers and original equipment 
manufacturers, such as BHP’s partnerships 
with HBIS Group, China Baowu, JFE, POSCO 
and Tata Steel to explore technologies to 
reduce GHG emissions across the steel 
value chain, can provide opportunities for the 
development of new products and markets. 

Key management actions
–  Establishing public positions on, and 
mandatory minimum performance 
requirements for managing, climate change 
threats and opportunities, which are set out in 
our Climate Change Report 2020, our Climate 
Transition Action Plan 2021 and the Our 
Requirements for Environment and Climate 
Change standard.

–  Using climate-related scenarios (including 
our Paris-aligned 1.5°C scenario), themes 
and signposts (such as monitoring policy, 
regulatory, legal, technological, market and 
other societal developments) to evaluate 
the resilience of our portfolio and inform 
our strategy.

–  Considering transition risks (including carbon 
prices) when making capital expenditure 
decisions or allocating capital through our 
Capital Allocation Framework, supporting 
the prioritisation of capital and investment 
approval processes.

–  Seeking to mitigate our exposure to risks 
arising from policy and regulation in our 
operating jurisdictions and markets by 
reducing our operational GHG emissions and 
taking a product stewardship approach to 
GHG emissions in our value chain.

–  Advocating for the introduction of an effective, 
long-term policy framework that can deliver a 
measured transition to a low-carbon economy. 

FY2022 insights
Our exposure to transition risks decreased 
in FY2022 due to portfolio changes involving 
the merger of our Petroleum business with 
Woodside and divestment of our interests in 
BMC and Cerrejón. However, societal pressure 
for change continued to increase with many 
governments and organisations making 
commitments to achieve GHG emissions 
targets within specified timeframes, including 
commitments at the United Nations Climate 
Change Conference (COP 26) in November 
2021. Investor and other stakeholder interest 
in understanding how climate change might 
impact our strategy and portfolio continued to 
grow in FY2022, and stakeholder expectations 
of BHP regarding disclosure of climate-related 
information have increased accordingly. 

For more information refer to:
•  BHP Climate Change Report 2020
•   BHP Climate Transition Action 

Plan 2021

•  OFR 3 – Positioning for the future
•  OFR 7.8 – Climate change 
•   bhp.com/sustainability/climate-change

 Adopting technologies and 
maintaining digital security

Risks associated with adopting and 
implementing new technologies, and maintaining 
the effectiveness of our existing digital 
landscape (including cyber defences) across 
our value chain.

Why is this important to BHP?
Our business and operational processes across 
our value chain are increasingly dependent 
on the effective application and adoption of 
technology, which we use as a lever to deliver 
on our current and future operational, financial 
and social objectives. This exposes BHP to 
risks originating from adopting or implementing 
new technologies, or failing to take appropriate 
action to position BHP for the digital future, 
which may impact the capabilities we require, 
the effectiveness and efficiency of our operations 
and our ability to compete effectively. We may 
also fail to maintain the effectiveness of our 
existing and future digital landscape, including 
cyber defences, exposing us to technology 
availability, reliability and cybersecurity risks. 

These could lead to operational events, 
commercial disruption (such as an inability 
to process or ship our products), corruption 
or loss of system data, misappropriation or 
loss of funds, unintended loss or disclosure 
of commercial or personal information, 
enforcement action or litigation. An inability 
to adequately maintain existing technology 
or implement critical new technology, or any 
sustained disruption to our existing technology 
may also adversely affect our licence to 
operate, reputation, results of operations 
and financial performance. 

Examples of potential threats
–  Failure to invest in appropriate technologies, or 
to keep pace with advancements in technology, 
that support the pursuit of our objectives may 
adversely impact the effectiveness or efficiency 
of our business and erode our competitive 
advantage. For example, a failure to implement 
appropriate technologies that support our 
assets to produce higher-grade commodities 
or less waste from existing resources could 
limit our ability to sell our commodities or 
reduce costs.

–  Failing to identify, access and secure 

necessary infrastructure and key inputs 
(including electricity, internet bandwidth, data, 
software, licences or other rights in intellectual 
property, hardware and talent) to support 
new technology innovations and advanced 
technologies may adversely affect our ability 
to adopt, operate or retain access to those 
technologies. This includes artificial intelligence 
and machine learning, process automation, 
robotics, data analytics, cloud computing, 
smart devices and remote working solutions. 
For example, adopting new technology to 
reduce GHG emissions through the use of 
alternative energy sources may require new 
infrastructure, while effective implementation 
of new digital technologies may be heavily 
dependent on access to relevant data.

–  Failure or outage of our information or 

operational technology systems.

–  Cyber events or attacks on our information or 
operational technology systems, including on 
third-party partners and suppliers (such as our 
cloud service providers). For example, a cyber 
attack could result in a failure of business-
critical technology systems at one or more 
of our assets, which may reduce operational 
productivity and/or adversely impact safety.

Examples of potential opportunities
–  Applying digital solutions across our 

operations and value chain may unlock 
greater productivity and safety performance. 
For example, using predictive analytics to 
enable operations to identify asset condition 
and efficiencies may improve safety, 
production and equipment availability, and 
reduce maintenance and other costs.

–  Technology solutions to reduce GHG 

emissions may support BHP, our suppliers 
and customers in achieving climate action 
targets. For example, BHP has become a 
founding partner of Komatsu’s GHG Alliance 
in the ongoing development of zero GHG 
emissions haul trucks.

–  Developing and applying artificial intelligence 

in mine planning, remote operation and 
advanced robotic technologies may identify 
or provide access to previously unknown or 
inaccessible deposits and development of 
end-to-end autonomous mining systems.

–  Using digital simulations and predictive trend 
modelling may enable us to optimise the 
deployment of new technologies, such as 
automation and electrification, support early 
identification of process variances and faults, 
and support the marketing of our products 
to customers.

Key management actions
–  Our assets, functions and projects are 

responsible for managing localised or project-
specific exposure to technology and cyber risks, 
including risks associated with business- critical 
technology systems. Enterprise-level risks that 
are specific to technology, such as those that 
pose a greater threat to our wider business and 
strategic opportunities, are generally managed 
by our global Technology team and other 
relevant stakeholders to support delivery of our 
technology strategy.

–  We collaborate with industry and research 

partners to develop technological solutions. 

–  Our Technology Risk Committee oversees 
the management and improvement of 
technology risks and controls, and supports the 
embedment of a sustainable risk culture in our 
Technology team.

–  We employ a number of measures designed 

to protect against, detect and respond to cyber 
events or attacks, including BHP’s mandatory 
minimum performance requirements for 
technology and cybersecurity, cybersecurity 
performance requirements for suppliers, 
cybersecurity resilience programs, an 
enterprise security framework and cybersecurity 
standards, cybersecurity risk and control 
guidance, security awareness programs and 
training to build capability, security assessments 
and continuous monitoring, restricted 
physical access to hardware and crisis 
management plans.

Examples of potential threats
–  Failing to prevent breaches of international 
standards, laws, regulations or other legal, 
regulatory, ethical, environmental, governance 
or compliance obligations, such as external 
misstatements, inaccurate financial or 
operational reporting or a breach of our 
continuous disclosure obligations. 

–  Corruption (for example, due to the acquisition 

of early-stage options in non-OECD 
countries), market conduct or anti-competitive 
behaviour, including in relation to our joint 
venture operations.

–  Failing to comply with trade or financial 

sanctions (which are complex and subject 
to rapid change and may potentially result 
in conflicting obligations), health, safety 
and environmental laws and regulations, 
native title and other land right or tax or 
royalty obligations.

–  Failing to protect our people from harm 

(including to mental and physical health) due 
to misconduct that takes place in connection 
with their work, such as discrimination or 
sexual harassment.

Examples of potential 
opportunities
–  Our capability to manage ethical misconduct 
risks may expand portfolio growth options by 
providing greater assurance that we can operate 
legally and ethically in high-risk jurisdictions.

–  Managing ethical misconduct risks in line 

with societal and stakeholder expectations 
may distinguish BHP from competitors and 
enhance our ability to raise capital, attract 
and retain talent, engage with governments 
and communities in new jurisdictions, obtain 
permits, partner with external organisations 
or suppliers, or market our products 
to customers.

–  Playing a leading role in the management 
of ethical misconduct risks, such as sexual 
harassment risks, may help BHP to increase 
ethical and behavioural standards across the 
resources industry.

FY2022 insights
As we continued to leverage technology 
and enable digital transformation in FY2022, 
our exposure to associated risks increased. 
In particular, a continued increase in the 
frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks 
against companies, as well as on supply chains 
and critical infrastructure (for example, cyber 
attacks affecting South Africa Transfer Port 
Terminals and the Toronto Transit Commission) 
highlighted the importance of our ongoing focus 
to strengthen management of cybersecurity 
risk across the Group. We continued to 
adopt digital technologies where appropriate, 
including through the use of greater automation 
at our operations.

For more information refer to  OFR 2.2.

Ethical misconduct 

Risks associated with actual or alleged 
deviation from societal or business expectations 
of ethical behaviour (including breaches of 
laws or regulations) and wider or cumulative 
organisational cultural failings, resulting in 
significant reputational impacts.

Why is this important to BHP? 
Actual or alleged conduct of BHP or our people 
or third-party partners that deviates from the 
standard of ethical behaviour expected of us 
could result in reputational damage or a breach of 
law or regulations. Such conduct includes fraud, 
corruption, anti-competitive behaviour, money 
laundering, breaching trade or financial sanctions, 
market manipulation, privacy breaches, ethical 
misconduct and wider organisational cultural 
failings. A failure to act ethically or legally may 
result in negative publicity, investigations, public 
inquiries, regulatory enforcement action, litigation 
or other civil or criminal proceedings, or increased 
regulation. It could also threaten the validity of 
our tenements or permits, or adversely impact 
our reputation, results of operations, financial 
performance or share price. Impacts may be 
amplified if our senior leaders fail to uphold BHP’s 
values or address actual or alleged misconduct 
in a way that is consistent with societal and 
stakeholder expectations. Our workplace culture 
may also be eroded, adversely affecting our 
ability to attract and retain talent. Risks and 
impacts are also heightened by the complex 
and continuously evolving legal and regulatory 
frameworks that apply to the jurisdictions where 
we operate and potentially conflicting obligations 
under different national laws.

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Annual Report 2022

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Key management actions
–  Setting the ‘tone from the top’ through Our 

Charter, which is central to our business and 
describes our purpose, values and how we 
measure success.

–  Implementing internal policies, standards, 

systems and processes for governance and 
compliance to support an appropriate culture 
and prioritise respectful behaviours at BHP, 
including:

–  Our Code of Conduct and BHP’s mandatory 
minimum performance requirements for 
business conduct, market disclosure and 
other matters

–  training on Our Code of Conduct and in 

relation to anti-corruption, market conduct 
and competition 

–  ring fencing protocols to separate potentially 

competing businesses within BHP 

–  governance and compliance processes, 

including classification of sensitive 
transactions, as well as accounting, 
procurement and other internal controls, and 
tailored monitoring of control effectiveness

–  oversight and engagement with high-risk 
areas by our Ethics and Investigations, 
Compliance and Internal Audit teams, and 
the Disclosure Committee

–  review and endorsement by our Compliance 
team of the highest-risk transactions, such 
as gifts and hospitality, engagement of 
third parties, community donations and 
sponsorships above defined thresholds

–  automated counterparty and transaction 

screening against lists of entities subject to 
trade sanctions

–  our EthicsPoint anonymous reporting 
service, supported by an ethics and 
investigations framework and central 
investigations team

–  our ‘Together we can stop sexual 

harassment’ campaign, launched across 
all our offices and sites in Australia, and 
‘Stop for Safety’ sessions held globally 
by our leaders to set expectations around 
racism, sexual harassment and other 
disrespectful behaviours

–  Continuing to enforce Our Code of Conduct 

via appropriate investigations and responses 
including disciplinary action, in addition to 
deployment of appropriate safety controls to 
prevent harm.

–  Requiring anti-corruption and human rights 
risks to be considered as part of our new 
country entry approval process.

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FY2022 insights
Our exposure to ethical misconduct risks 
increased in FY2022, including due to continued 
exploration of, and investment in, potential 
growth options in high-risk or less economically 
developed jurisdictions. Societal expectations 
regarding respectful behaviours in the workplace 
continued to grow. We continued to implement 
and improve controls designed to create a safe 
and respectful workplace and prevent sexual 
harassment from occurring. The ongoing conflict 
in Ukraine triggered the introduction of trade 
and financial sanctions by the United States, 
United Kingdom, European Union and other 
jurisdictions against Russia, underscoring 
the importance of continued management of 
associated risks across our global operations.

For more information refer to:
•   Our Charter and Our Code of Conduct
•  OFR 7.5 – Sexual harassment 
•   OFR 7.7 – Ethics and business conduct
•  Corporate Governance Statement

10  Performance 
by commodity
Management believes the following information 
presented by commodity provides a meaningful 
indication of the underlying financial and 
operating performance of the assets, including 
equity accounted investments, of each 
reportable segment. 

Information relating to assets that are accounted 
for as equity accounted investments is shown 
to reflect BHP’s share, unless otherwise noted, 
to provide insight into the drivers of these assets. 

For more information as to the 
statutory determination of our 
reportable segments, refer to Financial 
Statements note 1 ‘Segment reporting’.

Unit costs is one of our non-IFRS financial 
measures used to monitor the performance 
of our individual assets and is included in the 
analysis of each reportable segment. 

For the definition and method of 
calculation of our non-IFRS financial 
measures, including Underlying 
EBITDA and Unit costs, refer to OFR 11.

10.1  Copper
Detailed below is financial and operating 
information for our Copper assets comparing 
FY2022 to FY2021. 

Year ended 30 June 
US$M

Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Net operating assets
Capital expenditure
Total copper production (kt)
Average realised prices
Copper (US$/lb)

2022

16,849
8,565
27,420
2,528
1,574

2021

15,726
8,489
26,928
2,180
1,636

4.16

3.81

 Key drivers of Copper’s 
financial results

Price overview 
Our average realised sales price for FY2022 
was US$4.16 per pound (FY2021: US$3.81 per 
pound). Copper prices spent much of FY2022 
trading around historic highs, buoyed by 
robust demand, low visible inventories, delays 
to new copper projects and Russian supply 
risks. However, prices fell in two stages in the 
June quarter. The first decline was due to the 
demand impact of China’s COVID-19 lockdowns. 
The second was due to recession speculation in 
advanced economies. We believe mine supply 
and scrap collection will grow in the coming 
few years, covering near-term demand growth. 
Longer term, traditional end-use demand is 
expected to be solid, while broad exposure to the 
electrification megatrend offers attractive upside.

Production
Total Copper production for FY2022 decreased 
by 4 per cent to 1,574 kt.

Escondida copper production decreased by 6 
per cent to 1,004 kt primarily due to concentrator 
feed grade decline of 4 per cent, public road 
blockades affecting access to site for both 
workers and supplies, and the impact of a 
reduced operational workforce from COVID-19. 
Despite these challenges, Escondida achieved 
record material mined for FY2022 and near 
record concentrator throughput of 367 ktpd.

Pampa Norte copper production increased by 
29 per cent to 281 kt reflecting the ramp up of 
the Spence Growth Option (SGO), partially offset 
by the impact of lower cathode production as a 
result of a 14 per cent decline in Pampa Norte 
stacking feed grade. 

Olympic Dam copper production decreased by 
33 per cent to 138 kt as a result of the major 
smelter maintenance campaign (SCM21) 
completed in January 2022 which was delayed 
due to COVID-19 impacts on the availability of 
the workforce. Near record production in the 
June 2022 quarter followed the successful ramp 
up of the smelter to full capacity in April 2022. 
Average copper grade of 2.14 per cent was 
achieved in FY2022 as the majority of material 
mined is from the Southern Mine Area. 

Antamina copper production increased by 4 per 
cent to 150 kt, reflecting higher copper head 
grades. Zinc production decreased by 15 per 
cent to 123 kt reflecting lower zinc head grades.

Financial results 
Copper revenue increased by US$1.1 billion 
to US$16.8 billion in FY2022 due to higher 
average realised Copper prices offset by 
lower production.

Underlying EBITDA for Copper increased 
by US$76 million to US$8.6 billion. 
Price impacts, net of price-linked costs, 
increased Underlying EBITDA by US$1.0 billion. 
Lower volumes decreased Underlying EBITDA 
by US$652 million.

Outlook
Total Copper production of between 1,635 
and 1,825 kt is expected in FY2023. 
Escondida production of between 1,080 and 
1,180 kt is expected in FY2023, reflecting an 
expected increase in concentrator feed grade 
compared to FY2022. Production at Pampa 
Norte is expected to be between 240 and 
290 kt in FY2023, reflecting a forecast decline 
in stacking feed grade at Pampa Norte, the 
commencement of plant design modifications 
at SGO and the continued transition towards 
the planned closure of Cerro Colorado at the 
end of CY2023. At Olympic Dam, production 
is expected to be between 195 and 215 kt 
in FY2023. 

Antamina Copper production is expected 
between 120 and 140 kt in FY2023. 

Escondida unit costs in FY2023 are expected to 
be between US$1.25 and US$1.45 per pound 
(based on an exchange rate of USD/CLP 830). 
This largely reflects inflationary pressures, 
including expected further price increases for 
consumables, and planned higher costs to 
study the potential to increase optionality at 
Escondida longer term. In the medium term, unit 
cost guidance for Escondida has been revised 
to less than US$1.15 per pound from less than 
US$1.10 per pound (based on an exchange rate 
of USD/CLP 830), reflecting inflation, the impact 
of higher power consumption and increased 
water costs. 

Medium-term production guidance for Escondida 
of 1.2 Mtpa on average over the next five years 
remains unchanged. 

10.2  Iron Ore
Detailed below is financial and operating 
information for our Iron Ore assets comparing 
FY2022 to FY2021. 

Year ended 30 June 
US$M

Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Net operating assets
Capital expenditure
Total iron ore production (Mt)
Average realised prices
Iron ore (US$/wmt, FOB)

2022

30,767
21,707
16,823
1,848
253

2021

34,475
26,278
18,663
2,188
254

113.10

130.56

Controllable cash costs increased by 
US$107 million, due to higher costs at Escondida 
in line with record material mined and workforce 
bonus payments for renewal of a collective 
bargaining agreement, and also at Spence from 
a ramp up of concentrate volumes. In addition, 
controllable costs increased at both Escondida 
and Pampa Norte due to costs associated with 
the implementation of COVID-19 preventative 
measures (reported as an exceptional item in the 
prior year). This was partially offset by favourable 
inventory movements at Escondida and Spence 
as well as lower costs at Olympic Dam reflecting 
favourable inventory movements due to reduced 
operational activity during the major smelter 
maintenance campaign. In the prior year, costs 
benefited from a one-off gain from cancelled 
power contracts at Escondida and Spence.

Inflation and higher input prices for diesel, 
acid and consumables negatively impacted 
Underlying EBITDA by US$408 million and 
US$295 million respectively, partially offset by 
favourable foreign exchange rate movements 
of US$497 million. Equity accounted investment 
profits attributable to Antamina increased by 
US$97 million due to higher realised prices for 
both copper and zinc. 

Escondida unit costs increased by 20 per cent 
to US$1.20 per pound at realised exchange 
rates. This reflected strong cost discipline 
despite higher prices for consumables, 
workforce bonus payments following renewal 
of a new collective bargaining agreement 
and a one-off gain recorded in the prior year 
due to cancelled power contracts as part of 
Escondida’s transition to renewable electricity. 
Costs associated with a planned material 
mined increase of approximately 20 per cent, 
incremental costs associated with COVID-19 
preventative measures and lower by-product 
credits also contributed to higher unit costs. 
These increases were partially offset by lower 
power prices achieved by Escondida’s transition 
towards 100 per cent renewable electricity. 

The calculation of Escondida unit costs is set out 
in the table below.

Escondida unit costs  
(US$M)

Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Gross costs
Less: by-product credits
Less: freight
Net costs
Sales (kt)
Sales (Mlb)
Cost per pound (US$)1,2,3

FY2022

FY2021

9,500
6,198
3,302
430
230
2,642
1,001
2,206
1.20

9,470
6,483
2,987
478
162
2,347
1,066
2,350
1.00

1  FY2022 based on average exchange rates of USD/

CLP 811.

2   FY2022 includes COVID-19 related costs of 

US$0.02 per pound, which was reported as an 
exceptional item in FY2021 (FY2021: US$0.03 
per pound).

3  FY2021 includes a one off gain from the optimised 
outcome from renegotiation of cancelled power 
contracts of US$0.04 per pound.

 Key drivers of Iron Ore’s 
financial results

Price overview 
Iron Ore’s average realised sales price for 
FY2022 was US$113.10 per wet metric tonne 
(wmt) (FY2021: US$130.56 per wmt). The iron 
ore market was firm for much of the second 
half of FY2022, supported by resilient demand, 
constrained supply of competing scrap in China, 
and lower than expected seaborne supply 
from some low cost and swing suppliers. As a 
result, Chinese port stocks declined steadily for 
much of the period. Near the close of the year, 
weakening sentiment within the steel value 
chain fed back into lower prices for iron ore. 
Looking ahead, the key near-term uncertainties 
are the pace of steel end-use sector recovery 
in China, how the Chinese authorities will 
administer steel production cuts in the remainder 
of the CY2022, and the performance of 
seaborne supply. In the medium term, China’s 
demand for iron ore is expected to be lower than 
it is today as crude steel production plateaus, 
and the scrap-to-steel ratio rises. In the long 
term, prices are expected to be determined by 
high-cost production, on a value-in-use adjusted 
basis, from Australia or Brazil. It is imperative 
that we continue to compete on both quality and 
operational effectiveness.

Production 
Total Iron Ore production was in line with the 
prior period.

WAIO production of 249 Mt (283 Mt on a 
100 per cent basis) was in line with the prior 
period, reflecting continued strong supply chain 
performance and favourable weather compared to 
the prior period, offset by the impacts of temporary 
labour constraints relating to COVID-19, planned 
major maintenance including the Jimblebar train 
load out and car dumper one. Our preventative 
maintenance programs continue to underpin the 
strength of the WAIO supply chain, delivering 
increased car dumper, reclaimer and ship loader 
availability year on year and enabling record sales 
volumes of 284 Mt (100 per cent basis). 

South Flank ramp up to full production capacity 
of 80 Mtpa (100 per cent basis) is ahead of 
schedule with an average rate of 67Mtpa 
achieved in the June 2022 quarter contributing 
to record production from the Mining Area C hub 
and record lump sales. 

Samarco production of 4.1 Mt (BHP share) 
reflected the ramp up of production to capacity, 
following the recommencement of iron ore 
pellet production at one concentrator in 
December 2020. 

Financial results 
Total Iron Ore revenue decreased by 
US$3.7 billion to US$30.8 billion in FY2022 
reflecting lower average realised prices. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

75

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information10  Performance by commodity continued

Underlying EBITDA for Iron Ore decreased by 
US$4.6 billion to US$21.7 billion primarily due to 
lower average realised prices, net of price linked 
costs, of US$4.0 billion and higher operating 
cash costs of US$431 million. The higher cash 
costs are primarily a result of South Flank 
operational ramp up spend, increased rail 
maintenance, incremental costs associated with 
COVID-19 (mainly higher demurrage costs due 
to delays, reported as an exceptional item in the 
prior year) and inventory movements to support 
the supply chain. Other items such as inflation 
and higher fuel and energy costs negatively 
impacted Underlying EBITDA by US$392 million. 
This was partially offset by favourable foreign 
exchange rate impacts of US$332 million. 

WAIO unit costs increased by 13 per cent to 
US$16.81 per tonne at realised exchange 
rates. The increase in unit cost was mainly 
due to higher diesel prices, costs associated 
with the ramp up of South Flank, higher rail 
track maintenance costs, and costs associated 
with COVID-19 of approximately US$0.50 per 
tonne, which has been taken to unit costs in this 
period but reported as an exceptional item in 
the prior period. The cost increase was partially 
offset by the impact of favourable exchange 
rate movements. 

The calculation of WAIO unit costs is set out in 
the table below.

WAIO unit costs  
(US$M)

Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Gross costs
Less: freight1
Less: royalties
Net costs
Sales (kt, equity share)
Cost per tonne (US$)2,3

FY2022

FY2021

30,632
21,788
8,844
2,497
2,134
4,213
250,688
16.81

34,337
26,270
8,067
1,755
2,577
3,735
252,052
14.82

1  Year on year increase of freight costs driven by 

higher diesel prices and vessel demand increases 
from global supply chain pressures relating to 
COVID-19.

2  FY2022 based on an average realised exchange 

rate of AUD/USD 0.73.

3  FY2022 includes COVID-19 related costs of 

US$0.50 per tonne (including US$0.22 per tonne 
relating to operations and US$0.28 per tonne 
relating to demurrage). FY2021 excluded COVID-19 
related costs of US$0.51 per tonne (including 
US$0.25 per tonne relating to operations and 
US$0.26 per tonne relating to demurrage) that 
was reported as an exceptional item. In FY2021 
an additional US$0.12 per tonne relating to capital 
projects was also reported as an exceptional item.

Outlook
WAIO production for FY2023 is expected to 
increase to between 246 and 256 Mt (278 and 
290 Mt on a 100 per cent basis) reflecting the 
tie-in of the port debottlenecking project (PDP1) 
and the continued ramp up of South Flank. 

Samarco production of between 3 and 4 Mt 
(BHP share) is expected in FY2023. 

Unit costs in FY2023 are expected to be 
between US$18 and US$19 per tonne (based 
on an exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.72). 
In the medium term, unit costs have been 
revised to less than US$17 per tonne reflecting 
updated guidance exchange rates (based 
on an exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.72) and 
inflationary pressures, and our plan to creep 
production to greater than 300 Mtpa.

10.3  Coal
Detailed below is financial and operating 
information for our Coal assets comparing 
FY2022 to FY2021.

Year ended 30 June 
US$M

Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Net operating assets
Capital expenditure
Total metallurgical coal 
production (Mt)
Total energy coal production (Mt)
Average realised prices
Metallurgical coal (US$/t)
Hard coking coal (HCC)(US$/t)
Weak coking coal (WCC)(US$/t)
Thermal coal (US$/t)

2022

15,549
9,504
7,650
621

2021

5,154
288
7,512
579

37
18

41
19

347.10
366.82
296.51
216.78

106.64
112.72
89.62
58.42

 Key drivers of Coal’s 
financial results

Price overview

Metallurgical coal 

Our average realised sales price for FY2022 was 
US$366.82 per tonne for hard coking coal (HCC) 
(FY2021: US$112.72 per tonne) and US$296.51 
per tonne for weak coking coal (WCC) (FY2021: 
US$89.62 per tonne). Metallurgical coal 
prices surged to record highs in the second 
half of FY2022 on firm rest of world demand, 
uncertainty over Russia and multi-regional, multi-
causal supply disruptions. The deterioration 
in rest of world steelmaking profitability late in 
the June quarter saw prices descend from their 
extreme highs. The industry faces a difficult 
and uncertain period ahead. Natural trade flows 
are impaired, including uncertainty around 
China’s import policy and Russian coal supply. 
The regulatory environment has also become 
less conducive to long-life capital investment. 
Long term, we believe that a wholesale shift 
away from blast furnace steelmaking is still 
decades in the future. That assessment is based 
on our bottom-up analysis of likely regional steel 
decarbonisation pathways, as discussed in our 
Climate Transition Action Plan. Demand for 
seaborne Hard Coking Coals (HCC) is expected 
to expand alongside the growth of the steel 
industry in HCC importing countries such 
as India. 

Energy coal 

Our average realised sales price for FY2022 
was US$216.78 per tonne (FY2021: US$58.42 
per tonne). The Newcastle 6,000 kcal/kg price 
reached a record high in May 2022 due to 
very strong demand and constrained supply. 
Trade flow redirection from Asia to Europe due 
to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gas-to-
coal switching as LNG prices spiked upwards, 
and hot weather in major importing regions, 
all contributed to the swift run-up in pricing. 
Longer term, total primary energy derived 
from coal (power and non-power) is expected 
to be challenged, particularly under deep 
decarbonisation scenarios, where demand is 
expected to decline in absolute terms.

Production

Metallurgical coal

Metallurgical coal production consisted of BMA 
production and BMC production up to 3 May 
2022 when the divestment of our interest in 
BMC completed.

BMA production decreased by 9 per cent 
to 29 Mt (58 Mt on a 100 per cent basis). 
Record production at the Broadmeadow mine 
was more than offset by significant wet weather 
impacts across most BMA operations and 
labour constraints, including COVID-19 related 
absenteeism which impacted stripping and 
mine productivity.

BMC production decreased by 9 per cent to 8 Mt 
due to the divestment of our 80 per cent interest 
in BMC to Stanmore Resources Limited on 
3 May 2022.

Energy coal

Energy coal production consisted of NSWEC 
production and Cerrejón production up to 
11 January 2022 when the divestment of our 
interest in Cerrejón completed.

NSWEC production decreased by 4 per cent 
to 14 Mt, reflecting lower volumes due to an 
increased proportion of washed coal to capitalise 
on higher margins for higher-quality coals, 
COVID-19 related labour constraints which 
impacted stripping performance and mine 
productivity, and wet weather. Higher-quality 
coals made up almost 90 per cent of sales 
compared to approximately 60 per cent of sales 
in the prior year. 

Cerrejón production decreased by 15 per cent 
to 4 Mt due to the divestment of our interest on 
11 January 2022.

Financial results
Coal revenue increased by US$10.4 billion to 
US$15.5 billion in FY2022 mainly due to higher 
average realised prices.

Underlying EBITDA for Coal increased by 
US$9.2 billion to US$9.5 billion. Price impacts, 
net of price-linked costs, increased Underlying 
EBITDA by US$8.1 billion combined with the 
higher contribution of BMC of US$1.4 billion, 
mainly due to higher realised prices, prior to 
the divestment of our 80 per cent interest. 

76

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Lower volumes decreased Underlying EBITDA 
by US$341 million and other items such 
as inflation and fuel and energy costs also 
negatively impacted Underlying EBITDA by 
US$279 million. This was partially offset by 
favourable foreign exchange rate impacts of 
US$268 million.

BMA unit costs1 increased by 8 per cent to 
US$89 per tonne primarily due to lower volumes 
following significant wet weather impacts across 
most BMA operations and labour constraints, 
including COVID-19 related absenteeism which 
impacted stripping and mine productivity, and 
higher diesel and electricity prices. This was 
partially offset by cost reduction initiatives and 
favourable exchange rate movements. 

NSWEC unit costs increased by 10 per cent to 
US$71 per tonne reflecting lower volumes due 
to an increased proportion of washed coal to 
capitalise on higher margins for higher-quality 
coals and COVID-19 related labour constraints 
which impacted stripping performance and mine 
productivity combined with higher diesel and 
electricity prices. This was partially offset by cost 
reduction initiatives and favourable exchange 
rate movements. 

Outlook 
BMA coal production for FY2023 is expected to 
be between 29 and 32 Mt (58 and 64 Mt on a 
100 per cent basis).

NSWEC production for FY2023 is expected to 
be between 13 and 15 Mt reflecting a continued 
focus on higher-quality coals.

BMA unit costs in FY2023 are expected to be 
between US$90 and US$100 per tonne (based 
on an exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.72) as a 
result of continued higher diesel and electricity 
prices. We remain focused on cost reduction 
and productivity initiatives, however given the 
ongoing uncertainty regarding restrictions on 
coal imports into China and the announcement 
of the change to the Queensland royalty regime, 
we are unable to provide medium-term volume 
and unit cost guidance. We are seeking to 
preserve low-cost incremental growth optionality 
in our portfolio with a focus on higher-quality 
coking coals.

NSWEC unit costs in FY2023 are expected to be 
between US$76 and US$86 per tonne (based on 
an exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.72) reflecting 
inflationary pressures, higher port toll charges at 
the NCIG coal export terminal and a continued 
focus on higher-quality coals, offset by mine plan 
optimisation, productivity improvements and cost 
reduction initiatives. 

10.4  Other assets
Detailed below is an analysis of Other assets’ 
financial and operating performance comparing 
FY2022 to FY2021.

Nickel West

 Key drivers of Nickel West’s 
financial results

Price overview
Our average realised sales price for FY2022 
was US$23,275 per tonne (FY2021: US$16,250 
per tonne). The nickel market was in deficit 
across the 2021 calendar year and early 2022. 
Visible inventories were drawn down steeply, 
putting upward pressure on prices. These tight 
fundamentals emerged due to a combination 
of strong demand from conventional end-use 
sectors, rapid growth in the electric vehicle value 
chain, uncertainty over the actual and potential 
loss of supply from Russia, and constrained 
Class-1 supply in the 2021 calendar year. 
These forces culminated in a dramatic spike in 
LME prices in March 2022. Prices have since 
fallen back to levels before the Russian invasion 
of Ukraine due to recession fears, alongside 
other exchange-traded metals. Longer term, 
we believe nickel will be a core beneficiary of 
the electrification mega-trend and that nickel 
sulphides will be particularly attractive.

Production 
Nickel West production in FY2022 decreased by 
14 per cent to 77 kt due to the significant impacts 
of COVID-19 related labour absenteeism and 
workforce shortages, and unplanned downtime 
at the oxygen plant leading to a 15-day smelter 
outage in the June 2022 quarter. 

Financial results
Higher average realised sales prices resulted 
in revenue increasing by US$381 million to 
US$1.9 billion in FY2022. 

Nickel West’s Underlying EBITDA increased from 
US$259 million in FY2021 to US$420 million 
in FY2022, reflecting higher average realised 
prices and favourable exchange rate movements. 
This was partially offset by lower volumes mainly 
due to the significant impacts of COVID-19 
related labour absenteeism and workforce 
shortages, unplanned downtime at the oxygen 
plant leading to a 15-day smelter outage in the 
June 2022 quarter, and the adverse impacts 
of the stronger nickel price on third-party 
concentrate purchase costs. 

Outlook 
Nickel West production for FY2023 is expected 
to be between 80 and 90 kt, weighted to the 
second half of the year due to planned smelter 
maintenance in the first half.

Potash
Potash recorded an Underlying EBITDA loss 
of US$147 million in FY2022, and a loss of 
US$167 million in FY2021.

10.5  Impact of changes 
to commodity prices
The prices we obtain for our products are a key 
driver of value for BHP. Fluctuations in these 
commodity prices affect our results, including 
cash flows and asset values. The estimated 
impact of changes in commodity prices in FY2022 
on our key financial measures is set out below.

Impact on profit  
after taxation from 
Continuing operations 
(US$M)

Impact on 
Underlying 
EBITDA  
(US$M)

US¢1/lb on copper price
US$1/t on iron ore price
US$1/t on metallurgical coal price
US$1/t on energy coal price
US¢1/lb on nickel price

22
160
16
9
1

31
228
23
13
1

The calculation of BMA and NSWEC unit costs is set out in the table below:

US$M
Revenue
Underlying EBITDA
Gross costs
Less: freight
Less: royalties
Net costs
Sales (kt, equity share)
Cost per tonne (US$)2,3

BMA unit costs1

NSWEC unit costs

FY2022
10,254
6,335
3,919
50
1,282
2,587
29,049
89.06

FY2021
3,537
567
2,970
54
275
2,641
31,958
82.64

FY2022
3,034
1,807
1,227
 −
227
1,000
14,124
70.80

FY2021
839
(169)
1,008
 −
66
942
14,626
64.41

1  Queensland Coal unit costs no longer reported as the divestment of BHP’s 80 per cent interest in BMC 

to Stanmore Resources Limited was completed on 3 May 2022.

2  FY2022 based on an average realised exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.73.
3  FY2022 includes COVID-19 related costs of US$0.24 per tonne and US$0.57 per tonne, which was 

reported as an exceptional item in FY2021 (FY2021: US$0.98 and US$0.40 per tonne) relating to BMA 
and NSWEC respectively.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

77

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information11  Non-IFRS financial information

We use various non-IFRS financial information 
to reflect our underlying financial performance.

Non-IFRS financial information is not defined 
or specified under the requirements of IFRS, 
but is derived from the Group’s Consolidated 
Financial Statements prepared in accordance 
with IFRS. The non-IFRS financial information 
and the below reconciliations included in 
this document are unaudited. The non-IFRS 
financial information presented is consistent 
with how management review financial 
performance of the Group with the Board and 
the investment community.

Sections 1.1 and 1.2 outline why we believe 
non-IFRS financial information is useful and the 
calculation methodology. We believe non-IFRS 
financial information provides useful information, 
however should not be considered as an 
indication of, or as a substitute for, statutory 
measures as an indicator of actual operating 
performance (such as profit or net operating 
cash flow) or any other measure of financial 
performance or position presented in accordance 
with IFRS, or as a measure of a company’s 
profitability, liquidity or financial position.

Comparative periods have been adjusted for the 
effects of applying IFRS 5 ‘Non-current Assets 
Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations’ and 
discloses them on the same basis as the current 
period figures.

The following tables provide reconciliations 
between non-IFRS financial information and their 
nearest respective IFRS measure.

Exceptional items
To improve the comparability of underlying 
financial performance between reporting periods, 
some of our non-IFRS financial information 
adjusts the relevant IFRS measures for 
exceptional items. 

For more information on exceptional 
items refer to Financial Statements  
note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

Exceptional items are those gains or losses 
where their nature, including the expected 
frequency of the events giving rise to them, 
and impact is considered material to the 
Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements. 
The exceptional items included within the 
Group’s profit from Continuing and Discontinued 
operations for the financial years are 
detailed below.

Year ended 30 June

Continuing operations

Revenue

Other income

Expenses excluding net finance costs, depreciation, amortisation and impairments

Depreciation and amortisation

Net impairments

Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses

Profit/(loss) from operations 

Financial expenses

Financial income

Net finance costs

Profit/(loss) before taxation 

Income tax (expense)/benefit

Royalty-related taxation (net of income tax benefit)

Total taxation (expense)/benefit

Profit/(loss) after taxation from Continuing operations 

Discontinued operations

Profit/(loss) after taxation from Discontinued operations

Profit/(loss) after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations

Total exceptional items attributable to non-controlling interests

Total exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders

Exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders per share (US cents)
Weighted basic average number of shares (Million)

78

BHP

Annual Report 2022

2022 
US$M

2021 
US$M 
Restated

2020 
US$M 
Restated

 –

840

(494)

 −

 −

(676)

(330)

(290)

 −

(290)

(620)

(454)

 −

(454)

(1,074)

8,159

7,085

 −
7,085

140.0
5,061

 −

34

(545)

 −

(2,371)

(1,456)

(4,338)

(85)

 −

(85)

 −

489

(1,019)

 −

(409)

(508)

(1,447)

(93)

 −

(93)

(4,423)

(1,540)

(1,057)

 −

(1,057)

(5,480)

(317)

(5,797)

(24)

(5,773)

(114.2)
5,057

239

 −

239

(1,301)

(4)

(1,305)

(201)

(1,104)

(21.9)
5,057

Non-IFRS financial information derived from Consolidated Income Statement

Underlying attributable profit

Year ended 30 June

Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations attributable to BHP shareholders

Total exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders1

Underlying attributable profit

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

Underlying basic earnings per share

Year ended 30 June

Basic earnings per ordinary share 

Exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders per share1

Underlying basic earnings per ordinary share

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations

Year ended 30 June

Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations attributable to BHP shareholders

(Profit)/loss after taxation from Discontinued operations attributable to members of BHP
Total exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders1
Total exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders for Discontinued operations2

Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.
2  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’.

Underlying basic earnings per share – Continuing operations

Year ended 30 June

Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations

Weighted basic average number of shares (Million)

Underlying attributable earnings per ordinary share – Continuing operations (US cents)

Underlying EBITDA

Year ended 30 June

Profit from operations

Exceptional items included in profit from operations1

Underlying EBIT

Depreciation and amortisation expense

Net impairments

Exceptional item included in Depreciation, amortisation and impairments1

Underlying EBITDA

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

Underlying EBITDA – Segment

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Profit from operations 
Exceptional items included in profit from operations1
Depreciation and amortisation expense 
Net impairments 
Underlying EBITDA 

Copper

Iron Ore

6,249
81
1,765
470
8,565

18,823
648
2,203
33
21,707

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations2

(548)
450
953
3
858

Coal

9,582
(849)
762
9
9,504

2022 
US$M

30,900

(7,085)
23,815

2021 
US$M

11,304

5,773

17,077

2020 
US$M

7,956

1,104

9,060

2022 
US cents

2021 
US cents

2020 
US cents

610.6

(140.0)
470.6

223.5

114.2

337.7

157.3

21.9

179.2

2022 
US$M

30,900

(10,655)
(7,085)

8,159
21,319

2022 
US$M

21,319

5,061

421.2

2022 
US$M

34,106

330

34,436

5,683

515

–

40,634

2021 
US$M 
Restated

11,304

225
5,773

(317)

16,985

2021 
US$M 
Restated

16,985

5,057

335.9

2021 
US$M 
Restated

25,515

4,338

29,853

5,084

2,507

(2,371)

35,073

2020 
US$M 
Restated

7,956

(108)
1,104

(4)

8,948

2020 
US$M 
Restated

8,948

5,057

176.9

2020 
US$M 
Restated

13,683

1,447

15,130

4,667

482

(409)

19,870

Total 
Group

34,106
330
5,683
515
40,634

BHP

Annual Report 2022

79

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information11  Non-IFRS financial information continued

Year ended 30 June 2021 
US$M 
Restated

Profit from operations 
Exceptional items included in profit from operations1
Depreciation and amortisation expense 
Net impairments 
Exceptional item included in Depreciation, amortisation and impairments1
Underlying EBITDA 

Year ended 30 June 2020 
US$M 
Restated

Profit from operations 
Exceptional items included in profit from operations1
Depreciation and amortisation expense 
Net impairments 
Exceptional item included in Depreciation, amortisation and impairments1
Underlying EBITDA 

Copper

Iron Ore

6,665
144
1,608
72
 −
8,489

22,975
1,319
1,971
13
 −
26,278

Copper

Iron Ore

1,362
1,228
1,740
426
(409)
4,347

12,310
614
1,608
22
 −
14,554

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations2

(1,981)
1,308
660
1,345
(1,314)
18

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations2

(782)
(413)
512
20
 −
(663)

Coal

(2,144)
1,567
845
1,077
(1,057)
288

Coal

793
18
807
14
 −
1,632

Total 
Group

25,515
4,338
5,084
2,507
(2,371)
35,073

Total 
Group

13,683
1,447
4,667
482
(409)
19,870

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.
2  Group and unallocated items includes functions, other unallocated operations, including Potash, Nickel West, legacy assets, and consolidation adjustments.

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Potash 
Nickel West 
Corporate, legacy assets and eliminations 
Total 

Year ended 30 June 2021 
US$M 
Restated

Potash 
Nickel West 
Corporate, legacy assets and eliminations 
Total 

Year ended 30 June 2020 
US$M 
Restated

Potash 
Nickel West 
Corporate, legacy assets and eliminations 
Total 

Exceptional 
items included 
in profit from 
operations1

Profit from 
operations 

(149)
327
(726)
(548)

 –
 –
450
450

Depreciation and 
amortisation 

Net 
impairments 

2
91
860
953

 –
2
1
3

Exceptional 
items included 
in Depreciation, 
amortisation and 
impairments1

–
–
–
–

Underlying 
EBITDA

(147)
420
585
858

Exceptional 
items included 
in profit from 
operations1

1,320
3
(15)
1,308

Profit from 
operations 

(1,489)
146
(638)
(1,981)

Depreciation 
 and amortisation 

Net 
impairments 

2
79
579
660

1,314
31
 −
1,345

Exceptional 
items included 
in profit from 
operations1

 −
5
(418)
(413)

Profit from 
operations 

(130)
(113)
(539)
(782)

Depreciation 
 and amortisation 

Net 
impairments 

3
68
441
512

 −
3
17
20

Exceptional 
items included 
in Depreciation, 
amortisation and 
impairments1

(1,314)
 −
 −
(1,314)

Exceptional 
items included 
in Depreciation, 
amortisation and 
impairments1

 −
 −
 −
 −

Underlying 
EBITDA

(167)
259
(74)
18

Underlying 
EBITDA

(127)
(37)
(499)
(663)

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

80

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Underlying EBITDA margin

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Revenue – Group production
Revenue – Third-party products 
Revenue
Underlying EBITDA – Group production
Underlying EBITDA – Third-party products
Underlying EBITDA2
Segment contribution to the Group's Underlying EBITDA3
Underlying EBITDA margin4

Year ended 30 June 2021 
US$M 
Restated

Revenue – Group production
Revenue – Third-party products 
Revenue
Underlying EBITDA – Group production
Underlying EBITDA – Third-party products
Underlying EBITDA2
Segment contribution to the Group's Underlying EBITDA3
Underlying EBITDA margin4

Year ended 30 June 2020 
US$M 
Restated

Revenue – Group production
Revenue – Third-party products 
Revenue
Underlying EBITDA – Group production
Underlying EBITDA – Third-party products
Underlying EBITDA2
Segment contribution to the Group's Underlying EBITDA3
Underlying EBITDA margin4

Copper

Iron Ore

13,946
2,903
16,849
8,529
36
8,565
22%
61%

Copper

13,482
2,244
15,726
8,425
64
8,489
24%
62%

Copper

9,577
1,089
10,666
4,306
41
4,347
21%
45%

30,748
19
30,767
21,707
 −
21,707
54%
71%

Iron Ore

34,457
18
34,475
26,277
1
26,278
75%
76%

Iron Ore

20,782
15
20,797
14,561
(7)
14,554
71%
70%

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations1

1,860
73
1,933
858
 −
858

Group and 
unallocated 
items/
eliminations1

1,543
23
1,566
18
 −
18

Group and 
unallocated 
items/
eliminations1

1,191
28
1,219
(663)
 −
(663)

Coal

15,549
 −
15,549
9,504
 −
9,504
24%
61%

Coal

5,154
 −
5,154
288
 −
288
1%
6%

Coal

6,242
 −
6,242
1,632
 −
1,632
8%
26%

Total 
Group

62,103
2,995
65,098
40,598
36
40,634
100%
65%

Total 
Group

54,636
2,285
56,921
35,008
65
35,073
100%
64%

Total 
Group

37,792
1,132
38,924
19,836
34
19,870
100%
52%

1  Group and unallocated items includes functions, other unallocated operations, including Potash, Nickel West, legacy assets, and consolidation adjustments. Revenue not 
attributable to reportable segments comprises the sale of freight and fuel to third parties. Exploration and technology activities are recognised within relevant segments. 

2  We differentiate sales of our production from sales of third-party products to better measure the operational profitability of our operations as a percentage of revenue. 

These tables show the breakdown between our production and third-party products, which is necessary for the calculation of the Underlying EBITDA margin and margin on 
third-party products. 

  We engage in third-party trading for the following reasons:

–  Production variability and occasional shortfalls from our assets means that we sometimes source third-party materials to ensure a steady supply of product to our customers. 

–  To optimise our supply chain outcomes, we may buy physical product from third parties. 

–  To support the development of liquid markets, we will sometimes source third-party physical products and manage risk through both the physical and financial markets. 

3  Percentage contribution to Group Underlying EBITDA, excluding Group and unallocated items.
4  Underlying EBITDA margin excludes third-party products.

Effective tax rate

Year ended 30 June

Statutory effective tax rate
Adjusted for:
Exchange rate movements
Exceptional items1
Adjusted effective tax rate

2022

2021 
Restated

2020 
Restated

Profit before 
taxation 
US$M

Income 
tax expense 
US$M

Profit before 
taxation 
US$M

Income 
tax expense 
US$M

%

Profit before 
taxation 
US$M

Income 
tax expense 
US$M

%

%

33,137

(10,737)

32.4

24,292

(10,616)

43.7

12,825

(4,197)

32.7

 −
620
33,757

(233)
454
(10,516)

31.2

 −
4,423
28,715

(33)
1,057
(9,592)

33.4

 −
1,540
14,365

41
(239)
(4,395)

30.6

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

81

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information2021 
US$M 
Restated

2020 
US$M 
Restated

11  Non-IFRS financial information continued

Non-IFRS financial information derived from Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

Capital and exploration expenditure

Year ended 30 June

Capital expenditure (purchases of property, plant and equipment)
Add: Exploration expenditure
Capital and exploration expenditure (cash basis) – Continuing operations
Capital expenditure (purchases of property, plant and equipment) – Discontinued operations
Add: Exploration expenditure – Discontinued operations
Capital and exploration expenditure (cash basis) – Discontinued operations
Capital and exploration expenditure (cash basis) – Total operations

Free cash flow

Year ended 30 June

Net operating cash flows from Continuing operations

Net investing cash flows from Continuing operations
Free cash flow – Continuing operations
Net operating cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net investing cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents disposed on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Free cash flow – Discontinued operations
Free cash flow – Total operations

Non-IFRS financial information derived from Consolidated Balance Sheet

Net debt and gearing ratio

Year ended 30 June

Interest bearing liabilities – Current

Interest bearing liabilities – Non current
Total interest bearing liabilities 
Comprising:
Borrowing
Lease liabilities

Less: Lease liability associated with index-linked freight contracts
Less: Cash and cash equivalents 

Less: Net debt management related instruments1
Less: Net cash management related instruments2

Less: Total derivatives included in net debt
Net debt 
Net assets
Gearing

2022 
US$M

5,855
256
6,111
1,050
384
1,434
7,545

2022 
US$M

29,285

(4,973)
24,312
2,889
(904)
(683)
(399)
903
25,215

2022 
US$M

2,622

13,806
16,428

13,852
2,576
274
17,236
(1,688)
273
(1,415)
333
48,766
0.7%

5,612
192
5,804
994
322
1,316
7,120

2021 
US$M 
Restated

25,883

(6,325)
19,558
1,351
(1,520)
 −
 −
(169)
19,389

2021 
US$M

2,628

18,355
20,983

17,087
3,896
1,025
15,246
557
34
591
4,121
55,605
6.9%

1  Represents the net cross currency and interest rate swaps included within current and non-current other financial assets and liabilities.
2  Represents the net forward exchange contracts related to cash management included within current and non-current other financial assets and liabilities.

Net debt waterfall

Year ended 30 June

Net debt at the beginning of the period

Net operating cash flows
Net investing cash flows
Net financing cash flows

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents from Continuing and Discontinued operations
Carrying value of interest bearing liability net repayments
Carrying value of debt related instruments settlements/(proceeds)
Carrying value of cash management related instruments (proceeds)/settlements

Fair value adjustment on debt (including debt related instruments)
Foreign exchange impacts on cash (including cash management related instruments)
Lease additions
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations
Other

Non-cash movements
Net debt at the end of the period

82

BHP

Annual Report 2022

2022 
US$M

(4,121)
32,174
(6,959)
(22,767)
2,448
2,227
 −
(247)
5
27
(736)
492
(428)
(640)
(333)

5,991
176
6,167
909
564
1,473
7,640

2020 
US$M 
Restated

14,685

(6,583)
8,102
1,021
(1,033)
 −
 −
(12)
8,090

2020 
US$M

5,012

22,036
27,048

23,605
3,443
1,160
13,426
433
(15)
418
12,044
52,175
18.8%

2021 
US$M

(12,044)
27,234
(7,845)
(17,922)
1,467
7,433
(167)
403
58
(1)
(1,079)
 −
(191)
(1,213)
(4,121)

Net operating assets

The following table reconciles Net operating assets for the Group to Net assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. 

Year ended 30 June

Net assets
Less: Non-operating assets

Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables1
Other financial assets2
Current tax assets
Deferred tax assets
Assets held for sale
Petroleum Discontinued operations operating assets3

Add: Non-operating liabilities
Trade and other payables4
Interest bearing liabilities
Other financial liabilities5
Current tax payable
Non-current tax payable
Deferred tax liabilities
Liabilities directly associated with the assets held for sale
Petroleum Discontinued operations operating liabilities3

Net operating assets
Net operating assets
Copper
Iron Ore
Coal
Group and unallocated items6
Total

2022 
US$M

48,766

(17,236)
(72)
(1,363)
(263)
(56)
 −
 −

201
16,428
1,851
3,032
87
3,063
 −
 −
54,438

27,420
16,823
7,650
2,545
54,438

2021 
US$M 
Restated

55,605

(15,246)
(280)
(1,516)
(279)
(1,912)
(324)
(13,757)

227
20,983
588
2,800
120
3,314
17
5,684
56,024

26,928
18,663
7,512
2,921
56,024

1  Represents loans to associates, external finance receivable and accrued interest receivable included within other receivables.
2  Represents cross currency and interest rate swaps, forward exchange contracts related to cash management and investment in shares, other investments and 

receivables contingent on outcome of future events relating to mining and regulatory approvals.

3  Represents the Petroleum operating assets and operating liabilities as at 30 June 2021 that were merged with Woodside on 1 June 2022.
4  Represents accrued interest payable included within other payables.
5  Represents cross currency and interest rate swaps and forward exchange contracts related to cash management.
6  Group and unallocated items include functions, other unallocated operations including Potash, Nickel West, legacy assets, and consolidation adjustments.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

83

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information11  Non-IFRS financial information continued

Other non-IFRS financial information

Principal factors that affect Revenue, Profit from operations and Underlying EBITDA

The following table describes the impact of the principal factors that affected Revenue, Profit from operations and Underlying EBITDA for FY2022 and 
relates them back to our Consolidated Income Statement. For information on the method of calculation of the principal factors that affect Revenue, 
Profit from operations and Underlying EBITDA refer to OFR 11.2.

Revenue 
US$M

56,921

7,267
 −
7,267
(1,235)
 −
 −
 −
(3)
 −
 −
 −
 −
(3)
 −
1,482
666
 −
 −

65,098

Year ended 30 June 2021 (Restated)
Revenue
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Total other income, expenses excluding net finance costs and Loss from equity 
accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Profit from operations
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments1
Exceptional item included in Depreciation, amortisation and impairments
Exceptional items
Underlying EBITDA
Change in sales prices
Price-linked costs
Net price impact
Change in volumes
Operating cash costs
Exploration and business development
Change in controllable cash costs2
Exchange rates
Inflation on costs
Fuel, energy, and consumable price movements
Non-cash
One-off items
Change in other costs
Asset sales
Ceased and sold operations
Other
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments
Exceptional items
Year ended 30 June 2022
Revenue
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Total other income, expenses excluding net finance costs and Loss from equity 
accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Profit from operations
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments1
Exceptional item included in Depreciation, amortisation and impairments
Exceptional items 
Underlying EBITDA

Total expenses, 
Other income 
 and Loss from 
equity 
accounted 
investments 
US$M

Depreciation, 
amortisation 
and 
impairments 
and 
Exceptional 
Items 
US$M

Profit from 
operations 
US$M

Underlying 
EBITDA 
US$M

380
(30,871)
(915)

(31,406)

(673)
(1,047)
(1,720)
23
(473)
(67)
(540)
1,183
(867)
(660)
(3)
 −
(347)
2
186
(220)
(978)
4,008

1,398
(32,371)
(19)

(30,992)

25,515

6,594
(1,047)
5,547
(1,212)
(473)
(67)
(540)
1,180
(867)
(660)
(3)
 −
(350)
2
1,668
446
(978)
4,008

34,106

7,591
(2,371)
4,338

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
978
(4,008)

6,198
 −
330

35,073
6,594
(1,047)
5,547
(1,212)
(473)
(67)
(540)
1,180
(867)
(660)
(3)
 −
(350)
2
1,668
446
 −
 −

40,634

1  Depreciation and impairments that we classify as exceptional items are excluded from depreciation, amortisation and impairments. Depreciation, amortisation and 

impairments includes non-exceptional impairments of US$515 million (FY2021: US$136 million).

2  Collectively, we refer to the change in operating cash costs and change in exploration and business development as Change in controllable cash costs. Operating cash costs 
by definition do not include non-cash costs. The change in operating cash costs also excludes the impact of exchange rates and inflation, changes in fuel, energy costs 
and consumable costs, changes in exploration and business development costs and one-off items. These items are excluded so as to provide a consistent measurement 
of changes in costs across all segments, based on the factors that are within the control and responsibility of the segment. 

84

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Underlying return on capital employed (ROCE)

Year ended 30 June

Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations
Exceptional items1
Subtotal
Adjusted for:
Net finance costs
Exceptional items included within net finance costs1
Income tax expense on net finance costs
Profit after taxation excluding net finance costs and exceptional items

Net assets at the beginning of the period
Net debt at the beginning of the period
Capital employed at the beginning of the period
Net assets at the end of the period
Net debt at the end of the period
Capital employed at the end of the period
Average capital employed

2022 
US$M

33,055

(7,085)
25,970

1,128
(290)
(287)
26,521

55,605
4,121
59,726
48,766
333
49,099
54,413

2021 
US$M

13,451

5,797
19,248

1,305
(85)
(337)
20,131

52,175
12,044
64,219
55,605
4,121
59,726
61,973

2020 
US$M

8,736

1,305
10,041

911
(93)
(267)
10,592

51,753
9,446
61,199
52,175
12,044
64,219
62,709

Underlying return on capital employed

48.7%

32.5%

16.9%

1  For more information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

Underlying return on capital employed (ROCE) by segment

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Profit after taxation excluding net finance costs and 
exceptional items
Average capital employed
Underlying return on capital employed

Year ended 30 June 2021 
US$M 
Restated

Profit after taxation excluding net finance costs and 
exceptional items
Average capital employed
Underlying return on capital employed

Copper

Iron Ore

Coal

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations1

Total 
Continuing

Petroleum 
Discontinued 
operations

3,981
24,310
16%

13,896
15,275
91%

6,293
6,893
91%

(256)
3,196
 −

23,914
49,674
48.1%

2,607
4,739
 −

Copper

Iron Ore

Coal

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations1

Total 
Continuing

Petroleum 
Discontinued 
operations

4,191
23,710
18%

16,640
16,042
104%

(454)
8,262
(5%)

(395)
4,470
 –

19,982
52,484
38.1%

149
9,489
1.6%

Total 
Group

26,521
54,413
48.7%

Total 
Group

20,131
61,973
32.5%

1  Group and unallocated items includes functions, other unallocated operations including Potash, Nickel West, legacy assets and consolidation adjustments.

Underlying return on capital employed (ROCE) by asset

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Profit after taxation 
excluding net finance costs 
and exceptional items
Average capital employed
Underlying return on 
capital employed

Western 
Australia 
Iron Ore

BHP 
Mitsubishi 

Nickel 

Alliance Antamina

West Escondida

Pampa 
Norte

New 
South 
Wales 
Energy 

Olympic 

Dam Potash

Coal1 Other

Total 
Continuing

Petroleum 
Discontinued 
operations

Total 
Group

14,051
18,783

4,153
6,725

684
1,284

250
650

3,346
9,891

81
4,380

(9)
8,660

(123)
3,321

1,309
(413)

172
(3,607)

23,914
49,674

2,607 26,521
4,739 54,413

75%

62%

53% 38%

34%

2%

(0)%

(4)%

 −

 −

48.1%

 −

48.7%

Year ended 30 June 2021 
US$M 
Restated

Western 
Australia 
Iron Ore

BHP 
Mitsubishi 

Alliance Antamina

Nickel 
West Escondida

Pampa 
Norte

New 
South 
Wales 
Energy 

Olympic 

Dam Potash

Coal Other

Total 
Continuing

Petroleum 
Discontinued 
operations

Total 
Group

Profit after taxation 
excluding net finance costs 
and exceptional items
Average capital employed
Underlying return on 
capital employed

16,665
18,661

(13)
6,796

593
1,353

136
295

3,281
10,353

302
3,760

214
8,021

5
3,710

(203)
269

(998)
(734)

19,982
52,484

149 20,131
9,489 61,973

89%

(0%)

44%

46%

32%

8%

3%

0%

(75%)

 −

38.1%

1.6% 32.5%

1  NSWEC has not been shown as ROCE is distorted by negative capital employed due to the rehabilitation provision being the primary balance remaining on Balance Sheet 

following previous impairments.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

85

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information11.1  Definition and calculation of non-IFRS financial information

Non-IFRS financial 
information

Underlying attributable 
profit

Reasons why we believe the non-IFRS financial information 
are useful
Allows the comparability of underlying financial performance 
by excluding the impacts of exceptional items.

Underlying attributable 
profit – Continuing 
operations

Underlying basic earnings 
per share
Underlying basic earnings 
per share – Continuing 
operations

Underlying EBITDA

Allows the comparability of underlying financial performance 
by excluding the impacts of exceptional items and the 
contribution of Discontinued operations and is also the basis 
on which our dividend payout ratio policy is applied.

On a per share basis, allows the comparability of underlying 
financial performance by excluding the impacts of 
exceptional items.

On a per share basis, allows the comparability of underlying 
financial performance by excluding the impacts of exceptional 
items and the contribution of Discontinued operations.
Used to help assess current operational profitability excluding 
the impacts of sunk costs (i.e. depreciation from initial 
investment). Each is a measure that management uses 
internally to assess the performance of the Group’s segments 
and make decisions on the allocation of resources.

Underlying EBITDA 
margin
Underlying EBIT

Profit from operations

Capital and exploration 
expenditure

Capital and exploration 
expenditure – Continuing 
operations

Free cash flow
Free cash flow – 
Continuing operations

Net debt

Gearing ratio

Net operating assets

Used to help assess current operational profitability excluding 
net finance costs and taxation expense (each of which 
are managed at the Group level) as well as Discontinued 
operations and any exceptional items.

Used as part of our Capital Allocation Framework to assess 
efficient deployment of capital. Represents the total outflows 
of our operational investing expenditure.

Represents the total outflows of our operational investing 
expenditure excluding the contribution of Discontinued 
operations.
It is a key measure used as part of our Capital Allocation 
Framework. Reflects our operational cash performance 
inclusive of investment expenditure, which helps to highlight 
how much cash was generated in the period to be available 
for the servicing of debt and distribution to shareholders. 

Reflects our operational cash performance inclusive of 
investment expenditure, but excluding the contribution of 
Discontinued operations.
Net debt shows the position of gross debt less index-linked 
freight contracts offset by cash immediately available to 
pay debt if required and any associated derivative financial 
instruments. Liability associated with index-linked freight 
contracts, which are required to be remeasured to the 
prevailing freight index at each reporting date, are excluded 
from the net debt calculation due to the short-term volatility 
of the index they relate to not aligning with how the Group 
uses net debt for decision making in relation to the Capital 
Allocation Framework. Net debt includes the fair value of 
derivative financial instruments used to hedge cash and 
borrowings to reflect the Group’s risk management strategy 
of reducing the volatility of net debt caused by fluctuations in 
foreign exchange and interest rates.

Net debt, along with the gearing ratio, is used to monitor the 
Group’s capital management by relating net debt relative to 
equity from shareholders.
Enables a clearer view of the assets deployed to generate 
earnings by highlighting the net operating assets of the 
business separate from the financing and tax balances. 
This measure helps provide an indicator of the underlying 
performance of our assets and enhances comparability 
between them.

86

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Calculation methodology
Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued 
operations attributable to BHP shareholders excluding any 
exceptional items attributable to BHP shareholders.
Underlying attributable profit from Continuing operations also 
excludes the contribution of Discontinued operations from the 
above metrics.

Underlying attributable profit divided by the weighted basic 
average number of shares.
Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations divided by 
the weighted basic average number of shares.

Earnings before net finance costs, depreciation, amortisation 
and impairments, taxation expense, Discontinued operations 
and exceptional items. Underlying EBITDA includes BHP’s 
share of profit/(loss) from investments accounted for using 
the equity method including net finance costs, depreciation, 
amortisation and impairments and taxation expense/(benefit).
Underlying EBITDA excluding third-party product EBITDA, 
divided by revenue excluding third-party product revenue.
Earnings before net finance costs, taxation expense, 
Discontinued operations and any exceptional items. Underlying 
EBIT includes BHP’s share of profit/(loss) from investments 
accounted for using the equity method including net finance 
costs and taxation expense/(benefit).
Earnings before net finance costs, taxation expense and 
Discontinued operations. Profit from operations includes 
Revenue, Other income, Expenses excluding net finance costs 
and BHP’s share of profit/(loss) from investments accounted for 
using the equity method including net finance costs and taxation 
expense/(benefit).
Purchases of property, plant and equipment and exploration 
expenditure including the contribution of Discontinued 
operations.
Purchases of property, plant and equipment and exploration 
expenditure.

Net operating cash flows less net investing cash flows.
Net operating cash flows from Continuing operations less net 
investing cash flows from Continuing operations.

Interest bearing liabilities less liability associated with index-
linked freight contracts less cash and cash equivalents 
less net cross currency and interest rate swaps less net 
cash management related instruments for the Group at the 
reporting date.
Ratio of Net debt to Net debt plus Net assets.

Operating assets net of operating liabilities, including 
the carrying value of equity accounted investments and 
predominantly excludes cash balances, loans to associates, 
interest bearing liabilities, derivatives hedging our net debt, 
assets held for sale, liabilities directly associated with assets 
held for sale and tax balances.

Non-IFRS financial 
information

Reasons why we believe the non-IFRS financial information 
are useful

Calculation methodology

Underlying return on 
capital employed (ROCE)

Indicator of the Group’s capital efficiency and is provided 
on an underlying basis to allow comparability of underlying 
financial performance by excluding the impacts of 
exceptional items.

Adjusted effective tax rate Provides an underlying tax basis to allow comparability 

of underlying financial performance by excluding the impacts 
of exceptional items.

Unit cost

Used to assess the controllable financial performance of the 
Group’s assets for each unit of production. Unit costs are 
adjusted for site specific non controllable factors to enhance 
comparability between the Group’s assets. 

Profit after taxation excluding exceptional items and net finance 
costs (after taxation) divided by average capital employed. 

Profit after taxation excluding exceptional items and net finance 
costs (after taxation) is profit after taxation from Continuing 
and Discontinued operations excluding exceptional items, net 
finance costs and the estimated taxation impact of net finance 
costs. These are annualised for a half year end reporting period. 

The estimated tax impact is calculated using a prima facie 
taxation rate on net finance costs (excluding any foreign 
exchange impact). 

Average capital employed is calculated as the average of net 
assets less net debt for the last two reporting periods.
Total taxation expense/(benefit) excluding exceptional items 
and exchange rate movements included in taxation expense/
(benefit) divided by Profit before taxation from Continuing 
operations excluding exceptional items.
Ratio of net costs of the assets to the equity share of sales 
tonnage. Net costs is defined as revenue less Underlying 
EBITDA and excludes freight and other costs, depending on the 
nature of each asset. Freight is excluded as the Group believes 
it provides a similar basis of comparison to our peer group.

Escondida unit costs exclude: 

–  by-product credits being the favourable impact of by-products 
(such as gold or silver) to determine the directly attributable 
costs of copper production.

WAIO, BMA and NSWEC unit costs exclude:

–  royalties as these are costs that are not deemed to be 

under the Group’s control, and the Group believes exclusion 
provides a similar basis of comparison to our peer group.

11.2  Definition and calculation of principal factors
The method of calculation of the principal factors that affect the period on period movements of Revenue, Profit from operations and Underlying EBITDA 
are as follows:

Principal factor 

Change in sales prices

Price-linked costs

Change in volumes
Controllable cash costs
Operating cash costs

Exploration and business 
development
Exchange rates
Inflation on costs

Fuel, energy, and consumable 
price movements
Non-cash
One-off items

Asset sales

Ceased and sold operations

Share of profit/(loss) from equity 
accounted investments
Other

Method of calculation
Change in average realised price for each operation from the prior period to the current period, multiplied by current 
period sales volumes.

Change in price-linked costs (mainly royalties) for each operation from the prior period to the current period, multiplied 
by current period sales volumes.
Change in sales volumes for each operation multiplied by the prior year average realised price less variable unit cost. 
Total of operating cash costs and exploration and business development costs. 
Change in total costs, other than price-linked costs, exchange rates, inflation on costs, fuel, energy, and consumable 
price movements, non-cash costs and one-off items as defined below for each operation from the prior period to the 
current period.
Exploration and business development expense in the current period minus exploration and business development 
expense in the prior period.
Change in exchange rate multiplied by current period local currency revenue and expenses.
Change in inflation rate applied to expenses with contractual links to inflation indexes, other than depreciation and 
amortisation, price-linked costs, exploration and business development expenses, expenses in ceased and sold 
operations and expenses in new and acquired operations.
Fuel and energy expense and price differences above inflation on consumables in the current period minus fuel and 
energy expense in the prior period.
Change in net impact of capitalisation and depletion of deferred stripping from the prior period to the current period.
Change in costs exceeding a pre-determined threshold associated with an unexpected event that had not occurred in 
the last two years and is not reasonably likely to occur within the next two years.
Profit/(loss) on the sale of assets or operations in the current period minus profit/(loss) on sale of assets or operations 
in the prior period.
Underlying EBITDA for operations that ceased or were sold in the current period minus Underlying EBITDA for 
operations that ceased or were sold in the prior period.
Share of profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments for the current period minus share of profit/(loss) from equity 
accounted investments in the prior period.
Variances not explained by the above factors.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

87

Operating and Financial ReviewGovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional Information12  Other information
12.1 Company details 
BHP Group Limited’s registered office and 
global headquarters are at 171 Collins Street, 
Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. ‘BHP’, 
the ‘Company’, the ‘Group’, ‘our business’, 
‘organisation’, ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ and ‘ourselves’ 
refer to BHP Group Limited, and except 
where the context otherwise requires, our 
subsidiaries. Refer to Financial Statements 
note 28 ‘Subsidiaries’ for a list of our significant 
subsidiaries. Those terms do not include non-
operated assets. 

This Report covers functions and assets 
(including those under exploration, projects 
in development or execution phases, sites 
and closed operations) that have been wholly 
owned and/or operated by BHP or that have 
been owned as a BHP-operated joint venture1 
operated by BHP (referred to in this Report 
as ‘operated assets’ or ‘operations’) from 
1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. BHP also holds 
interests in assets that are owned as a joint 
venture but not operated by BHP (referred to 
in this Report as ‘non-operated joint ventures’ 
or ‘non-operated assets’). Notwithstanding that 
this Report may include production, financial 
and other information from non-operated assets, 
non-operated assets are not included in the BHP 
Group and, as a result, statements regarding our 
operations, assets and values apply only to our 
operated assets unless stated otherwise.

On 31 January 2022, we unified our company 
structure under BHP Group Limited, with a 
primary listing on the Australian Securities 
Exchange. BHP holds a standard listing on the 
London Stock Exchange, a secondary listing on 
the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and an ADR 
program listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

12.2 Forward looking statements
This Report contains forward-looking 
statements, including: statements regarding 
trends in commodity prices and currency 
exchange rates; demand for commodities; 
reserves and resources and production 
forecasts; expectations, plans, strategies and 
objectives of management; climate scenarios; 
approval of certain projects and consummation 
of certain transactions; closure or divestment of 
certain assets, operations or facilities (including 
associated costs); anticipated production or 
construction commencement dates; capital costs 
and scheduling; operating costs and supply of 
materials and skilled employees; anticipated 
productive lives of projects, mines and facilities; 
provisions and contingent liabilities; and tax and 
regulatory developments.

Forward-looking statements may be identified by 
the use of terminology including, but not limited 
to, ‘intend’, ‘aim’, ‘ambition’, ‘aspiration’, ‘goal’, 
‘target’, ‘project’, ‘see’, ‘anticipate’, ‘estimate’, 
‘plan’, ‘objective’, ‘believe’, ‘expect’, ‘commit’, 
‘may’, ‘should’, ‘need’, ‘must’, ‘will’, ‘would’, 
‘continue’, ‘forecast’, ‘guidance’, ‘trend’ or 
similar words. These statements discuss future 
expectations concerning the results of assets or 

financial conditions, or provide other forward-
looking information.

Examples of forward-looking statements 
contained in this Report include, without limitation, 
statements describing (i) our strategy, our 
values and how we define our success; (ii) our 
expectations regarding future demand for certain 
commodities, in particular copper, nickel, iron 
ore, metallurgical coal, steel and potash, and our 
intentions, commitments or expectations with 
respect to our supply of certain commodities, 
including copper, nickel, iron ore and potash; (iii) 
our future exploration and partnership plans and 
perceived benefits and opportunities, including 
our focus to grow our copper and nickel assets; 
(iv) the structure of our organisation and portfolio 
and perceived benefits and opportunities; (v) 
our outlook for long-term economic growth 
and other macroeconomic and industry trends; 
(vi) our projected and expected production 
and performance levels and development 
projects; (vii) our expectations regarding our 
investments, including in potential growth options 
and technology and innovation, and perceived 
benefits and opportunities; (viii) our reserves and 
resources; (ix) our plans for our major projects and 
related budget allocations; (x) our expectations, 
commitments and objectives with respect to 
sustainability, decarbonisation, natural resource 
management, climate change and portfolio 
resilience and timelines and plans to seek to 
achieve or implement such objectives, including 
our new 2030 ‘People, Planet and Prosperity’ 
goals, our approach to equitable change and 
transitions, our Climate Transition Action Plan, 
Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and goals, 
targets and strategies to seek to reduce or support 
the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, 
and related perceived costs, benefits and 
opportunities for BHP; (xi) the assumptions, beliefs 
and conclusions in our climate change related 
statements and strategies, including in our Climate 
Change Report 2020, for example, in respect of 
future temperatures, energy consumption and 
greenhouse gas emissions, and climate-related 
impacts; (xii) our commitment to social value; 
(xiii) our commitments to sustainability reporting, 
frameworks, standards and initiatives; (xiv) our 
commitments to improve or maintain safe tailings 
storage management; (xv) our commitments to 
achieve certain inclusion and diversity targets, 
aspirations and outcomes; (xvi) our commitments 
to achieve certain targets and outcomes 
with respect to Indigenous peoples and the 
communities in which we operate; and (xvii) our 
commitments to achieve certain health and safety 
targets and outcomes. 

Forward-looking statements are based on 
management’s current expectations and reflect 
judgments, assumptions, estimates and other 
information available as at the date of this Report 
and/or the date of BHP’s planning or scenario 
analysis processes. These statements do not 
represent guarantees or predictions of future 
financial or operational performance and involve 
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other 
factors, many of which are beyond our control and 
which may cause actual results to differ materially 

1  References in this Annual Report to a ‘joint venture’ are used for convenience to collectively describe assets that 
are not wholly owned by BHP. Such references are not intended to characterise the legal relationship between 
the owners of the asset.

88

BHP

Annual Report 2022

from those expressed in the statements contained 
in this Report. BHP cautions against reliance 
on any forward-looking statements or guidance, 
including in light of the current economic climate 
and the significant volatility, uncertainty and 
disruption arising in connection with the Ukrainian 
conflict and COVID-19. For example, our future 
revenues from our assets, projects or mines 
described in this Report will be based, in part, 
on the market price of the minerals or metals 
produced, which may vary significantly from 
current levels. These variations, if materially 
adverse, may affect the timing or the feasibility 
of the development of a particular project, the 
expansion of certain facilities or mines, or the 
continuation of existing assets.

Other factors that may affect the actual 
construction or production commencement 
dates, revenues, costs or production output and 
anticipated lives of assets, mines or facilities 
include: (i) our ability to profitably produce and 
transport the minerals and/or metals extracted 
to applicable markets; (ii) the impact of foreign 
currency exchange rates on the market prices of 
the minerals or metals we produce; (iii) activities 
of government authorities in the countries where 
we sell our products and in the countries where 
we are exploring or developing projects, facilities 
or mines, including increases in taxes; (iv) changes 
in environmental and other regulations; (v) the 
duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic 
and its impact on our business; (vi) political or 
geopolitical uncertainty; (viii) labour unrest; and 
(viii) other factors identified in the risk factors set 
out in Operating and Financial Review 9.1.

Except as required by applicable regulations or by 
law, BHP does not undertake to publicly update or 
review any forward-looking statements, whether 
as a result of new information or future events. 
Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide 
to future performance.

Emissions and energy 
consumption data 
Due to the inherent uncertainty and limitations 
in measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
and operational energy consumption under 
the calculation methodologies used in the 
preparation of such data, all GHG emissions 
and operational energy consumption data or 
references to GHG emissions and operational 
energy consumption volumes (including ratios 
or percentages) in this Report are estimates. 
There may also be differences in the manner 
that third parties calculate or report GHG 
emissions or operational energy consumption 
data compared to BHP, which means that third-
party data may not be comparable to our data. 
For information on how we calculate our GHG 
emissions and operational energy consumption 
data, see our Methodology tab in our ESG 
Standards and Databook.

This Report is made in accordance with 
a resolution of the Board.

Ken MacKenzie  
Chair

16 August 2022

Governance

Corporate Governance Statement
Corporate governance at BHP
1
FY2022 corporate governance highlights
2
BHP’s governance structure
3
Board of Directors
4
Overview of the Board
4.1
Director independence
4.2
Board appointments and succession planning
4.3
Director induction, training and development
4.4
Director skills, experience and attributes
4.5
Board evaluation
4.6
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

Board Committees
Nomination and Governance Committee
Risk and Audit Committee
Sustainability Committee
Remuneration Committee

Directors’ Report
1

Review of operations, principal activities  
and state of affairs
Directors
Biographical details
Director attendances at meetings

2
2.1
2.2

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Share capital and buy-back programs
Share interests
Secretaries
Indemnities and insurance
Dividends
Auditors
Non-audit services
Exploration, research and development
ASIC Instrument 2016/191
Proceedings on behalf of BHP Group Limited
Performance in relation to environmental regulation
Additional information

Operating 
and Financial 
Review

Governance

Financial 
Statements

Additional 
Information

6
6.1
6.2
6.3
7
7.1
7.2
8
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
9
10
11

Management 
Executive Leadership Team
Senior management succession
Performance evaluation of executives

Risk management and assurance
Risk management governance structure
External audit and financial reporting

Culture and conduct
Our Code of Conduct and Our Charter
Culture
BHP’s EthicsPoint
Diversity 

Shareholder and stakeholder engagement
Market disclosure
US requirements

Remuneration Report
Remuneration Committee Chair letter to shareholders
1
2
3
4
5

Remuneration governance
Remuneration framework
Remuneration for the CEO and other Executive KMP
Remuneration for Non-executive Directors
Statutory KMP remuneration and other disclosures

96
96
97
97

97
97
97

98
98
99
99
99

99
100
100

107
109
110
113
119
121

90
90
90
91
91
92
92
92
93
93

94
94
94
95
95

101

101
101
103

103
104
104
104
104
104
104
105
105
105
105
105

BHP

Annual Report 2022

89

Corporate Governance Statement

1.  Corporate 
governance at BHP
Good corporate governance underpins the way 
we conduct business.

We are committed to the highest level of 
governance and strive to foster a culture that values 
and rewards exemplary ethical standards, personal 
and corporate integrity and respect for others.

This Corporate Governance Statement sets out 
the corporate governance framework currently 
in place for the Group, including the key policies 
and practices. 

These arrangements are consistent with:

–  the fourth edition of the ASX Corporate 
Governance Council’s Principles and 
Recommendations (ASX Fourth Edition); and

–  the governance requirements that apply 
to us as a result of our London Stock 
Exchange and New York Stock Exchange 
(NYSE) listings and our registration with the 
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in 
the United States. 

The ASX Fourth Edition (available at asx.com.au) 
requires the Board to consider the application of 
the relevant corporate governance principles, while 

recognising departures from those principles are 
appropriate in some circumstances. 

The Board considers that during FY2022, it 
complied with the ASX Fourth Edition, with 
no exceptions. 

This Corporate Governance Statement is current 
as at 2 September 2022 and has been approved 
by the Board. 

More information about our corporate governance 
framework and practices can be accessed on our 
website at bhp.com/governance, which includes 
links to our Appendix 4G and each of the publicly 
available documents referenced in this Corporate 
Governance Statement.

2.  FY2022 corporate governance highlights

Key highlights

Board composition and succession
We continued to apply a robust approach to Board renewal and focus on 
succession planning. As part of this process, we are delighted to have 
appointed Michelle Hinchliffe and Catherine Tanna to our Board during FY2022. 
Malcolm Broomhead and John Mogford have announced their retirement at 
the conclusion of the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and we thank both 
Malcolm and John for their commitment to our ongoing success.

Unification
We unified our Dual Listed Company structure to make us more agile and efficient. 

Following unification, we have reviewed and updated key corporate governance 
policies including the Board Governance Document and Committee Terms 
of Reference, Independence of Directors Policy, Market Disclosure and 
Communications Policy and Securities Dealing Policy to reflect our new corporate 
structure and current best governance practice.

Diversity
Our aspiration is to achieve gender balance (which we define as a minimum 40 
per cent women and 40 per cent men in line with the definition used by entities 
such as the International Labour Organization) on our Board. Currently 33 per 
cent of our Directors are female and following Malcolm Broomhead and John 
Mogford’s retirement from the Board after the 2022 AGM, this will be 40 per cent.

We continue to consider other aspects of diversity as part of our ongoing 
Board succession planning.

Update of Board skills matrix
We refreshed our Board skills matrix to reflect our current purpose and strategy. 
An external expert completed an assessment of each Director against the 
updated matrix.

3.  BHP’s governance 
structure
The Board has ultimate responsibility for 
overseeing BHP’s governance. The role of the 
Board, as set out in the Board Governance 
Document, is to represent shareholders and 
promote and protect the interests of BHP in the 
short and long term. The Board considers the 
interests of the Group’s shareholders as a whole 
and the interests of other relevant stakeholders 
where appropriate. 

The Chair is responsible for leading the Board 
and ensuring it operates to high governance 
standards. In particular, the Chair facilitates 
constructive Board relations and the effective 
contribution of all Non-executive Directors.

Governance structure

The Group Company Secretary is accountable 
to the Board and advises the Chair, the Board 
and individual Directors on all matters of 
governance process. 

The Board has established Committees to 
assist it in exercising its authority, including 
monitoring the performance of BHP to gain 
assurance that progress is being made towards 
our purpose within the limits imposed by the 
Board. These Committees include the Nomination 
and Governance Committee, Risk and Audit 
Committee, Sustainability Committee and 
the Remuneration Committee. Each of these 
permanent Committees has a Terms of Reference 
under which authority is delegated by the Board. 
These are available at bhp.com/governance.

The Board has extensive access to members of 
senior management who frequently attend Board 
and Committee meetings. Management make 
presentations and engage in discussions with 
Directors, answer questions and provide input 
and perspective on their areas of responsibility. 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is 
accountable to the Board for the authority that is 
delegated to the CEO and for the performance 
of the Group. The CEO works in a constructive 
partnership with the Board and is required to 
report regularly to the Board on progress. 

The Board also holds discussions in the absence 
of management at each Board meeting. 

The diagram below illustrates BHP’s 
governance structure.

Shareholders

Board

Nomination and 
Governance Committee 

Risk and  
Audit Committee

Sustainability 
Committee

Remuneration 
Committee

CEO

Executive Leadership Team

90

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Annual Report 2022

4.  Board of Directors 

4.1 Overview of the Board

NG

RA

NG

Ken MacKenzie
BEng, FIEA, FAICD

Independent Non-executive Director since 
22 September 2016. 

Chair since 1 September 2017.

Mike Henry 
BSc (Chemistry) 

Terry Bowen
BAcct, FCPA, MAICD

Non-independent Director and  
Chief Executive Officer since 1 January 2020.

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 1 October 2017. 

RA

RA

S

Malcolm Broomhead 
AO, MBA, BE, FAICD

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 31 March 2010. 

Xiaoqun Clever
Diploma in Computer Science and International 
Marketing, MBA

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 1 October 2020.

Ian Cockerill
MSc (Mining and Mineral Engineering), BSc (Hons.) 
(Geology), AMP – Oxford Templeton College

Independent Non-executive Director since 1 April 2019.

NG S

RA

S

Gary Goldberg 
BS (Mining Engineering), MBA

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 1 February 2020. 

Senior Independent Director since 21 December 2020.

Michelle Hinchliffe
BCom, FCA, ACA

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 1 March 2022.

John Mogford
BEng

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 1 October 2017. 

R

RA

NG

R

S

R

S

Christine O’Reilly
BBus

Independent Non-executive Director 
since 12 October 2020.

Catherine Tanna 
LLB, Honorary Doctor of Business 

Independent Non-executive Director  
since 4 April 2022.

Dion Weisler 
BASc (Computing), Honorary Doctor of Laws 

Independent Non-executive Director  
since 1 June 2020.

Key to Committee membership

Committee Chair

Committee member

RA

Risk and Audit

NG

Nomination and Governance 

R

S

Remuneration

Sustainability

Stefanie Wilkinson 
BA, LLB (Hons), LLM, FGIA 

Group Company Secretary since 1 March 2021. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

91

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewCorporate Governance Statement continued

The Board currently has 12 members. At the end 
of BHP’s 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM), 
Malcolm Broomhead and John Mogford will be 
stepping down from the Board.

The Directors’ qualifications, experience and 
special responsibilities are listed in Directors’ 
Report 2.1.

The Board Governance Document outlines the 
processes relating to the Board’s tasks and 
activities, the matters specifically reserved for 
Board decision-making, the authority delegated 
to the CEO and the accountability of the CEO 
for that authority, guidance on the management 
of the relationship between the Board and the 
CEO, and the boundaries on CEO action. 

The matters reserved for the Board include:

–  CEO appointment and determination of the 

terms of the appointment

–  approval of the appointment of Executive 
Leadership Team (ELT) members, and 
material changes to the organisational 
structure involving direct reports to the CEO

–  strategy, annual budgets, balance sheet 

management and funding strategy

–  determination of commitments, capital 
and non-capital items, acquisitions and 
divestments above specified limits

–  performance assessment of the CEO and 

the Group

–  approving the Group’s values, Our Code of 

Conduct, purpose and risk appetite

–  management of Board composition, 

processes and performance

–  determination and adoption of documents 
(including the publication of reports and 
statements to shareholders) that are required 
by the Group’s constitutional documents, 
statute or by other external regulation

The Board Governance Document is
available at bhp.com/governance.

4.2  Director 
independence
The Board is committed to ensuring that a 
majority of Directors are independent. 

The Board has adopted a policy that it uses to 
determine the independence of its Directors. 
During FY2022, as part of the unification of 
our Dual Listed Company structure, the Board 
amended the policy for changes arising from 
unification that were in line with the ASX Fourth 
Edition and current best governance practice.

The Independence of Directors Policy 
is available at bhp.com/governance.

Determination of Director 
independence 
The Board confirms that it considers all of the 
current Non-executive Directors, including the 
Chair, to be independent of management and 
any business, interest or other relationship that 
could or could be perceived to materially interfere 
with the exercise of objective, unfettered or 
independent judgement by the Director or the 
Director’s ability to act in the best interests of the 
BHP Group rather than an individual shareholder 
or other group. 

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A determination of independence is carried 
out upon a Director’s appointment, annually 
and at any other time where the change 
in circumstances of a Director warrant 
reconsideration. Some Directors hold, or have 
previously held, positions in companies with which 
BHP has commercial relationships. The Board 
has assessed the relationships between BHP and 
the companies in which Directors hold or held 
positions and has concluded that the relationships 
do not interfere with the Directors’ exercise of 
objective, unfettered or independent judgement, 
or their ability to act in the best interests of BHP.

For example, the Chair, Mr Ken MacKenzie, is a 
Strategic Advisor at Barrenjoey Capital Partners. 
Barrenjoey was established as a financial services 
firm in September 2020 and provides strategic 
advisory and corporate finance services. 

In 2020, the Board considered Mr MacKenzie’s 
proposed appointment and it was approved on 
the basis that Barrenjoey would not advise BHP 
and that Mr MacKenzie himself would not advise 
on transactions or advise BHP competitors or 
our significant customers or suppliers. 

During FY2022, at the request of the CEO, the 
Board reconsidered these conditions without 
Mr MacKenzie present. The Board considered 
that there may be circumstances where it 
would be in the best interests of shareholders 
to permit Barrenjoey to advise the Group. 
For example, where other advisers were 
conflicted or where Barrenjoey had specifically 
relevant expertise. The Board approved, without 
Mr MacKenzie present, the removal of the 
restriction on Barrenjoey advising BHP, subject 
to the requirement that the CEO and the Senior 
Independent Director consult on any engagement 
on a case by case basis and where appropriate 
they will seek approval from the independent 
directors of the engagement and the arrangements 
to manage conflicts of interest. The other condition 
will continue and Mr MacKenzie himself will not 
advise on transactions or advise BHP competitors 
or our significant customers or suppliers. 

Accordingly, the Board is satisfied that Mr 
MacKenzie is able to continue to apply objective, 
unfettered and independent judgement and to 
act in the best interests of BHP. The Board does 
not consider that Mr MacKenzie’s involvement 
with Barrenjoey to adversely impact his role or 
commitment to BHP. In particular, Mr MacKenzie 
has committed to the Board that BHP would 
remain his priority.

Mr Broomhead is and was throughout FY2022, 
a Director and the Chair of Orica Limited (a 
company BHP has commercial dealings with). 
The BHP Board assessed the relationship 
between BHP and Orica and remains satisfied 
that Mr Broomhead was and remained during 
FY2022 able to apply objective, unfettered and 
independent judgement and to act in the best 
interests of BHP.

Conflicts of interest
In accordance with Australian law, if a situation 
arises for consideration where a Director has a 
material personal interest, the affected Director 
takes no part in decision making unless approval 
is provided by the non-interested Directors. 
Provisions for Directors’ interests are set out in 
the Constitution of BHP Group Limited.

4.3  Board appointments 
and succession 
planning
BHP adopts a structured and rigorous approach 
to Board succession planning to guard against 
unforeseen departures and facilitate the 
orderly replacement of current Directors, and 
oversees the development of a diverse pipeline. 
This process is continuous, allowing the Board 
to ensure there is a right balance on the Board 
between experience and fresh perspectives, and 
the Board continues to be fit for purpose. 

As part of this process, we are delighted 
to have appointed Michelle Hinchliffe and 
Catherine Tanna to our Board during FY2022. 
Malcolm Broomhead and John Mogford will 
retire at the conclusion of the 2022 AGM, and 
we thank both Malcolm and John for their 
commitment to our ongoing success.

Before the Board formally appoints a person or 
puts a person forward for election, the Board, 
with the assistance of external consultants, will 
conduct appropriate background and reference 
checks as to that person’s character, experience, 
education, criminal and bankruptcy history.

The Board has adopted a letter of appointment 
that contains the terms on which Non-executive 
Directors will be appointed, including the basis 
upon which they will be indemnified by the 
Group. The letter of appointment defines the 
role of Directors, including the expectations 
in terms of independence, participation, time 
commitment and continuous improvement. 
Written agreements are in place for all Non-
executive Directors.

4.4  Director 
induction, training 
and development
Upon appointment, each new Non-executive 
Director undertakes an induction program 
tailored to their needs. 

Following the induction program, Non-executive 
Directors participate in continuous improvement 
activities through a training and development 
program, which is overseen by the Nomination 
and Governance Committee to help ensure 
that Directors, individually and collectively 
develop and maintain the skills and knowledge 
to assist them in performing their role effectively. 
The training and development program is 
periodically reviewed to maximise effectiveness 
and to ensure it is tailored to Directors’ needs 
and the Board’s areas of focus.

Throughout the year, the Chair discusses 
development areas with each Director. 
Board Committees review and agree their needs for 
more briefings. The benefit of this approach is that 
induction and learning opportunities can be tailored 
to Directors’ Committee memberships, as well as 
the Board’s specific areas of focus. This approach 
is also intended to ensure a coordinated process on 
succession planning, Board renewal, training and 
development and Committee composition. In turn, 
these processes are relevant to the Nomination 
and Governance Committee’s role in identifying 
appropriate Non-executive Director candidates. 

Examples of activities in the training and 
development program include:

–  briefings and development sessions to provide 
each Director with a deeper understanding 
of the activities, environment, key issues and 
direction of the assets, along with broader 
sustainability and geopolitical considerations

–  site visits to provide insights into key issues 
at the site and to provide an opportunity for 
direct engagement with stakeholders

–  engagement with the Forum on Corporate 
Responsibility (FCR), which comprises 
civil society leaders in various fields of 
sustainability, to discuss FCR members’ 
views on current and emerging trends and risks

4.5  Director skills, 
experience and attributes
Overarching statement of 
Board requirements 
At BHP, we know that inclusive and diverse 
teams are safer and more productive. This is 
because people in these teams feel safe to 
speak up, share their ideas and different points 
of view, and work together to solve problems and 
make better decisions. 

The BHP Board is no different and believes that 
its membership should comprise Directors with  
a broad range of skills and diversity in order for 
the Board to: 

–  provide the breadth and depth of 

understanding necessary to effectively create 
long-term shareholder value 

–  protect and promote the interests of BHP and 

the creation of social value 

–  ensure the talent, capability and culture of BHP 
to support the long-term delivery of our strategy 

Attributes and commitment 
to role 
All Directors are expected to comply with Our 
Code of Conduct, act with integrity, lead by 
example and promote the desired culture.

The Board believes each Non-executive Director 
has demonstrated the attributes of sufficient 
time to undertake the responsibilities of the 
role, honesty and integrity, and a preparedness 
to question, challenge and critique throughout 
the year through their participation in Board 
meetings, and the other activities that they have 
undertaken in their roles. 

Skills matrix 
The Board, supported by the Nomination and 
Governance Committee, reviews the skills and 
diversity represented by the Directors on the 
Board and determines whether the composition 
and mix of those skills remains appropriate to 
achieve BHP’s purpose and strategy. 

The Board maintains a skills matrix which identifies 
the skills and experience the Board needs for the 
next period of BHP’s development, considering 
BHP’s circumstances and the changing 
external environment. 

The Board has redesigned its Board skills matrix to 
identify the future facing skills that the Board intends 
to build, acquire and retain over the medium term in 
anticipation of its needs as it pursues its strategy of 

securing growth options in future facing commodities. The new Board skills matrix not only indicates the skills 
that the Board currently possesses, but also provides an illustration of the new skills that the Board intends to 
acquire, and indicates the preferred manner in which it intends to acquire them. 

The Board collectively possesses all the skills and experience set out in the skills matrix, 
and each Director satisfies the Board requirements and attributes discussed above.

Skills and attributes 

Mining 
Senior executive who has deep operating or technical mining experience with a large company operating 
in multiple countries; successfully optimised and led a suite of large, global, complex operating assets that 
have delivered consistent and sustaining levels of high performance (related to cost, returns and throughput); 
successfully led exploration projects with proven results and performance; delivered large capital projects that 
have been successful in terms of performance and returns; and a proven record in terms of health, safety 
and environmental performance and results.

Global experience
Global experience gained from working, managing business units and residing in multiple geographies over 
an extended period of time, including a deep understanding of and experience with global markets, and 
macro-political and economic environment.

Strategy
Senior executive who has had accountability for enterprise-wide strategy development and implementation in 
industries with long cycles, and developing and leading business transformation strategies.

Commodity value chain and customers 
End-to-end value or commodity chain experience – understanding of consumers and customers, marketing 
demand drivers (including specific geographic markets) and other aspects of commodity chain development.

Financial acumen 
Extensive experience and the capability to evaluate financial statements and understand key financial drivers 
of the business, bringing a deep understanding of corporate finance and internal financial controls.

Operating risk 
Extensive experience with the development and oversight of complex frameworks focused on the 
identification, assessment and assurance of operational workplace, health, safety and environmental risks.

Technology
Recent experience and expertise with the development, selection and implementation of leading and 
business transforming technology and innovation, and responding to digital disruption.

Capital allocation and cost efficiency
Extensive direct experience gained through a senior executive role in capital allocation discipline, 
cost efficiency and cash flow, with proven long-term performance.

Social value, community and stakeholder engagement
Extensive track record of positive external stakeholder engagement including in relation to community issues 
and social responsibility. In depth understanding of public policy, government relations and the intersection 
between value generation and corporate reputation. 

Number of 
Directors

4

10

12

10

12

11

6

10

8

4.6  Board evaluation 
The Board has adopted a policy under which all 
Non-executive Directors seek re-election annually. 

The Board is committed to transparency in 
assessing the performance of Directors. The Board 
conducts regular evaluations of its performance, 
the performance of its Committees, the Group 
Chair, Directors and the governance processes 
that support the Board’s work. 

The evaluation considers the balance of skills, 
experience, independence and knowledge of 
the Group and the Board, its diversity, including 
gender diversity, and how the Board works 
together as a unit. 

Internal evaluations of the Board, its Committees 
and Directors were conducted in FY2022. 
An external board review is conducted 
approximately every three years and was 
not conducted in FY2022 and is scheduled 
for CY2023.

Review of individual Director 
performance
In FY2022, an assessment was conducted of 
each Director’s performance with the assistance 
of external service provider, Lintstock. 
Lintstock does not have any other connection 
with the Group or individual Directors. 

The assessment of Directors focused on the 
contribution of each Director to the work of the 
Board and its Committees, and the expectations 
of Directors as set out in BHP’s governance 
framework. In addition, the assessment focused 
on how each Director contributes to Board 
cohesion and effective relationships with fellow 
Directors, commits the time required to fulfil their 
role and effectively performs their responsibilities. 
Directors were asked to comment on areas where 
their fellow Directors contribute the greatest value 
and on potential areas for development. 

Lintstock provided feedback received to the 
Chair, which was then discussed with Directors. 
Feedback relating to the Chair was discussed 
with the Chair by the Senior Independent 
Director. As a result of these outcomes, the 
review supported the Board’s decision to 
endorse those Directors standing for re-election.

Committee assessments 

Following an assessment of its work, each 
Committee concluded that it had met the 
requirements under its Terms of Reference 
in FY2022. 

BHP

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5.  Board Committees
For Committee attendance and members during FY2022 refer to Directors’ Report 2.2.

5.1  Nomination and Governance Committee
Members
Ken MacKenzie (Chair), Terry Bowen, Gary Goldberg, Christine O’Reilly

Role and focus
The Nomination and Governance Committee oversees and monitors renewal and succession planning, Board and Director performance evaluation, 
Director training and development, and advises and makes recommendations on the Group’s governance practices.

More information on the role and responsibilities of the Nomination and Governance Committee can be found in its Terms of Reference, 
which is available at bhp.com/governance.

Committee activities in FY2022 included:

Succession planning processes
–  Review of skills and experience matrix

Evaluation and training
–  Board evaluation and Director development

Corporate governance practices
–  Independence of Non-executive Directors

–  Identification of suitable Non-executive 

–  2022 training and development program 

–  Authorisation of situations of actual or 

Director candidates

–  Board and Committee succession

–  Partnering with search firms regarding 

candidate searches

–  Director induction

potential conflict

–  Crisis management

5.2  Risk and Audit Committee
Members
Terry Bowen (Chair), Xiaoqun Clever, Ian Cockerill, Michelle Hinchliffe, Christine O’Reilly

Role and focus 
The Risk and Audit Committee (RAC) oversees and monitors financial reporting, other periodic reporting, external and internal audit, capital management, 
and risk (including effectiveness of the systems of risk management and internal control). 

More information on the role and responsibilities of the RAC can be found in its Terms of Reference, 
which is available at bhp.com/governance.

US committee membership requirements
The Board is satisfied that Terry Bowen meets the audit committee financial expert requirements under the US Securities and Exchange Commission 
(SEC) Rules. In addition, he is the Board’s nominated ‘audit committee financial expert’ for the purposes of the SEC Rules. 

The Board is also satisfied that the Committee meets the independence criteria under Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act. 

Committee activities in FY2022 included:

Integrity of Financial Statements and 
funding matters
–  Accounting matters for consideration, materiality 

limits, half-year and full-year results 

–  Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) compliance

External Auditor and integrity of the 
audit process
–  Status and results of the external audit

–  Management and External Auditor closed sessions

–  Audit plan and review of the External 

–  Financial governance procedures

Auditor’s performance 

–  Funding loan and guarantee updates

–  External Auditor independence and non-

–  Samarco dam failure provision, including related 

provisions and contingent liabilities

–  Carrying value of other long-term assets

–  Climate change in financial reporting

–  Closure and rehabilitation provisions

–  Disputes and litigation updates

audit services

Effectiveness of systems of internal 
control and risk management
–  Material risk reports including updates on BHP’s 
Risk Framework, our most significant risks, 
performance against risk appetite, emerging risks 
and signals, and risk culture

–  Internal audit reports, annual internal audit 

plan and review of performance of the Internal 
Audit team

–  Compliance, Ethics and Investigations reports 
including on sexual harassment, regulatory 
compliance reports, and grievance and 
investigation processes

–  Reserves and resources updates

The RAC assists the Remuneration Committee with reviewing the audited parts of the Remuneration Report. 

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5.3  Sustainability Committee
Members
Gary Goldberg (Chair), Ian Cockerill, John Mogford, Catherine Tanna, Dion Weisler

Role and focus 
The Sustainability Committee oversees and monitors material health, safety, environment and community (HSEC) matters, including the adequacy of the 
Group’s HSEC Framework and HSEC Management Systems, and the Group’s HSEC reporting and performance. This includes consideration of existing 
HSEC issues, such as climate, safety and Indigenous and human rights, as well as emerging areas of HSEC risk for the Group.

More information on the role and responsibilities of the Sustainability Committee can be found in its Terms of Reference, 
which is available at bhp.com/governance.

Committee activities in FY2022 included:

Assurance and adequacy of the HSEC 
Framework and HSEC Management 
Systems
–  Review of key HSEC risks

–  Site visits and asset deep dives that include 
updates on key HSEC matters and HSEC 
performance and an opportunity to engage directly 
with the workforce

–  Review of internal audit reports and approval of 
the HSEC components of the internal audit plan

–  Review of the HSE function and Group 

HSE Officer

Compliance and reporting
–  Review of sustainability reporting, including 

consideration of processes for preparation and 
assurance provided by EY

–  Review of BHP’s Modern Slavery Statement

Performance 
–  Review of BHP’s performance on HSEC matters, 
including cultural heritage, community relations, 
greenhouse gas emissions targets and goals, 
closure and rehabilitation, biodiversity and 
human rights

–  Monitoring against the FY2018–FY2022 

HSEC targets

–  Approving and recommending to the Board, the 
Group’s 2030 goals which form part of the new 
social value framework

–  Review of performance outcomes under the 
FY2022 HSEC performance metrics and 
considering HSEC performance metrics 
for FY2023

For information on sustainability matters
refer to OFR 7

5.4  Remuneration Committee
Members
Christine O’Reilly (Chair), Catherine Tanna, Dion Weisler

Role and focus 
The Remuneration Committee oversees and monitors the remuneration framework and practices (including the adoption of incentive plans and levels 
of reward for the CEO and other ELT members), compliance with applicable requirements associated with remuneration matters and the review, 
at least annually, of remuneration by gender.

More information on the role and responsibilities of the Remuneration Committee can be found in its Terms of Reference, 
which is available at bhp.com/governance.

Other remuneration matters
–  Remuneration by gender

–  Annual Remuneration Report

–  Shareholder engagement

–  Shareplus enrolment update

Other 
–  Induction, training and development program

–  Board Committee procedures, 

including closed sessions

Committee activities in FY2022 included:

Remuneration of the ELT and the Board
–  Remuneration of the CEO, other ELT 

members and the Group Company Secretary

–  Remuneration arrangements for ELT 

members upon appointment

–  The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 

on remuneration

–  Considering remuneration implications of 

unification and the merger of Petroleum and 
Woodside Energy Group Limited

–  Performance measures, performance levels 

and incentive award outcomes

–  Long-Term Incentive Plan sector peer 

group review

–  Chair fees

The Sustainability Committee and the RAC assist the Remuneration Committee in determining appropriate HSEC and financial metrics, respectively, to 
be included in senior executive scorecards and in assessing performance against those measures.

For more information on the Remuneration Committee’s work refer to the 2022 Remuneration Report.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

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6. Management
Below the level of the Board, key management decisions are made by the CEO, the ELT, management committees and members of management 
in accordance with their delegated authority. 

6.1.  Executive Leadership Team

Edgar Basto
President Minerals Australia 

BSc, Metallurgy

Caroline Cox
Chief Legal, Governance and External Affairs Officer 

BA (Hons), MA, LLB, BCL

David Lamont
Chief Financial Officer 

BComm, CA

Mr Basto joined BHP in 1989. He has been the President 
Minerals Australia since July 2020, and has been 
appointed Chief Operating Officer effective 1 October 
2022. In his new role as Chief Operating Officer, Edgar 
will be responsible for the BHP Operating System (BOS), 
Performance and Improvement and global Health, Safety 
and Environment teams. Edgar has previously held senior 
roles including Asset President of Western Australia Iron 
Ore and Asset President Escondida (Chile).

Ms Cox joined BHP in 2014 and was appointed Chief 
Legal, Governance and External Affairs Officer in 
November 2020. Caroline is responsible for Legal, 
Governance, Ethics and Investigations, Compliance, 
Communications, Corporate and Government Affairs 
and Sustainability and Climate Change. Caroline has 
previously held senior roles at BHP, including as Vice 
President Legal, Group General Counsel, and Group 
General Counsel & Company Secretary. Prior to joining 
BHP, Caroline was a Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, a 
firm she was with for 11 years, specialising in cross-border 
transactions, disputes and regulatory investigations.

Mr Lamont re-joined BHP and was appointed Chief 
Financial Officer in December 2020. David is responsible 
for overseeing the Group’s Reporting, Tax, Treasury, 
Investor Relations, Risk and Internal Audit teams. 
David had previously held senior roles at BHP between 
2001 and 2006, including as Chief Financial Officer of 
its Carbon Steel Materials and Energy Coal businesses. 
Prior to re-joining BHP, David was the Chief Financial 
Officer of ASX-listed global biotech company CSL Limited, 
and had also served in similar roles at Minerals and Metals 
Group, OZ Minerals Limited, PaperlinX Limited and Incitec 
Pivot Limited. 

Vandita Pant
Chief Commercial Officer

BCom (Hons), MBA, Business Administration

Ms Pant joined BHP in 2016 and was appointed Chief 
Commercial Officer in July 2019. Vandita is responsible 
for Sales and Marketing, Procurement, Maritime and for 
developing BHP’s views on global commodities markets 
and macro trends. Vandita has previously held senior 
roles at BHP, including as Group Treasurer and Head 
of Europe. Prior to joining BHP, Vandita held a wide 
range of executive roles with ABN Amro and Royal Bank 
of Scotland.

Geraldine Slattery 
Senior Executive Officer

Laura Tyler
Chief Technical Officer 

BSc, Physics, MSc, International Management 
(Oil & Gas). 

BSc (Geology (Hons)),  
MSc (Mining Engineering) 

Ms Slattery joined BHP in 1994 and was appointed 
President Petroleum from March 2019 to 31 May 2022. 
Following the merger of BHP’s Petroleum business with 
Woodside on 1 June 2022, Geraldine was appointed 
Senior Executive Officer. From 1 October 2022, Geraldine 
has been appointed President Australia. In her new role 
as President Australia Geraldine will be responsible for 
BHP’s Australian operations. Geraldine has more than 
25 years’ of experience with BHP, including as Asset 
President Conventional and prior to that in several senior 
operational and business leadership roles across the 
Petroleum business in the United Kingdom, Australia and 
the United States.

Ms Tyler joined BHP in 2004 and was appointed Chief 
Technical Officer in September 2020. Laura is responsible 
for Minerals Exploration, Health, Safety and Environment, 
Centres of Excellence, Technology and Performance and 
Improvement portfolios. From 1 October 2022, Laura will 
also be responsible for Innovation; and Health, Safety, 
Environment and Performance and Improvement will move 
to the Chief Operating Officer role. Laura has previously held 
senior roles at BHP, including as Chief Geoscientist and Asset 
President of Olympic Dam. Prior to joining BHP, Laura worked 
for Western Mining Corporation, Newcrest Mining and Mount 
Isa Mines in various technical and operational roles.

Ragnar Udd
President Americas 

BAppSc (Mining Engineering), MEng, MBA 

Mr Udd joined BHP in 1997 and was appointed President 
Americas in November 2020. Ragnar is responsible for 
BHP’s copper operations in Chile and potash operations in 
Canada. Ragnar has previously held senior roles at BHP 
in operations, logistics, projects and technology, including 
most recently as Acting Chief Technology Officer and Asset 
President of BHP Mitsubishi Alliance.

Johan van Jaarsveld
Chief Development Officer

BEng (Chem), MCom, Applied Finance,  
PhD (Eng), Extractive Metallurgy

Mr van Jaarsveld joined BHP in 2016 and was appointed 
Chief Development Officer in September 2020. Johan is 
responsible for strategy, acquisitions and divestments, 
securing early-stage growth options in future facing 
commodities, ventures and innovation. Innovation will 
move into the Chief Technical Officer’s portfolio from 
1 October 2022. Prior to joining BHP, Johan held 
executive positions in resources and finance, including 
at Barrick Gold Corporation, Goldman Sachs and The 
Blackstone Group. 

Jad Vodopija 
Chief People Officer 

BA, PGDip (Industrial Relations and Human Resource 
Management), MComm

Ms Vodopija re-joined BHP in 2019 and was appointed 
Chief People Officer in July 2022. Jad is responsible for 
organisational strategy, talent and resource management, 
leadership development and workforce performance. 
Jad has previously held senior roles at BHP, including as 
Vice President, Human Resources. Prior to re-joining BHP, 
Jad was Vice President Human Resources at Orica from 
2016, before which she had built her career at BHP and 
earlier on at Ford Motor Company.

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6.2  Senior management 
succession
A senior management succession process is 
conducted to support pipeline stability for critical 
roles. A talent deep dive is conducted by the 
Board at least once a year to evaluate these 
pipelines, including the diversity of the pipeline. 

Senior management succession is viewed 
from a five-year perspective that considers 
the readiness of successors across time 
horizons, contexts and future capability 
demands. Select Board members are involved 
in the interview process for executive-level 
appointments one level below the CEO and 
occasionally for roles two levels below the CEO. 
Appropriate checks are undertaken before 
appointing a member of the ELT. BHP has a 
written agreement with each ELT member setting 
out the terms of their appointment. 

In May 2022, the Board approved the appointment 
of Jad Vodopija as the Chief People Officer, 
effective 1 July 2022 and replacing Athalie Williams.

6.3  Performance 
evaluation of executives
The performance of executives and other senior 
employees is reviewed on an annual basis. 
The annual performance review process considers 
the performance of executives against criteria 
designed to capture ‘what’ is achieved and ‘how’ 
it is achieved. All performance assessments of 
executives include how effective they have been in 
undertaking their role and what they have achieved 
against their specified key performance indicators. 

A performance evaluation was conducted for 
all members of the ELT during FY2022. For the 
CEO, the performance evaluation was led by 
the Chair of the Board on behalf of all the Non-
executive Directors and was discussed with the 
Remuneration Committee.

7.  Risk management 
and assurance
7.1  Risk management 
governance structure
Risk governance 
The RAC assists the Board with the oversight 
of risk management and the Board retains 
accountability for BHP’s risk profile. The Board 
requires the CEO to implement a system 
of control for identifying and managing risk. 
The Risk team is accountable for this system, 
known as BHP’s Risk Framework, and 
also supports, challenges and verifies risk 
management activities to give assurance to 
management and the Board. The Directors, 
through the RAC, monitor our Risk Framework 
and review it at least annually to satisfy 
themselves that the Risk Framework continues 
to be sound and that BHP is operating with 
regard to the risk appetite set by the Board.

For more information
refer to OFR 9

Internal Audit
The Internal Audit team provides assurance 
to the Board, CEO and Executive Leadership 
Team on whether risk management, internal 
control and governance processes are adequate 
and functioning. The Internal Audit team is 
independent of the External Auditor. The RAC 
evaluates and, if thought fit, approves the Terms 
of Reference of the Internal Audit team and 
the annual internal audit plan and monitors the 
effectiveness of the internal audit activities.

As of 1 August 2022, the Risk team and Internal 
Audit team were combined to form a Risk and 
Internal Audit sub-function, led by a Chief Risk 
and Audit Officer. The Risk team and Internal 
Audit team will continue to operate in the second 
and third lines respectively. Refer to OFR 9 for 
more information.

The RAC approves the appointment and 
dismissal of the Chief Audit Officer and assesses 
their performance, independence and objectivity. 
During FY2022, the Group Audit Officer reported 
directly to the RAC and functional oversight of 
the Internal Audit team was provided by the 
Chief Legal, Governance and External Affairs 
Officer. As of 1 August 2022, functional oversight 
of the Risk and Internal Audit sub-function is 
provided by the Chief Financial Officer.

Effectiveness of systems 
of internal control and risk 
management
In delegating authority to the CEO, the Board 
has established CEO limits, outlined in the 
Board Governance Document and these require 
the CEO to ensure there is a system of control 
in place for identifying and managing risk in 
BHP. Through the RAC, the Directors regularly 
review these systems for their effectiveness. 
These reviews include assessing whether 
processes continue to meet evolving external 
governance requirements.

The RAC oversees and reviews the internal 
controls and risk management systems 
(including procedures, processes and systems 
for, among other things, budgeting and 
forecasting, provisions, financial controls, 
financial reporting and reporting of reserves and 
resources, compliance, preventing fraud and 
serious breaches of business conduct, speak-up 
procedures and protecting information and data 
systems). Any material breaches of Our Code 
of Conduct, including breaches of our anti-
bribery and corruption requirements and any 
material incidents reported under our speak-up 
procedures are reported quarterly to the RAC 
by the Chief Compliance Officer. These reports 
are then communicated to the Board through the 
report-out process. 

During FY2022, management presented an 
assessment of the material risks facing BHP and 
the effectiveness of the Group’s systems of risk 
management. The reviews were overseen by 
the RAC, with findings and recommendations 
reported to the Board. In addition to considering 
key risks facing BHP, the Board assessed 
the effectiveness of internal controls over 
key risks identified through the work of the 
Board Committees. 

Having carried out a review during FY2022, the 
Board is satisfied with the effectiveness of BHP’s 
risk management and internal control systems. 

Environmental and social risks
BHP’s risk factors (including material exposure 
to environmental and social risks) and how we 
manage these risks are described in OFR 9 
and 9.1.

7.2  External audit and 
financial reporting
Integrity of Financial Statements
The RAC assists the Board in assuring the 
integrity of the Financial Statements. The RAC 
evaluates and makes recommendations to the 
Board about the appropriateness of accounting 
policies and practices, areas of judgement, 
compliance with accounting standards, stock 
exchange and legal requirements and the results 
of the external audit. 

CEO and CFO assurance
For the FY2022 full year and half year, the 
CEO and CFO have certified that in their 
opinion, BHP’s financial records have been 
properly maintained and the FY2022 Financial 
Statements present a true and fair view of our 
financial condition and operating results and are 
in accordance with accounting standards and 
applicable regulatory requirements.

The CEO and CFO have also certified to the 
Board that this opinion was formed on the basis 
of a sound system of risk management and 
internal control and the system is operating 
efficiently and effectively. The RAC considered 
these certifications when recommending the 
Financial Statements to the Board for approval.

External Auditor
The RAC manages the relationship with 
the External Auditor on behalf of the 
Board. It considers the independence and 
reappointment of the External Auditor each 
year, as well as remuneration and other terms of 
engagement and makes a recommendation to 
the Board. 

Evaluation of External Auditor 
and external audit process
The RAC evaluates the objectivity and 
independence of the External Auditor and the 
quality and effectiveness of the external audit 
arrangements, including through:

–  reviewing the terms of engagement of the 

External Auditor

–  considering the external audit plan, in 

particular to gain assurance that it is tailored 
to reflect changes in circumstances from the 
prior year

–  meeting with the audit partners, 

particularly the lead audit engagement 
partners, throughout the year and without 
management present

–  discussing with the audit engagement 

partners the skills and experience of the 
broader audit team

–  considering the quality of the External 
Auditor’s performance following the 
completion of the audit

BHP

Annual Report 2022

97

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewCorporate Governance Statement continued

Fees paid to BHP’s External Auditor during 
FY2022 for audit and other services were 
US$20.3 million, of which 51 per cent comprised 
audit fees (including in relation to SOX matters), 
10 per cent for audit-related fees and 39 per 
cent for all other fees. No fees were paid in 
relation to tax services. Details of the fees paid 
are set out in Financial Statements note 34 
‘Auditor’s remuneration’.

Our policy on Provision of Audit and 
Other Services by the External Auditor is 
available at bhp.com/governance.

Management’s assessment of 
internal control over financial 
reporting
Management is responsible for establishing 
and maintaining adequate internal control over 
financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) 
and Rule 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). 

Because of its inherent limitations, internal 
control over financial reporting may not prevent 
or detect misstatements and, even when 
determined to be effective, can only provide 
reasonable assurance with respect to financial 
statement preparation and presentation. 
Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to 
future periods are subject to the risk that controls 
may become inadequate because of changes in 
conditions, or the degree of compliance with the 
policies or procedures may deteriorate. 

Under the supervision and with the participation 
of our management, including our CEO and 
CFO, the effectiveness of BHP’s internal control 
over financial reporting was evaluated based 
on the framework and criteria established in 
Internal Controls – Integrated Framework (2013), 
issued by the Committee of the Sponsoring 
Organizations of the Treadway Commission. 
Based on this evaluation, management 
concluded that internal control over financial 
reporting was effective as at 30 June 2022. 
There were no material weaknesses in BHP’s 
internal controls over financial reporting 
identified by management as at 30 June 2022. 

BHP has engaged our independent registered 
public accounting firm, EY, to issue an audit 
report on our internal control over financial 
reporting for inclusion in the Financial 
Statements of the Annual Report and the Annual 
Report on Form 20-F as filed with the SEC. 

There were no changes in our internal control 
over financial reporting during FY2022 that 
materially affected or were reasonably likely 
to materially affect our internal control over 
financial reporting. 

During FY2022, the RAC reviewed our 
compliance with the obligations imposed by 
SOX, including evaluating and documenting 
internal controls as required by section 404 
of SOX.

Management’s assessment 
of disclosure controls and 
procedures
Management, with the participation of our 
CEO and CFO, performed an evaluation of 
the effectiveness of the design and operation 
of our disclosure controls and procedures 
as at 30 June 2022. Disclosure controls and 
procedures are designed to provide reasonable 
assurance that the material financial and non-
financial information required to be disclosed 
by BHP, including in the reports it files or 
submits under the Exchange Act, is recorded, 
processed, summarised and reported on a timely 
basis. This information is accumulated and 
communicated to BHP’s management, including 
our CEO and CFO, as appropriate, to allow 
timely decisions regarding required disclosure. 
Based on the evaluation, management 
(including the CEO and CFO) concluded that, 
as at 30 June 2022, our disclosure controls 
and procedures are effective in providing that 
reasonable assurance. 

There are inherent limitations to the 
effectiveness of any system of disclosure 
controls and procedures, including the possibility 
of human error and the circumvention or 
overriding of the controls and procedures. 
Even effective disclosure controls and 
procedures can only provide reasonable 
assurance of achieving their control objectives.

In the design and evaluation of our disclosure 
controls and procedures, management was 
required to apply its judgement in evaluating 
the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls 
and procedures.

8. Culture and conduct
Successful delivery of our strategy relies on 
workforce capability and a strong culture, and 
the Board, together with management plays a 
critical role in setting the culture of the Group. 
Supporting our people’s wellbeing, creating and 
promoting an inclusive and diverse environment 
for our people to work, and keeping them safe in 
the workplace are critically important and core to 
our values.

8.1 Our Code of Conduct 
and Our Charter
Our Code of Conduct (Our Code) is approved by 
the Board and is based on Our Charter values. 
Our Code includes our policies on speaking 
up and anti-bribery and corruption, sets out 
standards of behaviour for our people and is an 
important statement of the culture at BHP.

During FY2022, we began work to refresh Our 
Code to align it with global best practice and to 
provide an effective basis for standard setting 
and enforcement. We expect to launch the 
refreshed version of Our Code in FY2023.

Our Code and Our Charter are accessible  
at bhp.com.

In addition, the RAC reviews the integrity, 
independence and objectivity of the External 
Auditor and assesses whether there is any 
element of the relationship that impairs or 
appears to impair the External Auditor’s 
judgement or independence. The External 
Auditor also certifies its independence to 
the RAC.

Non-audit services
Although the External Auditor provides some 
non-audit services to the Group, the objectivity 
and independence of the External Auditor are 
safeguarded through restrictions on the provision 
of these services with some services prohibited 
from being undertaken.

Pre-approved services

The RAC has adopted a policy entitled Provision 
of Audit and Other Services by the External 
Auditor covering the RAC’s pre-approval policies 
and procedures to maintain the independence of 
the External Auditor. 

The categories of ‘pre-approved’ services are:

–  Audit services – work that constitutes the 
agreed scope of the statutory audit and 
includes the statutory audits of BHP and its 
entities (including interim reviews). The RAC 
monitors the audit services engagements 
and if necessary, approves any changes in 
terms and conditions resulting from changes 
in audit scope, Group structure or other 
relevant events.

–  Audit-related and other assurance services – 
work that is outside the scope of the statutory 
audit but is consistent with the role of the 
external statutory auditor. This category 
includes work that is reasonably related to the 
performance of an audit or review and is a 
logical extension of the audit or review scope, 
is of an assurance or compliance nature and 
is work that the external auditors must or are 
best placed to undertake and is permissible 
under the relevant applicable standard.

Activities outside the scope of the above 
categories are not ‘pre-approved’ and must be 
approved by the RAC prior to engagement, 
regardless of the dollar value involved. 
In addition, any engagement for other services 
with a value over US$250,000, even if listed as 
a ‘pre-approved’ service, requires the approval 
of the RAC. 

All engagements for non-audit services, whether 
‘pre-approved’ or not and regardless of the dollar 
value involved, are reported quarterly to the 
RAC. While not prohibited by BHP’s policy, any 
proposed engagement of the External Auditor 
that contains an internal control element requires 
specific prior approval from the RAC. In addition, 
while the categories of ‘pre-approved’ services 
include a list of certain pre-approved services, 
the use of the External Auditor to perform these 
services will always be subject to our overriding 
governance practices as articulated in the policy. 

In addition, the RAC did not approve any 
services during the year ended 30 June 2022 
pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of 
SEC Regulation S-X (provision of services other 
than audit).

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aspiration is to achieve gender balance (which 
we define as a minimum 40 per cent women 
and 40 per cent men, in line with the definition 
used by entities such as the International Labour 
Organization) on our Board, among our senior 
executives and across our workforce by FY2025. 

Currently 33 per cent of Directors are female 
and we therefore satisfy the guidance of having 
at least 30 per cent of Directors of each gender 
in accordance with the ASX Fourth Edition. 
When Mr Broomhead and Mr Mogford retire from 
the Board at the conclusion of the 2022 AGM, 
40 per cent of Directors will be female. We also 
continue to seek additional ethnic diversity on 
our Board and throughout BHP. 

Part of the Board’s role continues to be to 
consider and approve BHP’s measurable 
objectives for diversity on its Board, among its 
senior executives and general workforce each 
financial year and to oversee our progress 
in achieving those objectives. For more 
information, including our progress against 
our FY2022 measurable objectives and our 
employee profile more generally, refer to OFR 6.

The diagram below illustrates the diversity that is 
currently represented on the Board.

Board tenure and diversity

Gender diversity

  Female 
  Male 

33%
67%

8.2 Culture
The Board, supported by the Committees, 
considers a range of qualitative and quantitative 
information in relation to culture at BHP and 
monitors and assesses culture on an ongoing 
basis for alignment with our strategy, purpose 
and values. Board and Committee papers 
include workforce planning in the context 
of COVID-19, Employee Perception Survey 
results, updates on sexual harassment 
controls, inclusion and diversity updates, RAC 
report-outs on Our Code investigations, the 
culture and capability required to execute our 
strategy, and culture as a part of asset reviews. 
Recognising our culture cannot be measured 
using a single number or index, a culture 
dashboard is used to provide the Board with 
a tool to monitor our culture. The dashboard 
includes simple measures to provide key 
signposts on the health of our culture. This data, 
combined with the Employee Perception Survey 
results, provides the Board with insight on safety, 
engagement and enablement. 

Directors also gain insights into culture through 
direct engagement with a cross-section of 
the workforce where they can gain direct 
feedback on a range of issues, including sexual 
harassment, ongoing COVID-19 impacts, 
diversity, HSEC topics and social value. 

8.3 BHP’s EthicsPoint
We have mechanisms in place for anyone to 
raise a query about Our Code or make a report if 
they feel Our Code has been breached. 

EthicsPoint is our 24-hour confidential reporting 
tool for reporting misconduct and can be 
used by employees, contractors and external 
stakeholders, including members of the public to 
raise concerns about misconduct that has either 
happened to them or they have witnessed. 

All reports received in EthicsPoint are 
reviewed and categorised by the Ethics team. 
Once categorised, reports are assigned in 
accordance with internal policy and processes to 
an investigator, line leader or appropriate team 
for resolution. 

Region of nationality

  Australia 
58%
  Europe/UK  25%
   North 
America 

17%

Tenure

  0 > 3 years  58%
  3 > 6 years  33%
   6 > 9 years  0%
8%
  9+ years 

All significant Our Code matters and key trends 
from investigations are reported to the RAC. 
These are then reported to the Board as part of 
its report-out process. 

8.4 Diversity
The Board and management believe diversity 
is required to meet our purpose and strategy. 
Diversity is key to supporting the Board and 
its Committees to have the right blend of 
perspectives so that the Board oversees BHP 
effectively for shareholders. 

We have adopted an Inclusion and Diversity 
Position Statement, which sets out our 
diversity policy in relation to the Board, senior 
management and our workforce, and our 
priorities to accelerate the development of a 
more inclusive work environment and enhanced 
overall workplace diversity. BHP’s Inclusion 
and Diversity Position Statement is available 
at bhp.com/careers/inclusion-diversity and is 
summarised in OFR 6. As described in our 
Inclusion and Diversity Position Statement, our 

9.  Shareholder 
and stakeholder 
engagement
Shareholder engagement
Part of the Board’s commitment to high-quality 
governance is expressed through the approach 
BHP takes to engaging and communicating 
with our shareholders. As part of our investor 
relations program to facilitate effective two-way 
communication with investors, the Board uses 
formal and informal communication channels to 
understand and take into account the views of 
shareholders. BHP provides information about 
itself and its governance to investors via its 
website at bhp.com.

We encourage shareholders to make their views 
known to us. Shareholders can contact us at any 
time through our Investor Relations team, with 
contact details available at bhp.com. In addition, 
shareholders can communicate with us and our 
registrar electronically. 

We facilitate and encourage shareholder 
participation at our AGM. The AGM provides an 
update for shareholders on our performance 
and offers an opportunity for shareholders to ask 
questions and vote. The External Auditor will also 
be available to answer questions at the AGM. 

Information on our AGM is available at  
bhp.com/meetings.

Before the AGM, shareholders are provided with 
all material information in BHP’s possession 
relevant to their decision on whether or not 
to elect or re-elect a Director. Copies of the 
speeches delivered by the Chair and CEO at 
the AGM are released to the relevant stock 
exchanges and posted on our website.

Proceedings at shareholder meetings 
are webcast live from our website. 
Substantive resolutions at general meetings 
are decided by a poll rather than by a show 
of hands. 

A summary of proceedings and the outcome of 
voting on the items of business are released to 
the relevant stock exchanges and posted on our 
website as soon as they are available. 

During FY2022, key shareholder engagement 
initiatives included:

–  discussions with major institutional investors 
and proxy advisers in relation to the Climate 
Transition Action Plan 2021, and obtaining 
shareholder approval at the 2021 AGMs

–  presentations and briefings provided 

to investors about the merger of BHP’s 
Petroleum business with Woodside

–  communications to investors about the 
unification of our Dual Listed Company 
structure, including General Meetings in 
Australia and London for investors to directly 
engage with the Board on this topic 

–  live webcasts and Q&A sessions with senior 

leaders for shareholders to directly ask 
questions of management

–  an investor briefing on social value which 
included the launch of our 2030 social 
value goals

BHP

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99

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewCopies of announcements to the stock 
exchanges on which BHP is listed, investor 
briefings, Financial Statements, the Annual 
Report and other relevant information can be 
found at bhp.com. To receive email alerts of 
news releases, subscribe at bhp.com.

11.  US requirements
BHP Group Limited is a registrant with the SEC 
in the United States. It is classified as a foreign 
private issuer and has American Depositary 
Shares listed on the NYSE.

We have reviewed the governance requirements 
applicable to foreign private issuers under SOX, 
including the rules promulgated by the SEC and 
the rules of the NYSE, and are satisfied that we 
comply with those requirements.

Under NYSE rules, foreign private issuers such 
as BHP are required to disclose any significant 
ways our corporate governance practices differ 
from those followed by US companies under 
the NYSE corporate governance standards. 
After a comparison of our corporate governance 
practices with the requirements of Section 303A 
of the NYSE-Listed Company Manual followed 
by US companies, a significant difference 
was identified:

–  Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act requires 
NYSE-listed companies to ensure their 
audit committees are directly responsible for 
the appointment, compensation, retention 
and oversight of the work of the External 
Auditor unless the company’s governing law 
or documents or other home country legal 
requirements require or permit shareholders 
to ultimately vote on or approve these 
matters. Prior to unification, the ultimate 
responsibility for the appointment and 
retention of the External Auditor rested with 
our shareholders in accordance with UK law 
(and our constitutional documents reflected 
this legal requirement). The RAC was then 
directly responsible for the compensation 
and oversight of the work of the External 
Auditor throughout the year. Following the 
unification of our corporate structure, BHP is 
no longer subject to the UK requirement to 
re-appoint the External Auditor by shareholder 
vote annually and our constitution has 
been amended to remove this requirement. 
From January 2022 our shareholders remain 
ultimately responsible for the appointment 
and retention of the External Auditor and are 
required to vote on the appointment of the 
External Auditor from time to time (as required 
under Australian law), and the RAC remains 
directly responsible for the compensation and 
oversight of the work of the External Auditor.

Corporate Governance Statement continued 

Shareholder engagement practices

Chair investor meetings
The Chair regularly meets with investors to discuss Board priorities and 
seek shareholder feedback.

Presentations and briefings
We hold a number of presentations and briefings relating to climate, strategy and 
other key topics. 

Materials from all presentations are available on our website at bhp.com.

Direct engagement
We engage directly with key investors to enable our Board and Committees to be 
up to date on investor expectations and to continuously improve the governance 
processes of BHP.

Live webcasts and Q&A sessions
We provide webcasts and Q&A sessions as forums to update shareholders on 
results or other key announcements (including annual and half-year reports).

AGMs
Our AGMs provide an opportunity to all investors to question and engage 
with the Board.

Stakeholder engagement
The Board considers effective stakeholder 
engagement a key element of its governance 
and oversight role. 

There are multiple ways the views of 
stakeholders, beyond shareholders, are brought 
to the Board and its Committees. For example, 
site visits (physical and virtual where necessary) 
involving engagement with the workforce, 
community members and government, 
Employee Perception Survey findings, gender 
pay gap reports, updates from the CEO and 
Chief People Officer and engagement with the 
Forum on Corporate Responsibility. In addition, 
the RAC and Sustainability Committee receive 
reports on engagement with regulators. 
They also receive reports on material litigation 
and disputes with third parties and complaints 
raised through the speak-up hotline, EthicsPoint, 
which allows our workforce to raise concerns 
in confidence. 

The strategic framework, focus on social value, 
our purpose and Risk Appetite Statement reflect 
the significance of external stakeholders in 
decision making.

10.  Market disclosure
We have disclosure controls in place for periodic 
disclosures, including the Operational Review, 
our results announcements, debt investor 
documents (such as the prospectus for the Euro 
or Australian Medium Term Notes) and Annual 
Report documents, which must comply with 
relevant regulatory requirements. 

More information about these verification 
processes can be found in the Periodic 
Disclosure – Disclosure Controls document 
available at bhp.com/governance.

To safeguard the effective dissemination of 
information, we have developed mandatory 
minimum performance requirements for market 
disclosure, which outline how we identify and 
distribute information to shareholders and 
market participants and sets out the role of the 
Disclosure Committee in managing compliance 
with market disclosure obligations. In addition, 
where an announcement is determined to be 
material by the Disclosure Committee, the 
Board receives a copy promptly after it has been 
made. Where BHP gives a new and substantive 
investor or analyst presentation, it releases a 
copy of the presentation materials on the ASX 
Market Announcements Platform ahead of 
the presentation.

A copy of the Market Disclosure and 
Communications Policy is available at
bhp.com/governance.

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Directors’ Report

The information presented by the Directors in 
this Directors’ Report relates to BHP Group 
Limited and its subsidiaries. The Operating and 
Financial Review (OFR), the Remuneration 
Report, and the ‘Lead Auditor’s Independence 
Declaration’ are incorporated by reference into, 
and form part of, this Directors’ Report. 

1.  Review of 
operations, principal 
activities and state  
of affairs
A review of the operations of BHP during 
FY2022, the results of those operations during 
FY2022 and the expected results of those 
operations in future financial years are set out 
in the OFR. Information on the development 
of BHP and likely developments in future 
years also appears in this section. We have 
excluded certain information from the OFR, to 
the extent permitted by Australian law, on the 
basis that such information relates to impending 
developments or matters in the course of 
negotiation and disclosure would be seriously 
prejudicial to the interests of BHP. This is 
because such disclosure could be misleading 
due to the fact it is premature or preliminary 
in nature, relates to commercially sensitive 
contracts, would undermine confidentiality 
between BHP and our suppliers and clients, 
or would otherwise unreasonably damage BHP. 
The categories of information omitted include 
forward-looking estimates and projections 
prepared for internal management purposes, 
information regarding BHP’s assets and projects, 
which is developing and susceptible to change, 
and information relating to commercial contracts 
and pricing modules.

Our principal activities, including significant 
changes in the nature of BHP’s principal 
activities during FY2022, are disclosed in 
the OFR. 

There were no significant changes in BHP’s 
state of affairs that occurred during FY2022 and 
no significant post balance date events other 
than as disclosed in the OFR and Financial 
Statements note 33 ‘Subsequent events’.

No other matter or circumstance has arisen 
since the end of FY2022 that has significantly 
affected or is expected to significantly affect the 
operations, the results of operations or state of 
affairs of BHP in future years.

2.  Directors
The Directors who served at any time during 
FY2022 or up until the date of this Directors’ 

Report are listed in the Board and Board 
Committee attendance table in Directors’ Report 
2.2. Information on the current Directors is set 
out in Directors’ Report 2.1. 

2.1  Biographical details

Key to Committee membership

Committee Chair

Committee member

RA

Risk and Audit

NG

Nomination and Governance 

R

S

Remuneration

Sustainability

NG

Ken MacKenzie

BEng, FIEA, FAICD

Independent Non-executive Director since 
September 2016

Chair since 1 September 2017

Mr MacKenzie has extensive global and executive 
experience and a deeply strategic approach, with a focus 
on operational excellence, capital discipline and the 
creation of long-term shareholder value. 

Ken was the Managing Director and Chief Executive 
Officer of Amcor Limited, a global packaging company 
with operations in over 40 countries, from 2005 until 
2015. During his 23-year career with Amcor, Ken gained 
extensive experience across all of Amcor’s major 
business segments in developed and emerging markets 
in the Americas, Australia, Asia and Europe. 

Ken currently sits on the Advisory Board of American 
Securities Capital Partners LLC (since January 2016) and 
is a part-time adviser at Barrenjoey (since April 2021).

Mike Henry 

BSc (Chemistry) 

Non-independent Director since January 2020

Chief Executive Officer since 1 January 2020

Mr Henry has over 30 years’ experience in the global 
mining and petroleum industry, spanning operational, 
commercial, safety, technology and marketing roles.

Prior to joining BHP, Mike worked in the resources 
industry in Canada, Japan and Australia. Mike joined 
BHP in 2003, initially in business development and 
then in marketing and trading of a range of mineral and 
petroleum commodities based in The Hague, where he 
was also accountable for BHP’s ocean freight operations. 
He went on to hold various positions in BHP, including 
President Operations Minerals Australia, President 
Coal, President HSE, Marketing and Technology, and 
Chief Marketing Officer. Mike has been a member of the 
Executive Leadership Team since 2011.

RA

NG

Terry Bowen

BAcct, FCPA, MAICD

Malcolm Broomhead 

AO, MBA, BE, FAICD

Independent Non-executive Director since October 2017 

Independent Non-executive Director since March 2010

Mr Bowen has significant executive experience across a 
range of diversified industries, deep financial expertise, 
and extensive experience in capital allocation discipline, 
commodity value chains and strategy. 

Terry was formerly Managing Partner and Head of 
Operations at BGH Capital and an Executive Director 
and Finance Director of Wesfarmers Limited. Prior to 
this, Terry held various senior executive roles within 
Wesfarmers, including as Finance Director of Coles, 
Managing Director of Industrial and Safety and Finance 
Director of Wesfarmers Landmark. Terry is also a former 
Director of Gresham Partners and past President of the 
National Executive of the Group of 100 Inc. 

Terry is currently Chair of the Operations Group at 
BGH Capital (since January 2020), and a Director of 
Transurban Group (since February 2020), Navitas Pty 
Limited (since July 2019) and the West Coast Eagles 
Football Club (since May 2017).

Mr Broomhead has extensive experience at large 
global industrial and mining companies, bringing a 
broad strategic perspective and understanding of the 
long-term cyclical nature of the resources industry and 
commodity value chains, with proven health, safety and 
environment, and capital allocation performance.

Malcolm was Managing Director and Chief Executive 
Officer of Orica Limited from 2001 until 2005. Prior to 
joining Orica, he held a number of senior positions 
at North Limited, including Managing Director and 
Chief Executive Officer and, prior to that, held senior 
management positions with Halcrow (UK), MIM Holdings, 
Peko Wallsend and Industrial Equity. 

Malcolm is currently Chair of Orica Limited (since 
January 2016, having served on the board since 
December 2015). He is also a Director of the Walter and 
Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (since July 2014).

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101

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewRA

RA

S

NG S

Xiaoqun Clever

Diploma in Computer Science and  
International Marketing, MBA

Ian Cockerill

MSc (Mining and Mineral Engineering), BSc (Hons.) 
(Geology), AMP – Oxford Templeton College

Independent Non-executive Director since October 2020

Independent Non-executive Director since April 2019

Ms Clever has over 20 years’ experience in technology 
with a focus on software engineering, data and analytics, 
cybersecurity and digitalisation. 

Mr Cockerill has extensive global mining operational, 
project and executive experience, having initially trained 
as a geologist. 

Xiaoqun was formerly Chief Technology Officer of Ringier 
AG and ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE. Xiaoqun previously 
held various roles with SAP SE from 1997 to 2013, 
including Chief Operating Officer of Technology and 
Innovation. Xiaoqun was formerly a member of the 
Supervisory Board of Allianz Elementar Versicherungs and 
Lebensversicherungs AG (from 2015 to 2020).

Xiaoqun is currently a Non-executive Director of 
Capgemini SE (since May 2019) and Amadeus IT Group 
SA (since June 2020) and on the Supervisory Board 
of Infineon Technologies AG (since February 2020). 
Xiaoqun is also the Co-Founder and Chief Executive 
Officer of LuxNova Suisse GmbH (since April 2018).

Ian previously served as Chair of both Polymetal 
International plc and BlackRock World Mining Trust plc, 
Lead Independent Director of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, and a 
Non-executive Director of Orica Limited (from July 2010 
to August 2019) and Endeavour Mining Corporation (from 
September 2013 to March 2019). Ian also formerly held 
chief executive roles at Anglo American Coal and Gold 
Fields Limited, and senior executive roles at AngloGold 
Ashanti and Anglo American Group. 

Ian is currently Senior Independent Director of Endeavour 
Mining Corporation (since May 2022), the Chair of Cornish 
Lithium Ltd (since April 2022) and a Non-executive 
Director of I-Pulse Inc (since September 2010). Ian is also 
a Director of the Leadership for Conservation in Africa.

Gary Goldberg 

BS (Mining Engineering), MBA

Independent Non-executive Director since February 2020. 

Senior Independent Director since 21 December 2020

Mr Goldberg has over 35 years’ of global executive 
experience, including deep experience in mining, strategy, 
risk, commodity value chain, capital allocation discipline 
and public policy. 

Gary served as the Chief Executive Officer of Newmont 
Corporation from 2013 to 2019, and prior to that, had 
been President and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Tinto 
Minerals. Gary has also previously been a non-executive 
director of Port Waratah Coal Services Limited and Rio 
Tinto Zimbabwe, and served as Vice Chair of the World 
Gold Council, Treasurer of the International Council on 
Mining and Metals, and Chair of the National Mining 
Association in the United States.

RA

S

R

RA

NG

Michelle Hinchliffe

BCom, FCA, ACA

John Mogford

BEng

Christine O’Reilly

BBus

Independent Non-executive Director since March 2022

Independent Non-executive Director since October 2017 

Independent Non-executive Director since October 2020

Ms Hinchliffe has over 20 years’ experience as a partner in 
KPMG’s financial services division. 

Michelle served as a member of KPMG’s UK Board and 
as the UK Chair of Audit between 2019 and 2022. Prior to 
this, she was a member of the KPMG UK Executive 
Committee in her role as Head of Audit from 2017 to 
2019. Michelle led KPMG’s financial services practice in 
Australia between 2008 and 2013 and was a member of 
the KPMG Australia Board. 

Michelle is currently a Non-executive Director of 
Macquarie Group Limited and Macquarie Bank Limited 
(since March 2022).

Mr Mogford has significant global executive 
experience, including in oil and gas, capital allocation 
discipline, commodity value chains and health, safety 
and environment. 

John has held various leadership, technical and 
operational roles at BP Plc. He was the Managing Director 
and an Operating Partner of First Reserve, a global 
energy-focused private equity firm, from 2009 until 2015, 
during which he served on the boards of its investee 
companies. He also served as a Non-executive Director 
of ERM Worldwide Group Limited (from 2015 to 2021), 
Weir Group Plc (from 2008 to 2018), Network Rail Limited 
(from 2016 to 2018), and one of First Reserve’s portfolio 
companies, DOF Subsea AS (from 2009 to 2018).

Ms O’Reilly has over 30 years’ experience in the financial 
and infrastructure sectors, with deep financial and public 
policy expertise and experience in large-scale capital 
projects and transformational strategy. 

Christine served as Chief Executive Officer of the 
GasNet Australia Group and Co-Head of Unlisted 
Infrastructure Investments at Colonial First State Global 
Asset Management. Christine has also served as a 
Non-executive Director of Medibank Private Limited (from 
March 2014 to November 2021), Transurban Group (from 
April 2012 to October 2020), CSL Limited (from February 
2011 to October 2020) and Energy Australia Holdings 
Limited (from September 2012 to August 2018).

Christine is currently a Non-executive Director of Australia 
and New Zealand Banking Group (since November 2021), 
Stockland Limited (since August 2018), and the Baker 
Heart and Diabetes Institute (since June 2013).

R

S

R

S

Catherine Tanna 

Dion Weisler 

Stefanie Wilkinson

LLB, Honorary Doctor of Business 

BASc (Computing), Honorary Doctor of Laws 

BA, LLB (Hons), LLM, FGIA 

Independent Non-executive Director since April 2022

Independent Non-executive Director since June 2020

Group Company Secretary since March 2021

Ms Wilkinson was appointed Group Company Secretary 
effective March 2021. Prior to joining BHP, Stefanie was 
a Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, a firm she was with 
for 15 years, specialising in corporate law and governance 
for listed companies. Earlier in her career, Stefanie was a 
solicitor at Allen & Overy in the Middle East. Stefanie is a 
fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

Ms Tanna has more than 30 years’ experience in 
the resources, oil and gas, power generation and 
retailing sectors.

Catherine served as Managing Director of Energy 
Australia between 2014 and 2021. Prior to this, she held 
senior executive roles with Shell and BG Group with 
responsibility for international operations. Catherine was 
also a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of 
Australia from 2011 to 2021 and a Director of the Business 
Council of Australia from 2016 to 2021. 

Catherine is currently a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & 
Company Inc (since April 2022) and a member of the 
Advisory Board of Fujitsu Australia (since February 2022).

Mr Weisler has extensive global executive experience, 
including transformation and commercial experience in 
the global information technology sector, with a focus on 
capital discipline, as well as perspectives on current and 
emerging ESG issues.

Dion served as a Director and the President and Chief 
Executive Officer of HP Inc. from 2015 to 2019, and 
continued as a Director and Senior Executive Adviser 
until May 2020. Dion previously held a number of senior 
executive roles at Lenovo Group Limited. Prior to this, Dion 
was General Manager Conferencing and Collaboration 
at Telstra Corporation, and held various positions at Acer 
Inc., including as Managing Director, Acer UK. 

Dion is currently a Non-executive Director of Intel 
Corporation (since June 2020), a Non-executive Director 
of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (since March 2017) 
and a Non-executive Director of Sapia & Co Ltd (since 
January 2022). 

102

BHP

Annual Report 2022

2.2  Director attendances 
at meetings
The Board meets as often as required. 
During FY2022, the Board met 15 times. 

Members of the Executive Leadership Team and 
other members of senior management attend 
meetings of the Board by invitation. Each Board 
Committee provides a standing invitation for 
any Non-executive Director to attend Committee 

meetings (rather than just limiting attendance to 
Committee members). Committee agendas and 
papers are provided to all Directors to ensure 
they are aware of matters to be considered. 

Board and Board Committee attendance in FY2022

Terry Bowen
Malcolm Broomhead
Xiaoqun Clever
Ian Cockerill
Anita Frew2
Gary Goldberg3
Mike Henry
Michelle Hinchliffe4
Susan Kilsby5
Ken MacKenzie
John Mogford6
Christine O’Reilly
Catherine Tanna7
Dion Weisler

Board

15/15
15/15
15/15
15/15
7/7
15/15
15/15
4/4
7/7
15/15
15/15
15/15
3/3
15/15

Risk and Audit  
Committee

Nomination and Governance  
Committee

Remuneration 
Committee

Sustainability 
Committee

11/11
–
11/11
11/11
5/5
–
–
2/2
–
–
–
11/11
–
–

5/5
2/21
–
–
–
5/5
–
–
–
5/5
5/5
5/5
–
–

–
–
–
–
2/2
5/5
–
–
2/25
–
–
5/5
2/2
5/5

–
2/21
–
5/5
–
5/5
–
–
–
–
5/5
–
2/2
3/38

1  Malcolm Broomhead ceased being a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee and Sustainability Committee on 11 November 2021.
2  Anita Frew served as a Non-executive Director from 15 September 2015 until her retirement as a member of the Board, Risk and Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee on 

11 November 2021.

3  Gary Goldberg ceased being a member of the Remuneration Committee on 17 June 2022. He became Chair of the Sustainability Committee on 18 June 2022.
4  Michelle Hinchliffe became a member of the Board and the Risk and Audit Committee on 1 March 2022.
5  Susan Kilsby served as a Non-executive Director from 1 April 2019 until her retirement as a member of the Board and the Remuneration Committee on 11 November 2021.
6  John Mogford ceased being a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee on 17 June 2022. He ceased being the Chair of the Sustainability Committee on 17 June 2022,  

but remains a member of this Committee.

7  Catherine Tanna became a member of the Board, Remuneration Committee and Sustainability Committee on 4 April 2022.
8  Dion Weisler became a member of the Sustainability Committee on 12 November 2021.

3.  Share capital and 
buy-back programs
At the Annual General Meetings held in 2019, 2020 
and 2021, shareholders authorised BHP Group Plc 
to make on-market purchases of up to 211,207,180 
of its ordinary shares, representing 10 per cent of 
BHP Group Plc’s issued share capital at that time. 
During FY2022, we did not make any on-market 
or off-market purchases of BHP Group Limited or 
BHP Group Plc ordinary shares under any share 

buy-back program. As at the date of this Directors’ 
Report, there were no current on-market buy-backs. 

BHP Group Plc (now BHP Group (UK) Limited) 
is no longer able to make on-market purchases 
of its ordinary shares as a result of its delisting in 
connection with the unification transaction with 
BHP Group Limited and as such it can no longer 
utilise the shareholder authorisation in relation 
to on-market purchases obtained at the Annual 
General Meeting in 2021. 

Some of our executives receive rights over BHP 
shares as part of their remuneration arrangements. 
Entitlements may be satisfied by the transfer of 
existing shares, which are acquired on-market 
by the Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) 
Trusts or, in respect of some entitlements, by the 
issue of shares. 

The number of shares referred to in column A below 
were purchased to satisfy awards made under 
the various BHP Group employee share schemes 
during FY2022. 

A
Total number of shares 
purchased and transferred 
to employees to satisfy 
employee awards

B
Average price 
paid per share1
 US$

C
Total number of shares 
purchased as part of 
publicly announced 
plans or programs

Maximum number of shares  
that may yet be purchased under  

the plans or programs

D

Period

1 Jul 2021 to 31 Jul 2021
1 Aug 2021 to 31 Aug 2021
1 Sep 2021 to 30 Sep 2021
1 Oct 2021 to 31 Oct 2021
1 Nov 2021 to 30 Nov 2021
1 Dec 2021 to 31 Dec 2021
1 Jan 2022 to 31 Jan 2022
1 Feb 2022 to 28 Feb 2022
1 Mar 2022 to 31 Mar 2022
1 Apr 2022 to 30 Apr 2022
1 May 2022 to 31 May 2022
1 Jun 2022 to 30 Jun 2022
Total 

–
63,567
–
–
–
–
–
–
3,354,850
–
–
949,819
4,368,236

–
32.08
–
–
–
–
–
–
35.95
–
–
28.37
34.24

BHP Group Limited2

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

BHP Group Plc (now BHP 
Group (UK) Limited)
211,207,1803
211,207,1803 
211,207,1803 
211,207,1803 
211,207,1803 
211,207,1803 
 211,207,1803,4 

–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

1  The shares were purchased in the currency of the stock exchange on which the purchase took place and the sale price has been converted into US dollars using the average weekly 

exchange rate of the week that such purchases took place for purchases on the ASX, and the average monthly exchange rate of the month that such purchases took place for purchases 
on the LSE.

2  BHP Group Limited is able to buy-back and cancel BHP Group Limited shares within the ‘10/12 limit’ without shareholder approval in accordance with section 257B of the Australian 
Corporations Act 2001. Any future on-market share buy-back program would be conducted in accordance with the Australian Corporations Act 2001 and with the ASX Listing Rules.
3  At the Annual General Meetings held during 2019, 2020 and 2021, shareholders authorised BHP Group Plc to make on-market purchases of up to 211,207,180 of its ordinary shares, 

representing 10 per cent of BHP Group Plc’s issued capital at the time.

4  BHP Group Plc (now BHP Group (UK) Limited) is no longer able to make on-market purchases of its ordinary shares as a result of its delisting in connection with the unification 

transaction with BHP Group Limited and as such it can no longer utilise the shareholder authorisation in relation to on-market purchases obtained at the Annual General Meeting in 2021.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

103

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial Review  
Directors’ Report continued

As at the date of this Directors’ Report, there 
were 15,846,572 unvested equity awards 
outstanding in relation to BHP Group Limited 
ordinary shares held by 20,790 holders. 
The expiry dates of these unvested equity 
awards range between August 2022 and 
August 2026 and there is no exercise price. 
4,400,000 fully paid ordinary shares in BHP 
Group Limited were issued as a result of the 
exercise of rights over unissued shares during 
or since the end of FY2022. No options over 
unissued shares or unissued interests in BHP 
have been granted during or since the end of 
FY2022 and no shares or interests were issued 
as a result of the exercise of an option over 
unissued shares or interests during or since the 
end of FY2022. For more information refer to 
Financial Statements note 25 ‘Employee share 
ownership plans’. 

For information on movements in share 
capital during and since the end of FY2022 
refer to Financial Statements note 16 
‘Share capital’.

4.  Share interests
Directors
‘Ordinary shareholdings and transactions’ in the 
Remuneration Report 5.4 sets out the relevant 
interests in shares in BHP Group Limited of 
the Directors who held office during FY2022, 
at the beginning and end of FY2022. No rights 
or options over shares in BHP Group Limited 
are held by any of the Non-executive Directors. 
Interests held by the Executive Director under 
employee equity plans as at 30 June 2022 
are set out in the tables showing interests in 
incentive plans contained in ‘Equity awards’ in 
the Remuneration Report 5.2. Except for Mike 
Henry, as at the date of this Directors’ Report, 
the information pertaining to shares in BHP 
Group Limited and held directly, indirectly or 
beneficially by Directors is the same as set 
out in the table in ‘Ordinary shareholdings 
and transactions’ in the Remuneration Report 
5.4. Where applicable, the information 
includes shares held in the name of a spouse, 
superannuation fund, nominee and/or other 
controlled entities.

All Directors have met the minimum 
shareholding requirement under their Terms 
of Appointment.

As at the date of this Directors’ Report, 
Mike Henry held:

–  (either directly, indirectly or beneficially) 
521,592 shares in BHP Group Limited 

–  rights and options over 978,790 shares 

in BHP Group Limited

Where applicable, the above information 
includes shares held in the name of a spouse, 
superannuation fund, nominee and/or other 
controlled entities.

We have not made available to any Directors 
any interest in a registered scheme. 

Executive Key 
Management Personnel

Interests held by members of the Executive KMP 
under employee equity plans as at 30 June 2022 

104

BHP

Annual Report 2022

are set out in the tables contained in the ‘Equity 
awards’ section in the Remuneration Report 5.2. 

The table below sets out the relevant interests 
in shares in BHP Group Limited held directly, 
indirectly or beneficially, as at the date of this 
Directors’ Report by those senior executives 
who were Executive Key Management 
Personnel (KMP) (other than the Executive 
Director) on that date. Where applicable, 
the information also includes shares held in 
the name of a spouse, superannuation fund, 
nominee and/or other controlled entities. 

Executive 
KMP member

Edgar Basto
David Lamont
Geraldine Slattery
Ragnar Udd

As at date  
of Directors’ Report

130,038
6,345
127,232
118,955

5.  Secretaries
Stefanie Wilkinson is the Group Company 
Secretary. For details of her qualifications and 
experience refer to the Biographical details in 
Directors’ Report 2.1. The following people also 
acted during FY2022 as Company Secretaries of 
BHP Group Limited: Geof Stapledon, BEc, LLB 
(Hons), DPhil, FCIS, until 7 July 2021, Prakash 
Kakkad, LLB, LPC, from 7 July 2021, John-Paul 
Santamaria, BEng (Civil) (Hons), LLB, from 
7 July 2021.

Each individual has experience in a company 
secretariat role or other relevant fields arising 
from time spent in roles within BHP, other large 
listed companies or other relevant entities.

6.  Indemnities 
and insurance
Rule 146 of the BHP Group Limited Constitution 
requires the company to indemnify, to the extent 
permitted by law, each Officer of BHP Group 
Limited against liability incurred in, or arising 
out of, the conduct of the business of BHP 
or the discharge of the duties of the Officer. 
The Directors named in 2.1 of the Directors’ 
Report, the Company Secretaries and other 
Officers of BHP Group Limited have the benefit 
of this requirement, as do individuals who 
formerly held one of those positions. 

In accordance with this requirement, BHP Group 
Limited has entered into Deeds of Indemnity, 
Access and Insurance (Deeds of Indemnity) 
with its Directors. 

We have a policy that BHP will, as a general 
rule, support and hold harmless an employee, 
including an employee appointed as a Director 
of a subsidiary who, while acting in good faith, 
incurs personal liability to others as a result of 
working for BHP. 

In addition, as part of the arrangements to 
effect the demerger of South32, we agreed to 
indemnify certain former Officers of BHP who 
transitioned to South32 from certain claims and 
liabilities incurred in their capacity as Directors or 
Officers of South32.

The terms of engagement for certain services 
include that we must compensate and reimburse 
EY for, and protect EY against, any loss, 
damage, expense, or liability incurred by EY 

in respect of third-party claims arising from 
a breach by BHP of any obligation under the 
engagement terms. 

We have insured against amounts that we 
may be liable to pay to Directors, Company 
Secretaries or certain employees (including 
former Officers) pursuant to Rule 146 of the 
Constitution of BHP Group Limited or that we 
otherwise agree to pay by way of indemnity. 
The insurance policy also insures Directors, 
Company Secretaries and some employees 
(including former Officers) against certain 
liabilities (including legal costs) they may incur 
in carrying out their duties. For this Directors’ 
and Officers’ insurance, we paid premiums of 
US$21,772,900 excluding taxes during FY2022. 

No indemnity in favour of a current or former 
officer of BHP Group Limited, or in favour of the 
External Auditor, was called on during FY2022.

7.  Dividends
A final dividend of 175 US cents per share will 
be paid on 22 September 2022, resulting in total 
cash dividends determined in respect of FY2022 
of 325 US cents per share. 

The merger of BHP’s oil and gas portfolio 
with Woodside Energy was completed on 
1 June 2022 and BHP paid a fully franked 
in specie dividend of US$3.86 per share or 
US$19.6 billion.

For information on the dividends paid refer 
to Financial Statements note 16 ‘Share 
capital’ and note 18 ‘Dividends’. 

8.  Auditors
A copy of the declaration given by our External 
Auditor to the Directors in relation to the auditors’ 
compliance with the independence requirements 
of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 and 
the Professional Code of Conduct for External 
Auditors is set out in Financial Statements 3. 

No current officer of BHP has held the role 
of director or partner of the Group’s current 
external auditor. 

9.  Non-audit services
For information on the non-audit services 
undertaken by BHP’s External Auditor, including 
the amounts paid for non-audit services, refer 
to Financial Statements note 34 ‘Auditor’s 
remuneration’. All non-audit services were 
approved in accordance with the process set 
out in the Policy on Provision of Audit and Other 
Services by the External Auditor. No non-audit 
services were carried out that were specifically 
excluded by the Policy on Provision of Audit 
and Other Services by the External Auditor. 
Based on advice provided by the Risk and 
Audit Committee, the Directors have formed 
the view that the provision of non-audit services 
is compatible with the general standard of 
independence for auditors, and that the nature 
of non-audit services means that auditor 
independence was not compromised. 

The reason for this view is that the objectivity 
and independence of the External Auditor are 
safeguarded through restrictions on the provision 
of these services with some services prohibited 
from being undertaken.

For more information about our policy 
in relation to the provision of non-audit 
services by the external auditor refer to 
7.2 ‘External audit and financial reporting’ 
of our Corporate Governance Statement.

10.  Exploration, research 
and development
Companies within the Group carry out 
exploration and research and development 
necessary to support their activities. 
Details are provided in OFR 5 ‘Our assets’, OFR 
10 ‘Performance by commodity’ and Resources 
and Reserves in the Annual Report. 

11.  ASIC Instrument 
2016/191
BHP Group Limited is an entity to which 
Australian Securities and Investments 
Commission (ASIC) Corporations (Rounding 
in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 
2016/191 dated 24 March 2016 applies. 
Amounts in this Directors’ Report and the 
Financial Statements, except estimates of future 
expenditure or where otherwise indicated, have 
been rounded to the nearest million dollars in 
accordance with ASIC Instrument 2016/191. 

12.  Proceedings on 
behalf of BHP Group 
Limited
No proceedings have been brought on behalf 
of BHP Group Limited, nor has any application 
been made, under section 237 of the Australian 
Corporations Act 2001. 

13.  Performance in 
relation to environmental 
regulation
BHP seeks to be compliant with all applicable 
environmental laws and regulations relevant 
to its operations. We monitor compliance on a 
regular basis, including through external and 
internal means, to minimise the risk of non-
compliance. 

For more information on BHP’s 
performance in relation to health,  
safety and the environment refer  
to OFR 7.4, 7.6 and 7.15.

For the purposes of section 299 (1)(f) of the 
Australian Corporations Act 2001, in FY2022 
BHP was levied four fines in relation to 
environmental laws and regulations at our 
operated assets, the total amount payable 
being US$22,514. 

14.  Additional information
BHP Group Limited has a branch registered in 
the United Kingdom. The Group, through various 
subsidiaries, has also established branches in a 
number of other countries.

The Directors’ Report is approved in accordance 
with a resolution of the Board. 

Ken MacKenzie 
Chair 

16 August 2022 

Mike Henry 
Chief Executive Officer

BHP

Annual Report 2022

105

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewIn this section:
Remuneration Committee Chair letter to shareholders
1
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7

Remuneration governance
Remuneration framework
How the remuneration framework is set
Remuneration framework operation
Potential remuneration outcomes
Remuneration for the CEO and other Executive KMP
FY2022 remuneration received by the CEO
FY2022 CDP performance outcomes
FY2022 LTIP performance outcomes
Overarching discretion and vesting underpin
Sign-on performance shares
LTIP allocated during FY2022
FY2023 remuneration for the CEO and other 
Executive KMP

4
4.1
4.2
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5

5.6
5.7

107
109
110
110
110
112
113
113
114
117
117
118
118
118

Remuneration for Non-executive Directors
Remuneration framework 
Non-executive Directors’ remuneration in FY2023
Statutory KMP remuneration and other disclosures
KMP remuneration table
Equity awards
Estimated value range of equity awards 
Ordinary share holdings and transactions
Prohibition on hedging of BHP shares and 
equity instruments
Share ownership guidelines and the MSR
Transactions with KMP

119
119
120
121
121
122
123
123
124

124
124

Abbreviation
AGM
CDP
CEO
DEP
ELT
GHG
HSEC
IFRS

Item
Annual General Meeting
Cash and Deferred Plan
Chief Executive Officer
Dividend Equivalent Payment
Executive Leadership Team
Greenhouse gas
Health, safety, environment and community
International Financial Reporting Standards

Abbreviation
KMP
LTIP
MAP
MSR
ROCE
STIP
TSR

Item
Key Management Personnel
Long-Term Incentive Plan
Management Award Plan
Minimum shareholding requirement
Return on Capital Employed
Short-Term Incentive Plan
Total Shareholder Return

106

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Annual Report 2022

Remuneration Report
Remuneration Committee Chair Letter to Shareholders

Christine O’Reilly 
Chair, Remuneration Committee

Dear Shareholders,
I am pleased to introduce BHP’s Remuneration 
Report for the financial year to 30 June 2022. 
During FY2022, the Remuneration Committee 
(Committee) continued its focus on achieving 
remuneration outcomes that fairly reflect the 
performance of BHP and the contribution 
of our employees, and which are aligned 
to the interests of shareholders and other 
key stakeholders. 

Our approach and framework
Our Charter sets out our values upon 
which the Committee places great weight 
in the determination of performance-based 
remuneration outcomes for BHP executives. 
Our Charter places health and safety at the 
forefront of our values while setting out our 
purpose, our strategy and how we measure 
success. The Committee aims to support our 
executives to take a long-term approach to 
decision-making in order to build a sustainable 
and value-adding business. 

The Committee is focused on a remuneration 
framework and approach that supports the 
Group’s strategy and enables us to attract, 
retain and motivate our executives located in 
different geographies. This is critical to delivering 
the best outcomes for all BHP stakeholders. 
As BHP is a global organisation, the Committee 
is also mindful of navigating the priorities and 
expectations of multiple jurisdictions.

At the 2021 AGMs, we received strong support 
for our remuneration framework and outcomes, 
with over 97 per cent voting in favour of the 
Remuneration Report. This means that over 
the past five years we have received an 
average of approximately 96 per cent support. 
The Committee and the Board continue to 
incorporate shareholder feedback into their 
approach to remuneration. 

FY2022 represents the third year of operation 
of our revised remuneration framework and 
we believe the framework is continuing to 
serve stakeholders well. The key changes to 
variable remuneration that took effect from 
1 July 2019 for the CEO were to significantly 
reduce the LTIP grant size from 400 per cent of 
base salary (on a face value basis) to 200 per 
cent, and a rebalancing to a CDP award with a 
long-term focus. The CDP outcome is delivered 
one-third as a cash award, with two-thirds 
delivered in equity that is deferred equally for 
two-year and five-year periods. This structure 
aligns participants’ incentive remuneration 
with performance over the short, medium and 
long term. 

competitive to attract, motivate and retain key 
talented executives and is consistent with the 
global market. 

The majority of the CEO’s remuneration 
package continues to be delivered in BHP 
equity, not in cash, and the CEO’s remuneration 
is deliberately tied to the performance of the 
business. In addition, the CEO is required to 
meet a MSR of five times pre-tax base salary 
and this applies for two years post-retirement. 
This ensures that the CEO’s remuneration is 
aligned to the experience of BHP’s shareholders. 
As at the date of this Report, the CEO’s BHP 
shareholding is in excess of his MSR.

Business performance 
I am pleased to say BHP’s performance 
for FY2022 has been underpinned by safe, 
reliable operations and firm demand for our 
commodities. We completed another year 
fatality free and we are unwavering in our effort 
to improve safety, including the elimination of 
sexual harassment, racism and bullying. 

We delivered reliable operational performance 
at Western Australia Iron Ore, with record sales 
for a third consecutive year and the South Flank 
project ramp up ahead of schedule. In copper, 
Escondida in Chile achieved record material 
mined and near-record concentrator throughput, 
while Olympic Dam in South Australia performed 
strongly in the fourth quarter after planned 
smelter maintenance. Queensland metallurgical 
coal ended the year with strong underlying 
performance in the face of significant 
wet weather. 

We have made strong progress on actions 
required to meet our commitments to reduce 
operational GHG emissions, which are down 
by 15 per cent since FY2017. We have further 
progressed our emission reduction partnerships 
with three major steelmakers in China and Japan 
and we also entered a new partnership with a 
fourth steelmaker in South Korea. The combined 
output of these four steelmakers equates to 
around 12 per cent of global steel production. 

Our US$5.7 billion Jansen potash project in 
Canada is tracking to plan and opportunities to 
bring forward first potash production at Jansen 
continue to be assessed. In addition, during 
FY2022, we merged our Petroleum business 
with Woodside, completed the sales of our 
interests in BMC and Cerrejón, and following a 
strategic review decided to retain New South 
Wales Energy Coal. As a consequence, we will 
seek approvals to continue mining until 2030. 
We also unified our corporate structure, and 
added to our global options in copper and nickel. 

We continue to benchmark the CEO and other 
executives’ remuneration against CEO and 
executive roles in other global companies of 
similar complexity, size, reach and industry. 
This detailed benchmarking ensures BHP’s 
executive remuneration framework remains 

COVID-19 continued to impact in FY2022, 
particularly in the areas of labour and supply 
chain constraints. We remain vigilant with 
continued social distancing and hygiene 
practices, and other additional protocols as 
appropriate to protect our workforce and 

communities. Despite the challenges that the 
COVID-19 pandemic continues to present, in 
FY2022 BHP continued its approach to not 
furlough any employees, did not seek any 
government assistance, and did not raise 
additional equity. In addition, BHP’s safe and 
reliable operational performance through this 
year, together with strong profitability, enabled 
the Board to announce record dividends for 
FY2022. This continues the delivery of strong 
and consistent returns to shareholders. 

FY2022 CDP
The CDP scorecard used to assess Mike 
Henry’s annual performance comprises 
stretching performance measures, including 
HSEC, financial and individual performance 
elements. For FY2022, the Committee 
has assessed the CEO’s performance and 
determined a CDP outcome of 96 per cent 
against a target of 100 per cent (and 64 per cent 
of the maximum). 

For the HSEC element, the outcome took into 
account BHP’s strong HSEC performance 
during the year, with no fatalities recorded, the 
strong progress against our Fatality Elimination 
Program and delivery of our cultural heritage 
commitments. This year we have also made 
progress on the implementation of controls for 
sexual harassment, although there remains 
more to be done. We also saw strong progress 
against our climate change targets, and our 
progress in the management of priority tailings 
storage facilities was pleasing. The CDP 
outcome for the HSEC measures was 31 per 
cent out of a target of 25 per cent.

Our financial performance was strong, 
and during FY2022 shareholders have 
again benefitted through record dividends. 
However, after fully eliminating the positive 
impacts of commodity prices during the year, 
operating performance at our assets was 
below the challenging internal targets set at 
the commencement of the year. This is in part 
due to higher than expected unplanned costs 
and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 
which flowed through into CDP outcomes 
without moderation for FY2022. This is a 
similar approach that was applied in FY2021 
and FY2020 and has the effect of reducing the 
remuneration outcomes for executives. The CDP 
outcomes for the financial measure was 40 per 
cent out of a target of 50 per cent.

Finally, from a personal performance 
perspective, the Committee considered Mike 
Henry’s performance against his individual 
measures. These included projects and 
initiatives in respect of social value (long 
term growth in value and returns for all 
stakeholders), people (right people, right skills, 
coming together in the right way to support 
exceptional performance), performance (material 
improvement in the system that supports 
exceptional performance) and portfolio (material 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

107

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewRemuneration Report continued

progress on our strategic objectives to create 
a portfolio that will set BHP up for the next 
20 years). The Committee considered Mike’s 
performance against his individual objectives 
met expectations and warranted an outcome 
aligned with the target of 25 per cent.

The CDP scorecard outcomes for other 
Executive KMP and the short-term incentive pool 
applicable to the majority of BHP employees 
below the ELT level, were, like the CEO, slightly 
below the 100 per cent target.

2017 LTIP award
The vesting outcome for the 2017 LTIP award 
was 100 per cent. The LTIP performance 
condition is relative TSR and BHP outperformed 
both the sector peer group and the MSCI 
World Index. This level of vesting is aligned 
with the projected vesting outcome that 
was communicated to shareholders in the 
Remuneration Report at the time the changes to 
our remuneration framework were approved by 
shareholders at the 2019 AGMs. 

The table below outlines the level of vesting 
each year from 2009 to 2022, together with the 
vesting outcomes projected in 2019. 

As shareholders will recall, one of the key 
elements of our revised remuneration framework 
was to reduce the weighting of future LTIP 
grants in the overall CEO remuneration 
package from FY2020. Pre-existing grants 
remained on foot and their vesting would be 
determined on the basis of existing service and 
performance conditions.

More information on the 2017 LTIP vesting 
outcome, including the five-year holistic 
business review covering HSEC performance, 
profitability, cash flow, balance sheet health, 
returns to shareholders, corporate governance 
and conduct, is included in 3.3 LTIP performance 
outcomes and 3.4 Overarching discretion and 
vesting underpin.

The value of the vested 2017 LTIP award is 
higher than the value of the award at the time it 
was granted due to the increase in share price 
during the five-year vesting period and strong 
dividends. In terms of value realised, 44 per cent 
is due to the value at the time the awards were 
granted and 56 per cent is due to share price 
appreciation and dividends. This reflects the 
experience of shareholders over the period. 

Consistent with its normal practice, in 
considering vesting, the Board and Committee 
have also conducted a holistic review of 
business performance over the five years since 
the award was granted to ensure this level of 
vesting was appropriate. 

More information on the overall remuneration 
outcomes for the CEO for the year, and how 
the outcomes are aligned to performance 
during FY2022, is provided in 3.1 FY2022 
Remuneration received by the CEO. 
Having considered the overall remuneration 
outcomes for the CEO carefully, as set out 
above and in 3.1, the Committee concluded 
it was a fair reflection of performance and the 
experience of shareholders, and the application 
of any downwards discretion was not warranted. 

FY2023 remuneration
For FY2023, the Committee determined that 
the CEO’s base salary would increase by 3 per 
cent, effective 1 September 2022. This was 
assessed as appropriate having conducted 
updated benchmarking and considered the 

external market demand for senior executive 
talent. The Committee considers the increase 
modest in this context, as well as being below 
the median salary increase applied for other 
BHP employees of approximately 4 per cent. 
Other components of the CEO’s total target 

remuneration (pension contributions, benefits, 
CDP and LTIP) remain unchanged and, where 
relevant, as percentages of base salary. 
A summary of the CEO’s arrangements for 
FY2023 is set out below. 

Fixed remuneration

CDP

LTIP

–  Base salary US$1.750 million per annum, an 

–  Target cash award of 80% of base salary 

–  The LTIP grant is based on a face value of 200% 

increase of 3% from 1 September 2022.

(maximum 120%).

of base salary.

–  Pension contribution 10% of base salary.

–  Plus two awards of deferred shares each of 

–  Our LTIP awards have rigorous relative TSR 

equivalent value to the cash award, vesting in  
two and five years, respectively.

–  Three performance categories:

–  HSEC – 25% 

–  Financial – 50%

–  Individual – 25%

performance hurdles measured over five years.

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LTIP vesting100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%020092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022Actual vesting           Discretion used           Projected vesting   100%0%0%0%0%0%100%100%100%–35%65%58%48%70%100%100%100%100%Vesting yearThe Committee has also reviewed the base 
salaries and total target remuneration packages 
for other Executive KMP. The Committee 
determined they would also increase by 3 per 
cent, effective 1 September 2022. An additional 
increase has been determined for Ragnar Udd 
reflecting his performance and development 
in role (for more information regarding base 
salaries for FY2023 refer to 3.7 FY2023 
remuneration for the CEO and other Executive 
KMP). Other aspects of other Executive KMP 
remuneration arrangements remain unchanged. 

Remuneration outcomes for 
the Chair and Non-executive 
Directors 
Fees for the Chair and Non-executive Directors 
are reviewed annually and are benchmarked 
against peer companies. No changes to the 
Chair’s fee will be made for FY2023. The Chair 
fee has remained unchanged since 1 July 2017. 
In 2017, a decision was made to reduce the 
Chair’s annual fee by approximately 8 per cent 
from US$0.960 million to US$0.880 million with 
effect from 1 July 2017. This followed an earlier 
reduction on 1 July 2015 of approximately 13 per 
cent from US$1.100 million to US$0.960 million. 

Base fee levels for Non-executive Directors 
will also remain unchanged. The fees of 
Non-executive Directors were also reduced 
on 1 July 2015 by approximately 6 per cent, 
from US$0.170 million to US$0.160 million 
per annum. 

In FY2022, BHP undertook a series of major 
transactions. As a consequence, modest fees 
were paid to certain Non-executive Directors for 
additional or extra services performed in FY2022 
in connection with major transactions undertaken 
by the Group. 

Summary
This year the COVID-19 pandemic continued 
to impact not only BHP, but our customers, 
suppliers, governments, employees, families 
and communities across the world. On behalf 
of the Committee, I would like to recognise the 
continued hard work, dedication and sacrifices 
of our employees. Through their steadfast 
commitment, they have enabled BHP to 
generate strong results for all stakeholders and 
continued to support their communities. 

We deliberately align our executive remuneration 
with performance, with a significant component 
of possible remuneration structured as variable 
pay. We are confident that the outcomes this 
year are consistent with our long held approach 
of remuneration outcomes reflecting the 
performance of BHP and the experience of our 
shareholders. Given our critical need to attract, 
motivate and retain our executives in order to 
progress our strategic objectives and deliver the 
best outcomes for all BHP stakeholders, this is a 
pleasing result for all concerned. 

We look forward to ongoing dialogue with and 
the support of BHP’s shareholders. As always, 
we welcome your feedback and comments on 
any aspect of this Report.

Christine O’Reilly 
Chair, Remuneration Committee

16 August 2022

1  Remuneration governance 

Board oversight

The Board is responsible for ensuring the Group’s remuneration arrangements are equitable and aligned with the long-term interests of BHP and its 
shareholders. In performing this function, it is critical the Board is independent of management when making decisions affecting remuneration of the CEO, 
other Executive KMP and the Group’s employees.

The Board has established the Committee to assist it in making such decisions. The Committee is comprised solely of Non-executive Directors, all of 
whom are independent. The Committee has extensive access to members of senior management and regularly invites them to attend meetings to provide 
reports and updates. However, members of management are not present when decisions are considered or taken concerning their own remuneration. 
The Committee can also draw on services from a range of external sources, including independent remuneration advisers.

Remuneration Committee

The activities of the Committee are governed by its Terms of Reference which is available at bhp.com. The current members of the Committee are: 
Christine O’Reilly (Chair), Catherine Tanna (member from 4 April 2022) and Dion Weisler. The following present and former Non-executive Directors 
served as members of the Committee during the year: Gary Goldberg (member to 17 June 2022), Anita Frew (member to 11 November 2021) and Susan 
Kilsby (member to 11 November 2021). The role and focus of the Committee and details of meeting attendances can be found in 2.2 Directors’ Report. 

Key decisions and activities of the Committee during FY2022 included:

–  considering and approving remuneration for members of the ELT 

–  setting targets for and reviewing outcomes against performance measures and conditions of relevant incentive plans, including the Committee 

considering its discretion over FY2022 plan outcomes

–  reviewing the fee for the BHP Chair, which remains unchanged 

–  considering remuneration and remuneration reporting implications of unification and the merger of the Petroleum business and Woodside 

–  reviewing and adopting changes and improvements flowing from regulatory requirements and guidance, which in turn helps us improve our processes 

and approaches

–  engaging with shareholders and other key stakeholders

–  undertaking reviews of remuneration by gender and the annual Shareplus enrolment

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Engagement of independent remuneration advisers

The Committee seeks and considers advice from independent remuneration advisers where appropriate. Remuneration consultants are engaged by 
and report directly to the Committee. Potential conflicts of interest are taken into account when remuneration consultants are selected and their terms of 
engagement regulate their level of access to, and require their independence from, BHP’s management. 

PwC has been appointed to act as an independent remuneration adviser and is currently the only remuneration adviser appointed by the Committee. 
In that capacity, they may provide remuneration recommendations in relation to KMP, however, they did not provide any remuneration recommendations 
in FY2022. 

KMP for FY2022

This Remuneration Report describes the remuneration policies, practices, outcomes and governance for the KMP of BHP. At BHP, KMP consists of 
our Board (including the CEO), as well as certain members of our ELT who have authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the 
activities of the Group directly or indirectly. After due consideration, the Committee determined the KMP for FY2022 comprised all Non-executive Directors 
and the following Executive KMP: the CEO, the Chief Financial Officer, the President Minerals Australia, the President Minerals Americas and the Senior 
Executive Officer (i.e. the President Petroleum until 31 May 2022).

The following individuals have held their positions and were KMP for the whole of FY2022, unless stated otherwise:

–  Mike Henry, CEO and Executive Director 

–  Edgar Basto, President Minerals Australia 

–  David Lamont, Chief Financial Officer 

–  Geraldine Slattery, President Petroleum from 1 July 2021 to 31 May 2022 and Senior Executive Officer from 1 June to 30 June 2022

–  Ragnar Udd, President Minerals Americas 

–  Non-executive Directors – for details of Non-executive Directors, including dates of appointment or cessation (where relevant), refer to 

2.2 Directors’ Report.

2  Remuneration framework 
BHP has an overarching remuneration framework that guides the Committee’s decisions and is designed to support our strategy and reinforce our culture 
and values.

2.1  How the remuneration framework is set
The Committee sets the remuneration framework for the Executive KMP, including the CEO. The Committee is briefed on and considers prevailing 
market conditions, the competitive environment and the positioning and relativities of pay and employment conditions across the wider BHP workforce. 
The Committee takes into account the annual base salary increases for our employee population when determining any change in the Executive KMP’s 
base salary. The salary increases in locations where our Executive KMP are based are particularly relevant when reviewing their remuneration to ensure 
that their remuneration also reflects the local economic conditions.

The principles that underpin the remuneration framework for Executives are the same as those that apply to other employees, however Executive KMP 
arrangements have a greater emphasis on and a higher proportion of remuneration that is at risk as performance-related variable pay. The performance 
measures used to determine variable pay outcomes for the Executive KMP and all other employees are linked to the delivery of our strategy and 
behaviours that are aligned to Our Charter values.

As part of the Board’s commitment to good governance, the Committee considers shareholder views and those of the wider community when setting the 
remuneration framework for the Executive KMP. We are committed to engaging and communicating with shareholders regularly and, as our shareholders 
are spread across the globe, we are proactive with our engagement on remuneration and governance matters with institutional shareholders and investor 
representative organisations. Feedback from shareholders and investors is used as input into decision-making by the Board and the Committee in relation 
to our remuneration framework and its application. The Committee considers that this approach provides a robust mechanism to ensure Directors are 
aware of matters raised, have a deep understanding of current shareholder views and can formulate frameworks and make decisions as appropriate. 
We encourage shareholders to make their views known to us by directly contacting our Investor Relations team (contact details available at bhp.com).

2.2  Remuneration framework operation
Our approved remuneration policy was adopted by shareholders in 2019 for a three-year period in accordance with UK requirements and following the 
unification of our corporate structure in early 2022 BHP is no longer required to have our policy approved by shareholders every three years. However, 
the following table shows the current components of our remuneration framework, which is consistent with the prior approved remuneration policy.

Fixed remuneration

CDP

LTIP

Purpose and 
link to strategy

Market competitive fixed remuneration 
is paid in order to attract, motivate and 
retain high-quality and experienced 
executives, and provide appropriate 
remuneration for these important roles 
in the Group.

The purpose of the LTIP is to focus 
executive’s efforts on the achievement of 
sustainable long-term value creation and 
success of the Group (including appropriate 
management of business risks).

The CDP encourages and focuses 
executives’ efforts for the relevant 
financial year on the delivery of the 
Group’s strategic priorities, balancing 
financial and non-financial performance, 
to deliver short, medium and long-
term success aligned to our purpose 
and Our Charter, and to motivate 
executives to strive to achieve stretch 
performance objectives.

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Fixed remuneration

CDP

LTIP

Remuneration 
components 
and link 
to performance

Fixed remuneration comprises 
base salary, pension contributions 
and benefits.

Competitive fixed remuneration is 
aligned to global complexity, size, 
reach and industry, and reflects 
executives’ responsibilities, location, 
skills, performance, qualifications 
and experience.

Annual variable pay opportunity linked 
to execution of business strategy. 
A balanced scorecard of short, medium 
and long-term elements including 
HSEC (25% weighting), financial (50% 
weighting) and individual performance 
measures (25% weighting) are chosen 
on the basis that they are expected to 
have a significant short, medium and 
long-term impact on the success of 
the Group, with appropriate targets for 
each measure which will appropriately 
motivate Executive KMP to achieve 
outperformance that contributes to the 
long-term sustainability of the Group and 
shareholder wealth creation.

Annual long-term variable pay opportunity 
based on grants of five-year performance 
rights designed to align executives’ 
reward with sustained shareholder wealth 
creation in excess of relevant comparator 
group(s), through the relative TSR 
performance condition.

Relative TSR has been chosen as an 
appropriate measure as it enables an 
objective external assessment over a 
sustained period on a basis that is familiar 
to shareholders.

Assessment 
of performance 

CDP 

LTIP

Achievement against each scorecard measure is assessed by 
the Committee and the Board, with guidance provided by other 
relevant Board Committees in respect of HSEC, financial and 
other measures, and a CDP award determined.

If performance is below the threshold level for any measure, 
no CDP award will be provided in respect of that portion of the 
CDP award opportunity.

Vesting of the LTIP award is dependent on BHP’s TSR relative 
to the TSR of relevant comparator group(s) over a five-year 
performance period.

25% of the award will vest where BHP’s TSR is equal to the 
median TSR of the relevant comparator group(s), as measured 
over the performance period. Where TSR is below the median, 
awards will not vest.

In the event the Committee does not consider the outcomes 
that would otherwise apply to be a true reflection of the 
performance of the Group or should it consider that 
individual performance or other circumstances makes this an 
inappropriate outcome, it retains the discretion to not provide 
all or a part of any CDP award. This is an important mitigation 
against the risk of unintended award outcomes.

Delivery 
and vesting

CDP awards are provided as cash and two awards of deferred 
shares, each of equivalent value to the cash award, vesting in 
two and five years respectively.

Awards of deferred shares comprise rights to receive ordinary 
BHP shares in the future at the end of the deferral periods. 
Before the awards vest (or are exercised), these rights are 
not ordinary shares and do not carry entitlements to ordinary 
dividends or other shareholder rights; however, a DEP is 
provided on vested awards. The Committee has a discretion 
to settle CDP awards in cash.

Vesting of five-year deferred shares under the CDP is 
underpinned by a holistic review of performance at the end 
of the five-year vesting period, including a review of HSEC 
performance, profitability, cash flow, balance sheet health, 
returns to shareholders, corporate governance and conduct 
over the five-year period.

Vesting occurs on a sliding scale between the median TSR of 
the relevant comparator group(s) up to a nominated level of 
TSR outperformance over the relevant comparator group(s), 
as determined by the Committee, above which 100% of the 
award will vest.

Where the TSR performance condition is not met, there is no 
retesting and awards will lapse. The Committee also retains 
discretion to lapse any portion or all of the award where it 
considers the vesting outcome is not appropriate given Group 
or individual performance. This is an important mitigation against 
the risk of unintended outcomes.

LTIP awards consist of rights to receive ordinary BHP shares 
in the future if the performance and service conditions are met.

Before vesting (or exercise), these rights are not ordinary shares 
and do not carry entitlements to ordinary dividends or other 
shareholder rights; however, a DEP is provided on vested awards. 
The Committee has a discretion to settle LTIP awards in cash.

Vesting of five-year performance rights under the LTIP is 
underpinned by a holistic review of performance at the end of 
the five-year performance period, including a review of HSEC 
performance, profitability, cash flow, balance sheet health, 
returns to shareholders, corporate governance and conduct 
over the five-year period.

Cessation 
of employment

On cessation of employment, a ‘good leaver’1 may receive 
a pro-rated cash award based on performance for that year. 
For a ‘good leaver’, their unvested CDP deferred awards 
generally remain on foot (wholly or in part) unless the 
Committee determine otherwise. If the executive is not a ‘good 
leaver’, all unvested CDP deferred awards will lapse.

On cessation of employment, for a ‘good leaver’1 their unvested 
LTIP awards generally remain on foot on termination and are pro-
rated for the portion of the vesting period served. These awards 
are eligible for vesting in the ordinary course, subject to any 
applicable performance conditions. If the executive is not a ‘good 
leaver’, all unvested LTIP awards will lapse.

Malus and  
clawback

CDP awards (including cash and deferred share awards) and LTIP awards are subject to the Group’s malus and clawback policy 
(see below).

1 

‘Good leaver’ treatment may apply where the reason for the cessation of employment with BHP is due to forced early retirement, retrenchment or redundancy, termination 
by mutual agreement or retirement with the agreement of the Group, or such other circumstances that do not constitute resignation or termination for cause.

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Malus and clawback

As has been set out in prior Remuneration Reports, for many years we have had malus and clawback provisions in place. During FY2022, we enhanced 
our malus and clawback policy covering awards made from 2021 under the CDP and LTIP. This enhanced policy further clarified the circumstances in 
which the Committee is able to reduce or clawback awards, which include:

–  an error in the Group’s Financial Statements that requires a material downward restatement 

–  performance of a participant, or of the business or of the Group does not justify vesting or where the participant’s conduct or performance has been in 

breach of their employment contract, any laws, rules, codes of conduct or policies applicable to them or the standards reasonably expected of a person 
in their position

–  misstatement or misrepresentation of the performance of the company 

–  where any team, business area, member of the Group or profit centre in which the participant works or worked has been found guilty in connection  

with any regulatory investigation or has been in breach of any laws, rules, codes of conduct or policies applicable to it or the standards reasonably expected of it 

–  an event that has had, or may have a material adverse effect on the value or reputation of any member of the Group 

–  where the Committee determines there has been material damage to the Group’s social licence to operate 

–  a catastrophic health, safety, environment or community event or events occurring in any part of the Group 

–  an act, omission or event occurs which constitutes a material failure of risk management or of other operational systems and controls 

–  a participant is found to have contributed to circumstances that give rise to a material loss for any Group Company 

These malus and clawback provisions apply whether or not awards are made in the form of cash or equity, whether or not the equity has vested,  
and whether or not employment is ongoing.

Service contracts 

The terms of employment for the CEO and Executive KMP are formalised in their employment contracts. The current contracts of the CEO and Executive 
KMP are not fixed term. BHP may choose to terminate a contract on up to 12 months’ notice. BHP can require an executive to work through the notice 
period or may terminate the individual’s contract immediately by paying base salary plus pension contributions in lieu of the notice period. The CEO and 
Executive KMP must provide up to 12 months’ notice for voluntary resignation. 

Approach to recruitment and promotion 

For external candidates that are appointed Executive KMP, the Committee may determine that it is appropriate to provide additional cash and/or equity 
components to replace any remuneration forfeited or not received from a former employer. It is anticipated any foregone equity awards would be replaced 
by equity. The value of the replacement remuneration would not be any greater than the fair value of the awards foregone or not received (as determined 
by the Committee’s independent adviser). The Committee would determine appropriate service conditions and performance conditions within BHP’s 
remuneration framework, taking into account the conditions attached to the foregone awards. The Committee is mindful of limiting such payments and not 
providing any more compensation than is necessary. For any internal Executive KMP appointment, any entitlements provided under former arrangements 
will be honoured and remain on foot according to their existing terms. 

2.3  Potential remuneration outcomes
The Committee recognises market forces influence remuneration practices and it strongly believes the fundamental driver of remuneration outcomes 
should be performance. It also believes that overall remuneration should be fair to the individual, and remuneration levels should accurately reflect 
the CEO’s and other Executive KMP’s responsibilities and contributions, while aligning with the expectations of our shareholders and considering the 
positioning and relativities of pay and employment conditions across the wider BHP workforce.

The amount of remuneration actually received each year depends on the achievement of business and individual performance that generate sustained 
shareholder value. Before deciding on the final incentive outcomes for the CEO and other Executive KMP, the Committee first considers the achievement 
of pre-determined performance conditions. The Committee then applies its overarching discretion to determine what it considers to be a fair and 
commensurate remuneration level in order to decide if the outcome should be reduced. In this way, the Committee believes it can set a remuneration 
level for the CEO and other Executive KMP that is sufficient to incentivise and is also fair and commensurate with shareholder expectations and prevailing 
market conditions. 

The diagram below provides the scenarios for the potential total remuneration of the CEO and other Executive KMP at different levels of performance.

Remuneration mix for the CEO and other Executive KMP

Minimum CEO and 
other Executive KMP

100%

Target CEO

27%

Target other
Executive KMP

28%

18%

19%

36%

38%

Maximum CEO

17%

17%

34%

19%

15%

32%

28%

Maximum other
Executive KMP

4
1
1

0%

18%

18%

36%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

   Fixed remuneration

CDP (cash)

CDP (deferred shares)

LTIP

% of total remuneration

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Annual Report 2022

Minimum: consists of fixed remuneration, which comprises base salary, pension contributions (10 per cent of base salary) and other benefits (notional 
10 per cent of base salary), details of which are set out in 5.1 KMP remuneration table. 

Target: consists of fixed remuneration, target CDP (a cash award of 80 per cent of base salary plus two awards of deferred shares each of equivalent 
value to the cash award, vesting in two and five years, respectively) and target LTIP. The LTIP target value in the chart above is based on the fair value 
of the award, which is 41 per cent of the face value of 200 per cent of base salary for the CEO and 175 per cent for other Executive KMP. The potential 
impact of future share price movements is not included in the value of deferred CDP awards or LTIP awards. 

Maximum: consists of fixed remuneration, maximum CDP (a cash award of 120 per cent of base salary plus two awards of deferred shares each 
of equivalent value to the cash award, vesting in two and five years respectively), and maximum LTIP (in the chart above based on the face value of 
200 per cent of base salary for the CEO and 175 per cent for other Executive KMP). The potential impact of future share price movements is not included 
in the value of deferred CDP awards or LTIP awards. 

The maximum opportunity represented above is the most that could potentially be paid for each remuneration component. It does not reflect any intention 
by the Group to award that amount. In determining the maximum remuneration opportunity, the Committee reviews relevant benchmarking data and 
industry practices and believes the maximum remuneration opportunity is appropriate.

3  Remuneration for the CEO and other Executive KMP
3.1  FY2022 remuneration received by the CEO 
The table below is a voluntary non-statutory disclosure of the remuneration received by the CEO during FY2022 and FY2021. This table is unaudited and 
differs from the audited remuneration calculated in accordance with the Australian Accounting Standards (refer to 5.1 KMP remuneration table and in Financial 
Statements note 25 Employee share ownership plans). 

The difference between the disclosure in the table below and remuneration calculated in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards relates to the CDP 
and LTIP. The remuneration calculated in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards require the fair value of the CDP and LTIP to be calculated at the 
time of grant and to be amortised over the relevant vesting periods regardless of the performance outcome. This may not reflect what the executive receives. 
In the table below, the CDP and LTIP values relate to the performance outcomes and actual amount received each year under the CDP (i.e. against the CDP 
scorecard) and the LTIP (i.e. the LTIP vesting outcome).

This table is designed to provide greater transparency for shareholders on the remuneration for the CEO during FY2022 and FY2021 as it has a stronger link 
to performance, with the CDP and LTIP included below representing those amounts that have been received as a consequence of satisfying performance 
conditions in the relevant financial year.  

Details of the components of remuneration are contained in 2.2 Remuneration framework operation and the values in the table are explained further in the notes below.

US$(’000)

Mike Henry

FY2022
FY2021

Base salary

Benefits1

Pension2

1,700
 1,700

168
120

170
170

CDP3

3,917
4,692

LTIP4

8,712
7,939

Total 

14,667
14,621

1  Benefits are non-pensionable and include net movements in leave balances, private family health insurance, spouse business-related travel, car parking, fringe benefits tax 

and personal tax return preparation in required countries.

2  Mike Henry’s FY2022 and FY2021 pension contributions were provided based on 10 per cent of base salary. 
3  The values shown are the full CDP value (cash and deferred equity) earned as a consequence of performance during FY2022 and FY2021. The FY2022 CDP award will be 

provided one-third in cash in September 2022 and two-thirds in deferred equity, with one-third due to vest in FY2025 and one-third due to vest in FY2027 (on the terms of the 
CDP). The FY2021 CDP award was provided one-third in cash in September 2021 and two-thirds in deferred equity, with one-third due to vest in FY2024 and one-third due to 
vest in FY2026 (on the terms of the CDP).

4   Mike Henry’s LTIP award values for FY2022 and FY2021 (refer below) are based on the full awards he received in 2017 and 2016 respectively when he was President 

Operations, Minerals Australia (prior to becoming and with no proration applied for time as CEO), and 100 per cent of the awards vesting. For FY2022 the LTIP award value 
is calculated on the average share price for the month of July 2022 (which will be updated for the actual share price on the vesting date in the 2023 Remuneration Report); 
whereas the LTIP award value for FY2021 was calculated on the actual share price on the vesting date.

A revised remuneration framework took effect from 1 July 2019 and significantly reduced the LTIP grant size for the CEO from 400 per cent of base salary 
(on a face value basis) to 200 per cent and a rebalancing to a CDP award with a long-term focus. As a result, the remuneration for Mike Henry reported 
above reflects the transition to this structure and includes the full amounts of the CDP award earned during FY2022 and FY2021 (i.e. irrespective that 
some elements of the CDP award are deferred) together with the full amounts of the pre-existing LTIP awards vesting at the end of FY2022 and FY2021 
which were granted in 2017 and 2016, respectively (i.e. when the LTIP award size was double the current grant size). 

Had the current remuneration framework been in place when Mike’s 2017 and 2016 LTIP awards were granted and a reduced size awarded, the reported 
LTIP values would have been US$4.356 million for FY2022 and US$3.970 million for FY2021 (instead of US$8.712 million and US$7.939 million in the 
table above). The reported total remuneration would have therefore been US$10.311 million for FY2022 and US$10.652 million for FY2021 (instead of 
US$14.667 million and US$14.621 million in the table above).

CEO pay ratio

The FY2022 CEO pay ratio, calculated using the reported total fixed and variable remuneration above for the CEO, and compared to the median 
remuneration for all of our employees worldwide, was 123:1 (FY2021 – 130:1). The remuneration calculation for all employees is based on actual 
earnings for the 12 months to 31 March 2022, including annual incentive payments for employees calculated using the Group performance outcome, and 
vested equity received if applicable. Pension contributions are calculated as the total cost of contributions made by the Group over the 12-month period. 
Employees on international assignments have been excluded from the analysis as their remuneration structures are generally not consistent with the 
remuneration received by the CEO as noted in the table above.

The FY2022 ratio of 123:1 at the median compared to the FY2021 ratio of 130:1 reflects the proportion of the CEO’s pay being more heavily weighted 
to variable pay, including share-based long-term incentives, than for other employees. The change from FY2021 to FY2022 is driven by a lower FY2022 
CDP outcome of 96 per cent (FY2021: 115 per cent) for the CEO, a higher value of the CEO’s vested LTIP award in FY2022 compared to FY2021 and an 
increase in the median remuneration for all of our employees worldwide. 

The Group believes the median pay ratio reflects the diversity of our global business footprint and employee population. BHP’s remuneration policies and 
practices are based on a high degree of alignment and consistency, with total remuneration at all levels providing a competitive package that enables the 
attraction and retention of talent while also providing at-risk remuneration based on performance.

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3.2  FY2022 CDP performance outcomes
The Board and the Committee assessed the Executive KMP’s CDP outcomes in light of the Group’s performance in FY2022 and took into account 
performance against the measures in each Executive KMP’s CDP scorecard. For the CEO, the Board and the Committee determined a CDP outcome 
for FY2022 at 96 per cent against the target of 100 per cent (which represents an outcome of 64 per cent against maximum). The Board and Committee 
believe this outcome is appropriately aligned with the shareholder experience and the interests of the Group’s other stakeholders. 

The CEO’s CDP scorecard outcome for FY2022 is summarised in the following tables, including a narrative description of each performance measure and 
the CEO’s level of achievement, as determined by the Committee and approved by the Board. The level of performance for each measure is determined 
based on a range of threshold (the minimum necessary to qualify for any reward outcome), target (where the performance requirements are met), and 
maximum (where the performance requirements are significantly exceeded).

Summary of outcomes for the CEO

Performance measure

HSEC

Financial

Individual

Total

HSEC

Weighting  
for FY2022

25%

50%

25%

100%

Threshold

Target

Maximum

Mike Henry

Percentage outcome

31%

40%

25%

96%

The HSEC targets for the CEO are aligned to the Group’s 2030 public sustainability goals. As it has done for several years, when assessing HSEC performance 
against the scorecard targets, the Committee seeks guidance from the Sustainability Committee. The Committee has taken a holistic view of Group performance 
in critical areas, including considering any additional matters outside the scorecard targets that the Sustainability Committee has provided and considers relevant.  

The performance commentary below is provided against the HSEC scorecard targets, which were set on the basis of operated assets only.

HSEC measures 

Scorecard targets

Performance against scorecard targets

Significant events

No significant (actual level 4) 
health, safety (including fatalities), 
environment or community events 
during the year.

–  There were no fatalities or other significant HSEC events during 

FY2022 at operated assets.

–  In addition, for a maximum outcome to be awarded, strong progress was 
required on the development and implementation of controls in relation 
to the Fatality Elimination Program, sexual harassment and cultural 
heritage, and this was achieved in relation to the Fatality Elimination 
Program and cultural heritage for FY2022. While we continued to make 
progress on the implementation of our actions to eliminate sexual 
harassment during FY2022, we have more to do in FY2023.

Measure outcome

Between target 
and maximum.

Climate change

Reported GHG emissions 
in FY2022 are below the 
FY2017 level. 

A majority of planned 
decarbonisation projects are 
presented for tollgates and 
all asset adaptation plans 
are updated. 

Work undertaken as planned 
under partnerships with 
strategic customers in the 
steel sector established in 
FY2021, one more partnership 
formalised, and a review of 
Scope 3 goals and estimation 
methodologies completed.

–  For FY2022, we improved on our operational GHG emissions 

target of 14.6Mt, with an outcome of 12.5Mt1, which was greater 
than 10% below the target (i.e. required for maximum).

Between target 
and maximum.

–  Each region presented 90% of GHG reduction projects schedules 
and adaptation plans, updated for material changes, which were 
incorporated in the planning process. The completion of early stage 
development studies that contributed to the Group’s medium term 
target and financial and economic evaluation of physical climate 
change risks and adaptation measures (i.e. both required for 
maximum) was largely completed, with work continuing into FY2023.

–  During the year, we commenced Phase 1 work for each of the three 
strategic Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) signed with steel 
customers in FY2021 (China Baowu (China), JFE Steel Corporation 
(Japan) and HBIS Limited (China)), including the commencement 
and delivery of work plans for each partnership. An additional 
steelmaking partnership MOU was signed with POSCO (South 
Korea) in October 2021, a new customer partnership was signed 
focussed on plant trials with Zenith Steel (China), and a review of 
BHP Scope 3 goals and methodology was completed. An industrial 
scale sinter plant emission reduction trial (i.e. required for 
maximum) was commenced with Zenith Steel in May 2022 relating 
to the optimisation stage of steel decarbonisation.

Management of 
priority tailings 
storage facilities 
(TSFs)

All priority TSFs are assessed 
based on key risk indicator data, 
and are either within appetite 
or continued operation outside 
appetite is approved with 
remediation progressing to plan.

–  All priority TSFs are within appetite based on key risk indicator 
data or continued operation outside appetite is approved with 
remediation progressing to plan.

Target.

–  We have continued improving our key risk indicator performance 
with 85% of all key risk indicators for priority TSFs rated either on 
target or less risk being taken than target, against a target of 85% 
and 90% required for maximum.

The outcome against the HSEC measure for FY2022 was 31 per cent out of the target of 25 per cent. 

1  As reported to the Sustainability Committee and Remuneration Committee meetings in early August 2022 and considered for the purposes of determining FY2022 CDP 

outcomes. The GHG emissions for FY2022 are subject to third-party verification. 

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Financial

ROCE is underlying profit after taxation (excluding after-taxation finance costs and exceptional items) divided by average capital employed. ROCE is 
the key financial measure against which CDP outcomes for our senior executives are measured and is, in our view, a relevant measure to assess the 
financial performance of the Group for this purpose. While ROCE excludes exceptional items, the Committee reviews each exceptional item to assess 
if it should be included in the result when determining the ROCE CDP outcome.

When we are assessing management’s performance, we make adjustments to the ROCE result to allow for changes in commodity prices, foreign 
exchange movements and other material items (from the levels assumed in setting the targets) to ensure the assessment appropriately measures 
outcomes that are within the control and influence of the Group and its executives. Of these, changes in commodity prices have historically been the most 
material due to volatility in prices and the impact on Group revenue and ROCE. As it has done for several years, the Committee seeks guidance each 
year from the Risk and Audit Committee when assessing financial performance against scorecard targets.

Financial 
measure
ROCE

Scorecard targets 
For FY2022, the target for ROCE was 38.1%, with a 
threshold of 33.5% and a maximum of 42.0%.

Achievement of the ROCE target will result in a target 
CDP outcome. The ROCE target considers the upside 
opportunities and downside risks inherent in BHP’s 
businesses, and is an outcome that the Committee 
believes would be a level of performance that shareholders 
would view positively. The maximum and threshold are 
an appropriate range of ROCE outcomes, given the 
upside opportunities and downside risks, that represent 
an upper limit of stretch outperformance that would 
represent the maximum CDP award, and a lower limit of 
underperformance below which no CDP award should 
be made. 

The performance range around target is subject to a greater 
level of downside risk than there is upside opportunity, 
mainly due to physical and regulatory asset constraints. 
Accordingly, the range between threshold and target is 
somewhat greater than that between target and maximum. 
For maximum, the Committee takes care not to create 
leveraged incentives that encourage executives to push for 
short-term performance that goes beyond our risk appetite 
and current operational capacity. 

The Committee retains, and has a track record of applying, 
downward discretion (but not upwards discretion) to ensure 
the CDP outcome is appropriately aligned with the overall 
performance of the Group for the year, and is fair and 
equitable to management and shareholders.

Measure 
outcome

Below 
target.

Performance against scorecard targets
ROCE of 48.7% was reported by BHP for FY2022. 
Adjusted for the factors outlined below, ROCE is 36.3%, 
which is below target. The following adjustments were 
made to ensure the outcomes appropriately reflect the 
performance of management for the year: 

–  The full elimination of the impacts of positive movements 
in commodities prices and exchange rates decreased 
ROCE by 6.9 percentage points.

–  Adjustments for other material items made to ensure 

the outcomes reflect the performance of management 
for the year decreased ROCE by 5.5 percentage points. 
This was mainly due to the elimination of the positive 
effect on reported ROCE outcomes of lower depreciation 
and lower asset values in the closing balance sheet due 
to the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside 
and the sale of our interest in BMC. This downwards 
adjustment was necessary to ensure the basis of the 
ROCE outcome for CDP purposes was the same as the 
basis upon which Petroleum and our interest in BMC 
were included in the ROCE target for FY2022.  

–  Having reviewed the FY2022 exceptional items (as 

described in Financial Statements note 3 Exceptional 
items), the Committee determined these should not be 
considered for the purposes of determining the FY2022 
ROCE CDP outcome and that no further action was 
required in respect of exceptional items.

The key drivers of the FY2022 ROCE outcome of 36.3% 
being below the target for FY2022 of 38.1% set at the 
commencement of the year were: 

–  In Minerals Australia, production volumes were lower than 
expected mainly driven by labour and supply constraints 
across most assets associated with COVID-19, delays 
in the ramp up of South Flank at Western Australian 
Iron Ore, labour availability issues and interrupted 
autonomous haulage rollout at BMA, and the longer than 
planned duration of the smelter maintenance campaign at 
Olympic Dam. In addition, input prices were higher across 
all assets.

–  In Minerals Americas, in addition to unplanned 

maintenance and higher input prices at all assets, 
production volumes were impacted by lower than 
expected recoveries at Pampa Norte due to plant 
design issues related to the Spence Growth Option and 
higher clay content, and lower than expected copper 
concentrator feed grade at Escondida.

–  In Petroleum, despite achieving planned production, sales 
volumes were lower than expected due to unfavourable 
timing, partly offset by better than expected cost performance.

The outcome against the ROCE measure for FY2022 was 40 per cent out of the target of 50 per cent. 

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Individual measures for the CEO

Individual measures for the CEO are determined at the commencement of the financial year. The application of personal measures remains an important 
element of effective performance management. These measures seek to provide a balance between the financial and non-financial performance 
requirements that maintain our position as a leader in our industry. The CEO’s individual measures for FY2022 included contribution to BHP’s overall 
performance and the management team, and the delivery of projects and initiatives within the scope of the CEO role as specified by the Board, as set out 
in the table below.

Individual 
measures

Individual scorecard targets 

Performance against scorecard targets

Measure 
outcome

Social value Deliver a successful Say on Climate outcome at the 

–  The Climate Transition Action Plan / Say on Climate 

Target.

2021 AGMs.

Deliver an external update on BHP’s embedment and 
measurement of Social Value.

People

Increase in female participation by three percentage points.

Engagement and Perception Survey (EPS) improvement 
survey on survey over the year and substantively improve 
lower performing teams.

was successfully approved at the 2021 AGMs with 85% 
of votes in favour.

–  A Social Value Framework (SVF) was developed 
and approved by the Board in October 2021 and 
subsequently deployed across BHP. In June 2022, 
the SVF was presented to our workforce as well as 
externally via an investor roundtable, and both internal 
and external engagements were received positively. 

–  Female participation increased in FY2022 by 2.5 
percentage points to 32.3% at 30 June 2022, 
compared to 29.8% at 30 June 2021.

–  While most of our people continue to feel safe, 

engaged and enabled, our EPS results declined 
marginally in FY2022. The EPS results of lower 
performing teams were, on average, similar in FY2022 
compared to the prior year, even though a number of 
lower performing teams did show improvement.

Performance >90% of BHP Operating System (BOS) deployments on 

–  94% of BOS deployments are on track according 

track, Operational Excellence Indicator (OEI) > 40 at 75% 
of sites at end of deployment, and > 75% improving OEI 
improving assessment-on-assessment for other sites.

Enable the data strategy and associated value creation 
through transforming data accuracy, consistency 
and access.

Portfolio

Progress the strategic review activities with respect to 
Petroleum, our interest in BMC and New South Wales 
Energy Coal as approved by the Board.

Additional nickel and copper search spaces captured.

Continued maturation of the innovation and venture 
business units.

to plan. 88% of BOS sites at the end of deployment 
achieved an OEI score above the target of 40 (with 
an average OEI score of 43). 91% of sites already in 
deployment recorded an assessment-on-assessment 
improvement over FY2022.

–  The data strategy has been reinforced to enable value 

creation through transformation of data accuracy, 
consistency and cloud-native access. We have also 
established a data analytics operating model which 
retains capabilities in the assets and functions whilst 
enabling standards and tool replication across the 
Group to remove duplication, and migrated 1SAP and 
an additional 78 applications to the cloud to unlock 
enhanced performance and enhance cybersecurity.

–  We made strong progress on strategic review activities 
as approved by the Board, including the merger of our 
Petroleum business with Woodside (completed in June 
2022), and the divestments of our interests in Cerrejón 
(completed in January 2022) and BMC (completed in 
May 2022). In June 2022, we announced that we will 
retain New South Wales Energy Coal and will seek 
approval to continue mining through to cessation of 
operations in FY2030. 

–  While we secured additional investments in nickel 

and copper projects, the public offer made for Noront 
Resources (nickel) was unsuccessful.

–  Our pursuit of innovation has progressed, with 60 
innovation concepts generated for evaluation in 
FY2022. Strong progress also continues across 
ventures, with 9 investments executed during FY2022, 
while ventures also supported market intelligence in our 
strategic evaluations of new products and processes.

Below  
target.

Slightly  
above  
target.

Slightly  
above  
target.

Overall, it was considered the performance of the CEO against the individual measures for FY2022 had met expectations and warranted an outcome 
aligned to the target of 25 per cent.

The CDP performance measures for other Executive KMP for FY2022 are similar to those of the CEO outlined above. However, for the other Executive 
KMP, the weighting of each performance measure will vary to reflect the focus required from each Executive KMP role. As with the CEO, individual 
performance measures are determined at the start of the financial year. These include the other Executive KMP’s contribution to the delivery of projects 
and initiatives within the scope of their role and the overall performance of the Group. Individual performance of other Executive KMP was reviewed 
against these measures by the Committee and, on average, were considered to have met expectations and warranted an outcome aligned with target.

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The diagram below represents the FY2022 CDP weightings and outcomes against the original scorecard for other Executive KMP.

Performance categories

HSEC

Financial

Individual

Group

Region 

Group

Region

Other Executive 
KMP with region 
responsibility

Other Executive 
KMP without region 
responsibility

Threshold

Target

Maximum

12.5%

12.5% 

25%

25%

25%

25%

0% 

50%

0%

25%

 BHP 

 Minerals Australia 

 Minerals America 

 Petroleum

3.3  FY2022 LTIP performance outcomes
The five-year performance period for the 2017 LTIP award for relevant Executive KMP ended on 30 June 2022. Vesting is subject to achievement of the 
relative TSR performance conditions and any discretion applied by the Committee (refer to 3.4 Overarching discretion and vesting underpin).

For the 2017 LTIP award to vest in full, BHP’s TSR over the performance period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2022 must be at or exceed the 80th 
percentile of the Sector Group TSR and the World TSR. TSR includes returns to BHP shareholders in the form of share price movements along with 
dividends paid and reinvested in BHP (including cash and in-specie dividends).

BHP’s TSR performance was positive 181.7 per cent over the five-year period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2022. This is above the 80th percentile of the 
Sector Group TSR of positive 168.7 per cent and above the 80th percentile of the World TSR of positive 128.8 per cent over the same period. This level 
of performance results in 100 per cent vesting for the 2017 LTIP award. The value of the CEO’s vested 2017 LTIP award has been reported in 3.1 FY2022 
remuneration received by the CEO.

The graph below shows BHP’s performance relative to comparator groups.

BHP vs. Sector Group and MSCI World TSR over 2017 LTIP cycle
TSR since 1 July 2017 (%) 

200%

150%

100%

50%

0%

–50%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Years ended 30 June

BHP TSR

Sector Group 50th percentile TSR

Sector Group 80th percentile TSR

World (MSCI) 50th percentile TSR

World (MSCI) 80th percentile TSR

The value of the vested 2017 LTIP award is higher than the value of the award at the time it was granted. With the share price having risen appreciably 
during the five-year period and strong dividends, 44 per cent of the value realised is due to the value at the time the awards were granted and 56 per cent 
is due to share price appreciation and dividends. This value increment due to share price appreciation and dividends is consistent with the experience of 
shareholders over the period.

3.4  Overarching discretion and vesting underpin
The rules of the CDP and LTIP and the terms and conditions of the awards provide the Committee with an overarching discretion to reduce the number 
of awards that will vest, notwithstanding that the performance condition or the relevant service conditions have been met.

This overarching discretion is a holistic, qualitative judgement and is applied as an underpin test before final vesting is confirmed. It is an important 
risk management tool to ensure vesting is not simply driven by a formula or the passage of time that may give unexpected or unintended 
remuneration outcomes. 

The Committee considers its discretion carefully each year ahead of the scheduled vesting of CDP and LTIP equity awards in August. It considers 
performance holistically over the five-year period, including a five-year ‘look back’ on HSEC performance, profitability, cash flow, balance sheet health, 
returns to shareholders, corporate governance and conduct. For the five years from FY2018 to FY2022, the Committee noted BHP’s continued 
improvement in HSEC outcomes, strong operational performance with improving production and cost performance, and significant returns to 
shareholders, together with no governance or conduct issues of note. 

Firstly, in respect of the vesting of CDP two-year deferred shares (granted in November 2020 in respect of performance in FY2020), the Committee chose 
not to exercise its discretion and allowed the CDP awards to vest in full. 

Secondly, in respect of the vesting of the 2017 LTIP five-year performance shares, the formulaic outcome of the 2017 LTIP was 100 per cent vesting. 
Having undertaken the ‘look back’ review described above, the Committee concluded the vesting outcome was appropriate given Group and individual 
performance, and chose not to exercise its discretion and allowed 100 per cent of the LTIP awards to vest. There is no upwards discretion available to the 
Committee in respect of the LTIP and the overarching discretion may only reduce the number of awards that may vest.

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3.5  Sign-on performance shares
David Lamont joined BHP as Chief Financial Officer on 1 December 2020. David left his former employer, CSL Limited (CSL), a major Australian company 
listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, on 30 October 2020. As a consequence of his resignation, certain CSL incentive awards, which were expected 
to have been paid or vested in 2021 and beyond, were foregone. Replacement BHP awards were provided in accordance with BHP’s remuneration 
framework. In accordance with that policy, remuneration that David forfeited or did not receive as a consequence of leaving CSL to join BHP was partly 
replaced with 86,279 performance shares (i.e. 77,000 awards granted plus 9,279 additional uplift awards allocated as part of the merger of the Petroleum 
business with Woodside) and the Committee determined appropriate service and performance conditions. 

The performance conditions were a holistic assessment of underlying financial performance of BHP and personal performance of David during the vesting 
period. At the time of grant, the target was 80 per cent vesting of awards, with a maximum of 100 per cent and a minimum of zero. 

The service condition was satisfied and the Committee assessed the performance condition over the relevant performance period (1 December 2020 to 
30 June 2022). The Committee considered BHP’s TSR, the CDP finance measure outcomes and David’s personal performance (with guidance on this 
assessment from the CEO).   

In particular, the Committee considered the following information over the relevant period: 

–  BHP’s relative TSR performance was slightly above the weighted median of BHP’s sector peers 

–  BHP’s financial performance, as measured by the CDP finance measure outcomes, was slightly below target

–  the CEO’s view that David had performed in line with expectations in his role

The Committee exercised its discretion and determined to vest 80 per cent or 69,023 of the performance shares. The awards which will not vest will 
instead lapse. A holding lock will apply to the vested shares until August 2023, at which time they will be released to David. Should David voluntarily 
resign or retire during the holding lock period, or be terminated for cause, the shares subject to the holding lock will be forfeited.

3.6  LTIP allocated during FY2022
Following shareholder approval at the 2021 AGMs, 107,183 LTIP awards (in the form of performance rights) were granted to the CEO on 23 November 
2021. The face value of the CEO’s award was 200 per cent of his base salary of US$1.700 million at the time of grant. The fair value of the awards 
is ordinarily calculated by multiplying the face value of the award by the fair value factor of 41 per cent (for the current plan design, as determined by 
the independent adviser to the Committee). The 107,183 LTIP awards for the CEO was determined based on the US$ face value of the LTIP awards 
of US$3.400 million and calculated using the average share price and US$/A$ exchange rate over the 12 months up to and including 30 June 2021. 
LTIP awards granted to other Executive KMP during FY2022 were calculated on the same basis as described above for the CEO, except that awards for 
other Executive KMP had a face value of 175 per cent of base salary.

In addition to the LTIP terms set out in 2.2 Remuneration framework operation, the Committee has determined the following terms for the 2021 LTIP:

Performance period

–  1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026

Performance conditions

–  An averaging period of six months will be used in the TSR calculations.

–  BHP’s TSR relative to the weighted median TSR of sector peer companies selected by the Committee (Sector Group 
TSR) and the MSCI World Index (World TSR) will determine the vesting of 67% and 33% of the award, respectively. 

–  Each company in the sector peer group is weighted by market capitalisation. The maximum weighting for any one 

company is 25% and the minimum is set at 0.4% to reduce sensitivity to any single sector peer company.

–  For the whole of either portion of the award to vest, BHP’s TSR must be at or exceed the weighted 80th percentile of 

the Sector Group TSR or the World TSR (as applicable). Threshold vesting (25% of each portion of the award) occurs 
where BHP’s TSR equals the weighted 50th percentile (i.e. the median) of the Sector Group TSR or the World TSR 
(as applicable). Vesting occurs on a sliding scale between the weighted 50th and 80th percentiles.

–  Resources (85%): Anglo American, Fortescue Metals, Freeport-McMoRan, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Southern Copper, 

Teck Resources, Vale. 

–  Oil and gas (15%): Apache, BP, Canadian Natural Res., Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy, EOG Resources, 

ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Shell, Woodside. 

Sector peer group  
companies1 

1  From November 2018, CONSOL Energy was removed from the sector comparator group, as due to its internal restructuring it had become a less comparable peer.

3.7  FY2023 remuneration for the CEO and other Executive KMP
The remuneration for the CEO and other Executive KMP in FY2023 will be in accordance with 2.2 Remuneration framework operation. 

Base salary review

Base salaries are reviewed annually and increases are applicable from 1 September. The CEO commenced in the role on 1 January 2020 and did not 
receive a base salary increase in FY2021 or FY2022. The Board and the Committee have assessed the CEO and other Executive KMP’s performance 
and determined that, as of 1 September 2022:

–  The CEO’s and other Executive KMP’s base salaries will increase by 3 per cent following a review by the Committee of the external market demand for 
senior executive talent and updated benchmarking. The Committee considers the increases modest in this context, as well as being below the median 
salary increase applied for other BHP employees of approximately 4 per cent.

–  In addition, having reviewed Ragnar Udd’s performance and development in role since appointment in November 2020, including the dynamic context 
and growing importance of the Americas region to the Group, the Committee provided an additional increase of 6 per cent increase in base salary  
(i.e. 9 per cent in total).

The CEO’s and other Executive KMP’s base salaries will be kept under review in future years to ensure they remain competitive.

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FY2023 CDP performance measures

For FY2023, the Board and the Committee have set the following CDP scorecard performance measures for the CEO. The weighting of each 
performance measure and specific individual performance measures will vary for other Executive KMP to reflect the focus required from each of them 
in their role:

Performance 
categories

Safety and 
Sustainability 

Weighting 

Target measures

25%

The following Safety and Sustainability (previously HSEC) performance measures are designed to incentivise achievement of the 
Group’s public goals.

Financial

50%

Individual 

25%

Significant events (10%): No significant (actual level 4) health, safety (including fatalities), environment or community events 
during the year. Achievement of sexual harassment and Fatality Implementation Program FY2023 deliverables.

Climate change (10%): FY2023 GHG emissions targets met, aligned with progress towards the 2030 medium term target. A 
majority of planned decarbonisation projects are presented for tollgates or milestones as scheduled. Progress Memorandum of 
Understanding commitments with steel customers.

Indigenous partnerships (5%): Achieve uplift in Indigenous, Traditional Owner and First Nations vendor procurement. Planned 
progress on Indigenous employment / participation targets. Release revised Global Indigenous Peoples Strategy.

ROCE is underlying profit after taxation (excluding after-taxation finance costs and exceptional items) divided by average capital 
employed. When assessing management’s performance, adjustments are made to the ROCE result to allow for changes in 
commodity prices, foreign exchange movements and other material items to ensure the assessment appropriately measures 
outcomes that are within the control and influence of the Group and its executives. For reasons of commercial sensitivity, the 
target for ROCE is not disclosed in advance.

The CEO’s individual measures for FY2023 comprise the contribution to BHP’s overall performance and the management team 
and the delivery of projects and initiatives within the scope of the CEO role as set out by the Board. These include projects and 
initiatives in respect of social value, people, performance and portfolio. 

These performance measures are aligned with medium and long-term strategy aspirations that are intended to drive long-term 
value for shareholders and other stakeholders and the Board considers a 25% weighting in the CDP to be appropriate for these 
important elements.

Individual performance measures for other Executive KMP similarly contribute to the delivery of projects and initiatives within the 
scope of their role and BHP’s overall performance.

FY2023 LTIP award

The maximum face value of the CEO’s FY2023 LTIP award under the remuneration framework is US$3.500 million, being 200 per cent of the CEO’s 
base salary at the time of grant. The number of LTIP awards in FY2023 has been determined using the share price and US$/A$ exchange rate over the 
12 months up to and including 30 June 2022 (adjusted to eliminate the value of the in-specie dividend distributed in connection with the merger of BHP’s 
Petroleum business with Woodside from the daily BHP Group Limited share prices between 1 July 2021 to 31 May 2022). Based on this, a FY2023 
grant of 118,853 LTIP awards is proposed and approval for this LTIP grant will be sought from shareholders at the 2022 AGM. If approved, the award 
will be granted following the AGM (i.e. in or around November 2022, subject to securities dealing considerations). The FY2023 LTIP award will use the 
same performance and service conditions as the FY2022 LTIP award, except that the MSCI World Metals and Mining Index will replace the sector group 
companies comparator group, due to the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside. Accordingly, the FY2023 LTIP award will use the following 
comparator groups: the new MSCI World Metals and Mining Index and the existing MSCI World Index, which will determine the vesting of 67 per cent and 
33 per cent of the award, respectively.

LTIP awards granted to other Executive KMP during FY2023 will be calculated on the same basis as described above for the CEO, except that awards for 
other Executive KMP will have a maximum face value of 175 per cent of base salary.

4  Remuneration for Non-executive Directors
Our remuneration framework for Non-executive Directors aligns with the Australian Securities Exchange Corporate Governance Council’s Principles 
and Recommendations (4th Edition). 

4.1  Remuneration framework
The following table shows the components for Non-executive Directors’ remuneration. Non-executive Directors are not eligible to participate in any 
CDP or LTIP awards.

Fees

Benefits

Purpose and link  
to strategy

Competitive fees are paid in order to attract and retain high-
quality individuals, and to provide appropriate remuneration for 
the role undertaken. Fees are set at a competitive level based 
on benchmarks and advice provided by external advisers.

Competitive benefits are paid in order to attract and 
retain high-quality individuals and adequately remunerate 
them for the role undertaken, including the considerable 
travel burden.

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Remuneration components 

Fees

Benefits

The Chair is paid a single fee for all responsibilities.  
Non-executive Directors are paid a base fee and relevant 
committee membership fees. Committee Chairs and the Senior 
Independent Director are paid an additional fee to reflect their 
extra responsibilities. 

All fee levels are reviewed annually and any changes are 
ordinarily effective from 1 July. 

Fee levels reflect the size and complexity of the Group and 
the geographies in which the Group operates. The economic 
environment and the financial performance of the Group are 
taken into account. Consideration is also given to salary reviews 
across the rest of the Group.

Where the payment of pension contributions is required by law, 
these contributions are deducted from the Director’s overall 
fee entitlements.

Travel allowances are paid on a per-trip basis reflecting 
the considerable travel burden imposed on members of 
the Board as a consequence of the global nature of the 
organisation and apply when a Director needs to travel 
internationally to attend a Board meeting or site visits at 
our multiple geographic locations.

As a consequence of our prior dual listed company 
structure, Non-executive Directors are required to prepare 
personal tax returns in Australia and the UK, regardless of 
whether they reside in one or neither of those countries. 
They are accordingly reimbursed for the costs of personal 
tax return preparation in whichever of the UK and/or 
Australia is not their place of residence (including payment 
of the tax cost associated with the provision of the benefit).

Letters of appointment 

The Board has adopted a letter of appointment that contains the terms on which Non-executive Directors will be appointed, including the basis upon 
which they will be indemnified by the Group. The Board has adopted a policy under which all Non-executive Directors must seek re-election at the AGM 
each year. As a result of requiring re-election each year, Non-executive Directors do not have a fixed term in their letter of appointment. 

The maximum aggregate fees payable to Non-executive Directors (including the Chair) were approved by shareholders at the 2008 AGMs at 
US$3.800 million per annum. This sum includes base fees, Committee fees and pension contributions. Travel allowances and non-monetary benefits are 
not included in this limit.

Payments on early termination or loss of office

There are no provisions in any of the Non-executive Directors’ appointment arrangements for compensation payable on early termination of their 
directorship. A Non-executive Director may resign on reasonable notice. No payments are made to Non-executive Directors on loss of office.

4.2  Non-executive Directors’ remuneration in FY2023
In FY2023, the remuneration for the Non-executive Directors will be paid in accordance with the remuneration framework set out above. Fee levels for 
the Non-executive Directors and the Chair are reviewed annually. The review includes benchmarking against peer companies, with the assistance of 
external advisers. 

From 1 July 2017, the Chair’s annual fee was reduced by approximately 8 per cent from US$0.960 million to US$0.880 million and will remain at that level 
for FY2023. This fee reduction was in addition to the reduction of approximately 13 per cent from US$1.100 million to US$0.960 million effective 1 July 
2015. Base fee levels for Non-executive Directors will remain at the reduced levels that took effect from 1 July 2015, at which time they were reduced by 
approximately 6 per cent from US$0.170 million to US$0.160 million per annum. 

The below table sets out the annualised total remuneration and total fixed fees for FY2023, which are unchanged from FY2022.

Levels of fees and travel allowances for Non-executive Directors (in US$)

Base annual fee
Plus additional fees for:
Senior Independent Director 
Committee Chair:
Risk and Audit
Remuneration
Sustainability
Nomination and Governance
Committee membership:
Risk and Audit
Remuneration
Sustainability
Nomination and Governance
Travel allowance:1
Greater than 3 but less than 10 hours
10 hours or more
Chair’s fee

From 1 July 2022

160,000

48,000

60,000
45,000
45,000
No additional fee

32,500
27,500
27,500
18,000

7,000
15,000
880,000

1 

In relation to travel for Board business, the time thresholds relate to the flight time to travel to the meeting location (i.e. one way flight time). Only one travel allowance is paid 
per round trip.

120

BHP

Annual Report 2022

5  Statutory KMP remuneration and other disclosures
5.1  KMP remuneration table
The table below has been prepared in accordance with relevant accounting standards. Remuneration data for KMP are for the periods of FY2021 and FY2022 
that they were KMP. More information on the framework and operation of each element of remuneration is provided earlier in this Report.

Share-based payments

The figures included in the shaded columns of the statutory table below for share-based payments were not actually provided to the Executive KMP 
including the CEO during FY2022 or FY2021. These amounts are calculated in accordance with accounting standards and are the amortised IFRS fair 
values at grant date of equity and equity-related instruments that have been granted to the executives. For information on awards that were allocated 
and vested during FY2022 and FY2021, refer to 5.2 Equity awards.

Short-term benefits

Post-
employment 
benefits

Share-based payments

US$(‘000)

Executive Director
Mike Henry

Other Executive KMP
Edgar Basto

Peter Beaven7
David Lamont

Daniel Malchuk7
Geraldine Slattery

Ragnar Udd

Non-Executive Directors
Terry Bowen

Malcolm Broomhead

Ian Cockerill

Xiaoqun Clever8

Anita Frew9

Gary Goldberg

Michelle Hinchliffe8
Susan Kilsby9

Ken MacKenzie 

Lindsay Maxsted9
John Mogford

Christine O’Reilly8

Catherine Tanna8
Shriti Vadera9
Dion Weisler

Financial 
year

Base salary/ 
Fees1

Annual cash 
incentive2

Non-monetary 
benefits3

Other 
benefits4

Retirement 
benefits5

Value of CDP/
STIP awards2,6

FY2022
FY2021

FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021

FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021
FY2022
FY2021

1,700
1,700

1,306
1,564

950
950
417
950
554
333
850
800
850
567

248
219
165
195
233
220
193
144
81
220
301
246
64
69
220
863
864
33
234
215
276
162
49
74
191
178

646
866
400
730
510
307
700
800
653
521

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

168
120

45
60
39
37
42
23
–
25
32
49

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–

–
–
–
300
–
–
695
–
–
420

32
4
31
3
61
–
18
–
2
2
71
2
30
16
1
32
4
3
17
2
32
–
30
1
32
1

170
170

95
95
83
95
55
67
128
160
85
57

15
12
12
10
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
17
16
2
–
–
–
9
4
–
14
9

1,890
1,487

698
432
876
615
167
765
1,019
777
576
190

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Value 
of LTIP 
awards6

2,297
2,315

786
839
787
1,754
935
620
856
930
676
483

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

 Total

7,531
7,356

3,220
3,242
2,602
4,481
2,263
2,115
4,248
3,492
2,872
2,287

295
235
208
208
294
220
211
144
83
222
372
248
94
85
221
912
884
38
251
217
308
171
83
75
237
188

1  Base salaries and fees shown in this table reflect the amounts paid over the 12-month period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 for each Executive KMP and Non-Executive 
Director. There were no changes to Executive KMP base salaries during FY2022. The following Non-Executive Directors have received special exertion fees for additional 
or extra services they performed in FY2022 in connection with major transactions undertaken by the Group: in connection with the unification of BHP’s dual listed structure 
– Gary Goldberg received an additional fee of US$20,000 as Chair of the Transaction Committee and Ian Cockerill and Terry Bowen received US$12,500 each as members 
of the Transaction Committee; and in connection with the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside – Christine O’Reilly received an additional fee of US$20,000 as 
Chair of the Transaction Committee and Terry Bowen and John Mogford received US$12,500 each as members of the Transaction Committee.

2  Annual cash incentive in this table is the cash portion of CDP awards earned in respect of performance during each financial year for each executive. CDP is provided one-
third in cash and two-thirds in deferred equity (which are included in the Share-based payments columns of the table). The cash portion of CDP awards is paid to Executive 
KMP in September of the year following the relevant financial year. The minimum possible value awarded to each individual is nil and the maximum is 360 per cent of base 
salary (120 per cent in cash and 240 per cent in deferred equity). For FY2022, Executive KMP earned the following CDP awards as a percentage of the maximum (the 
remaining portion has been forfeited): Mike Henry 64 per cent, Edgar Basto 57 per cent, David Lamont 64 per cent, Geraldine Slattery 69 per cent, and Ragnar Udd 64 per 
cent. Peter Beaven’s and Daniel Malchuk’s FY2021 CDP was paid in cash and prorated to reflect the period served until they ceased to be KMP on 30 November 2020 and 
31 October 2020 respectively.

3  Non-monetary benefits are non-pensionable and include items such as net leave accruals, private family health insurance, spouse business-related travel, car parking, fringe 

benefits tax and personal tax return preparation in required countries.    

4  Other benefits are non-pensionable and for FY2022 include a sign-on cash award on commencement of employment for David Lamont representing compensation for 

remuneration that David forfeited or did not receive as a consequence of leaving CSL to join BHP in 2020; an encashment of annual leave entitlements under the US 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

121

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewRemuneration Report continued

Annual Leave policy for Geraldine Slattery, together with a retention award for Geraldine to ensure her services were retained by BHP after the August 2021 announcement 
of the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside; and in FY2021, a one-off relocation allowance (with no trailing entitlements) provided to Ragnar Udd relating to 
his international relocation from Australia to Chile. The majority of the amounts disclosed for benefits for Non-executive Directors are usually travel allowances (amounts 
of between US$ nil and US$70,000 for FY2022) however, the COVID-19 pandemic restricted Non-executive Director travel during FY2021 and FY2022. For FY2022, 
amounts of between US$ nil and US$4,000 are included in respect of tax return preparation; and amounts of between US$ nil and US$1,500 are included in respect of the 
reimbursement of the tax cost associated with the provision of taxable benefits.  

5  Retirement benefits for each Executive KMP in FY2021 and FY2022 were 10 per cent of base salary as per the remuneration framework, with the exception of the retirement 

benefits reported for Geraldine Slattery of 15 per cent of base salary for FY2022 and the retirement benefits reported for Peter Beaven, Daniel Malchuk and Geraldine 
Slattery of 20 per cent of base salary for FY2021 in accordance with prior remuneration framework. Non-Executive Director fees are inclusive of minimum superannuation 
contributions of up to 10 per cent of remuneration for FY2022 in accordance with Australian superannuation legislation. No other pension contributions were paid.

6  The IFRS fair value of CDP and LTIP awards is estimated at grant date. Refer to Financial Statements note 25 Employee share ownership plans. 
7  The remuneration reported for Peter Beaven and Daniel Malchuk reflects service as Executive KMP up to 30 November 2020 and 31 October 2020, respectively.
8  The FY2021 remuneration for Xiaoqun Clever and Christine O’Reilly relates to part of the year only, as they joined the Board on 1 October 2020 and 12 October 2020 respectively. 
The FY2022 remuneration for Michelle Hinchliffe and Catherine Tanna relates to part of the year only, as they joined the Board on 1 March 2022 and 4 April 2022 respectively.  
9  The FY2022 remuneration for Anita Frew and Susan Kilsby relates to part of the year only, as they retired from the Board on 11 November 2021. The FY2021 remuneration 

for Lindsay Maxsted and Shriti Vadera relates to part of the year only, as they retired from the Board on 4 September 2020 and 15 October 2020 respectively.

5.2  Equity awards
The interests held by Executive KMP under the Group’s employee equity plans are set out in the table below. Each equity award is a right to acquire 
one ordinary share in BHP Group Limited upon satisfaction of the vesting conditions. Our mandatory minimum performance requirements for securities 
dealing governs and restricts dealing arrangements and the provision of shares on vesting or exercise of awards. No interests under the Group’s 
employee equity plans are held by related parties of Executive KMP.

Approval from BHP’s shareholders for the issue of equity awards to the CEO under the CDP and LTIP was obtained under ASX Listing Rule 10.14 
at the 2021 AGM.

DEP applies to awards provided to Executive KMP under the CDP and LTIP as detailed in 2.2 Remuneration framework operation. No DEP is payable 
on MAP awards previously provided to Executive KMP.

Executive KMP received or will receive awards under the CDP, STIP and LTIP. The terms and conditions of CDP and LTIP awards, including the 
performance conditions, are described in 2.2 Remuneration framework operation. 

BHP senior management who are not KMP receive awards under the MAP. While no MAP awards were granted to Executive KMP after becoming KMP, 
Edgar Basto, Geraldine Slattery and Ragnar Udd still hold MAP awards that were allocated to them prior to commencing their Executive KMP service. 

Award type
Mike Henry
CDP
CDP
CDP
CDP
STIP
LTIP
LTIP
LTIP
LTIP
LTIP
LTIP
Edgar Basto
CDP
CDP
LTIP
LTIP
MAP
MAP
MAP
MAP
David Lamont
Performance 
shares
CDP
CDP
LTIP
LTIP
Geraldine Slattery
CDP
CDP
CDP
CDP
STIP
LTIP
LTIP
LTIP
MAP
MAP
MAP

Date  
of grant

At 1 July 
2021

Granted

Uplift1

Vested

Lapsed

At 30 
June 
2022

Award 
vesting 
date2

Market price on date of:

Grant3

Vesting4

Gain on 
awards 
(‘000)5

DEP on 
awards 
(‘000)

23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
 20-Oct-20
 20-Oct-20
20-Nov-19
23-Nov-21
20-Oct-20
20-Nov-19
18-Dec-18
24-Nov-17
9-Dec-16

23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
20-Oct-20
19-May-20
19-May-20
25-Sep-19
24-Sep-18

 1-Dec-20
23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
1-Dec-20

23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
20-Oct-20
20-Oct-20
20-Nov-19
23-Nov-21
20-Oct-20
20-Nov-19
21-Feb-19
21-Feb-19
24-Sep-18

–
–
 44,348
44,348
17,420
–
140,239
153,631
172,413
218,020
192,360

–
–
–
68,572
28,245
28,245
28,245
27,651

77,000
–
–
–
68,572

–
–
 25,490
25,490
6,628
–
54,136
104,748
28,527
28,527
28,527

49,304
49,304
–
–
–
107,183
–
–
–
–
–

27,312
27,312
52,409
 –
–
–
–
–

 –
16,072
16,072
52,409
–

25,219
25,219
–
–
–
46,892 
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

3,292
3,292
6,316
8,263
3,404
3,404
3,404
–

9,279
1,937
1,937
6,316
8,263

–
–
–
–
17,420
–
–
–
–
–
192,360

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
27,651

–
–
–
–
–

3,039
3,039
3,072
3,072
–
5,651   
6,524
12,623
3,438
3,438
–

–
–
–
–
6,628
–
–
–
–
–
28,527

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

49,304
49,304
44,348
44,348

107,183
140,239
153,631
172,413
218,020

 Aug 26
Aug 23
 Aug 25
Aug 22
– 18 Aug 21
Aug 26
Aug 25
Aug 24
Aug 23
Aug 22
– 18 Aug 21

30,604
30,604
58,725
 76,835
31,649
31,649
31,649

 Aug 26
Aug 23
 Aug 26
Aug 25
Aug 24
Aug 23
Aug 22
–  18 Aug 21

86,279
18,009
18,009
58,725
76,835

 Aug 22
 Aug 26
Aug 23
 Aug 26
Aug 25

28,258
28,258
28,562
28,562

52,543
60,660
117,371
31,965
31,965

 Aug 26
 Aug 23
 Aug 25
 Aug 22
– 18 Aug 21
 Aug 26
Aug 25
Aug 24
Aug 23
Aug 22
– 18 Aug 21

A$38.05
A$38.05
A$35.90
A$35.90
A$37.24
A$38.05
A$35.90
A$37.24
A$33.50
A$27.97
A$25.98

A$38.05
A$38.05
A$38.05
A$35.90
A$35.05
A$35.05
A$36.53
A$33.83

A$38.56
A$38.05
A$38.05
A$38.05
A$38.56

A$38.05
A$38.05
A$35.90
A$35.90
A$37.24
A$38.05
A$35.90
A$37.24
A$34.83
A$34.83
A$33.83

–
–
–
–
A$47.70
–
–
–
–
–
A$47.70

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
A$47.70

–
–
–
–
A$831
–
–
–
–
–
A$9,176

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
A$1,319

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
A$47.70
–

–
–
–
–
A$316
–
–
–
–
–
A$47.70 A$1,361

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
A$66
–
–
–
–
–
A$1,634

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
A$25
–
–
–
–
–
–

122

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Award type

Ragnar Udd
CDP
CDP
LTIP
LTIP
MAP
MAP
MAP
MAP

Date  
of grant

At 1 July 
2021

Granted

Uplift1

Vested

Lapsed

At 30 
June 
2022

Award 
vesting 
date2

Market price on date of:

Grant3

Vesting4

Gain on 
awards 
(‘000)5

DEP on 
awards 
(‘000)

23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
23-Nov-21
2-Nov-20
21-Aug-20
21-Aug-20
25-Sep-19
24-Sep-18

–
–
–
61,354
21,231
21,231
21,231
25,565

16,434
16,434
46,892
 –
–
–
–
–

1,981
1,981
5,651
7,394
2,559
2,559
2,559
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
25,565

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

18,415
18,415
52,543
 68,748
23,790
23,790
23,790

 Aug 26
Aug 23
Aug 26
 Aug 25
Aug 24
Aug 23
Aug 22
– 18 Aug 21

A$38.05
A$38.05
A$38.05
A$33.81
A$38.36
A$38.36
A$36.53
A$33.83

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
A$47.70

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
A$1,219

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

1  Uplift awards granted as a consequence of the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside. For the CEO shareholder approval for these awards will be sought at the 

2022 AGM and following approval these would be granted in or around November 2022. Uplift awards for other Executive KMP were granted on 17 June 2022.

2  Where the vesting date is not yet known, the estimated vesting month is shown. Where awards lapse, the lapse date is shown. If the vesting conditions are met, awards will 
vest on or as soon as practicable after the first non-prohibited period date occurring after 30 June of the preceding year of vest. The year of vesting is the second (STIP and 
CDP two-year awards), third (MAP), fourth (MAP) or fifth (MAP, CDP five-year awards and LTIP) financial year after grant. All awards are conditional awards and have no 
exercise period, exercise price or expiry date; instead ordinary fully paid shares are automatically delivered upon the vesting conditions being met. Where vesting conditions 
are not met, the conditional awards will immediately lapse. 

3  The market price shown is the closing price of BHP shares on the relevant date of grant. No price is payable by the individual to receive a grant of awards. The IFRS fair 

value of the CDP and LTIP awards granted in FY2022 at the grant date of 23 November 2021 are as follows: CDP – A$38.05 and LTIP – A$18.92. 

4  The market price shown is the closing price of BHP shares on the relevant date of vest.
5  The gain on awards is calculated using the market price on date of vesting or exercise (as applicable) less any exercise price payable. The amounts that vested and were 

lapsed for the awards during FY2022 are as follows: CDP – 100 per cent vested; LTIP – 100 per cent vested; MAP – 100 per cent vested.

5.3  Estimated value range of equity awards 
The current face value (and estimate of the maximum possible total value) of equity awards allocated during FY2022 and yet to vest are the awards as 
set out in the previous table multiplied by the current share price of BHP Group Limited. The minimum possible total value of the awards is nil. The actual 
value that may be received by participants in the future cannot be determined as it is dependent on and therefore fluctuates with the share prices of BHP 
Group Limited at the date that any particular award vests or is exercised. 

Five-year share price, dividend and earnings history 

The table below provides the five-year share price history for BHP Group Limited, history of dividends paid and the Group’s earnings.

BHP Group Limited
Share price at beginning of year
Share price at end of year
Dividends paid
Attributable profit (US$ million, as reported)

FY2022

A$48.22
A$41.25
A$10.181
30,900

FY2021

A$35.82
A$48.57
A$2.07
11,304

FY2020

A$41.68
A$35.82
A$2.13 
7,956

FY2019

A$33.60
A$41.16
A$3.082
8,306

FY2018

A$23.23
A$33.91
A$1.24
3,705

1  The FY2022 dividends paid includes A$5.38 in respect of the in-specie dividend associated with the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside.
2  The FY2019 dividends paid includes A$1.41 in respect of the special dividend associated with the divestment of Onshore US.

The highest and lowest closing share price during FY2022 were A$54.06 and A$35.56 respectively.

5.4  Ordinary share holdings and transactions
The number of ordinary shares in BHP Group Limited held directly, indirectly or beneficially, by each individual (including shares held in the name of all 
close members of the Director’s or Executive KMP’s family and entities over which either the Director or Executive KMP or the family member has, directly 
or indirectly, control, joint control or significant influence) are shown below. No shares are held nominally by any KMP or their related parties. These are 
ordinary shares held without performance conditions or restrictions and are included in MSR calculations for each individual. 

Mike Henry
Edgar Basto
David Lamont
Geraldine Slattery3,4
Ragnar Udd3
Terry Bowen 
Malcolm Broomhead
Xiaoqun Clever
Ian Cockerill3
Anita Frew6
Gary Goldberg4
Michelle Hinchliffe5
Susan Kilsby6
Ken MacKenzie
John Mogford
Christine O’Reilly3
Catherine Tanna5
Dion Weisler

Held at 1 July 20211

Purchased

Received as 
remuneration2

395,241
134,889
6,345
100,917
105,816
11,000
19,000
7,000
13,188
15,000
10,000
–
6,900
52,351
13,938
7,420
10,400
1,544

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1,000
1,111
–
2,000
8,508
–
–
–
2,000
–
6,000

245,423
27,651
–
35,681
25,565
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Sold

119,072
32,502
–
9,366
12,426
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Held at 
30 June 2022

521,592
130,038
6,345
127,232
118,955
11,000
19,000
8,000
14,299
15,000
12,000
8,508
6,900
52,351
13,938
9,420
10,400
7,544

1 

2 

Includes shares in BHP Group Plc held directly, indirectly or beneficially, by each individual (including shares held in the name of all close members of the Director’s or 
Executive KMP’s family and entities over which either the Director or Executive KMP or the family member has, directly or indirectly, control, joint control or significant 
influence) prior to unification.
Includes DEP in the form of shares on equity awards vesting, where applicable, as disclosed in 5.2 Equity awards. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

123

Financial StatementsAdditional InformationGovernanceOperating and Financial ReviewRemuneration Report continued

3  The opening balances for Ian Cockerill, Christine O’Reilly, Geraldine Slattery and Ragnar Udd have been adjusted to include an additional 929 shares, 420 shares, 3,592 shares 

and 398 shares, respectively.

4  The following BHP Group Limited shares were held in the form of American Depositary Shares: 1,892 for Geraldine Slattery and 6,000 for Gary Goldberg. 
5  The opening balances for Michelle Hinchliffe and Catherine Tanna reflect their shareholdings on the date that each became Non-executive Directors being 1 March 2022 

and 4 April 2022, respectively.

6  Shares shown as held by Anita Frew and Susan Kilsby at 30 June 2022 are their balances at the date of their retirement from the Board on 11 November 2021.

5.5  Prohibition on hedging of BHP shares and equity instruments
The Executive KMP may not use unvested BHP equity awards as collateral or protect the value of any unvested BHP equity awards or the value of shares 
and securities held as part of meeting the MSR. 

Any securities that have vested and are no longer subject to restrictions, or not held as part of meeting the MSR, may be subject to hedging arrangements 
or used as collateral, provided that prior consent is obtained.

5.6  Share ownership guidelines and the MSR
The share ownership guidelines and the MSR help to ensure the interests of Directors, executives and shareholders remain aligned. 

The CEO and other Executive KMP are expected to grow their holdings to the MSR from the scheduled vesting of their employee awards over time. 
The MSR is tested at the time that shares are to be sold. Shares may be sold to satisfy tax obligations arising from the granting, holding, vesting, exercise 
or sale of the employee awards or the underlying shares whether the MSR is satisfied at that time or not.

For FY2022:

–  The MSR for the CEO was five times annual pre-tax base salary. At the end of FY2022, the CEO met the MSR. 

–  The MSR for other Executive KMP was three times annual pre-tax base salary. At the end of FY2022, the other Executive KMP met the MSR, except 

for David Lamont, as he was appointed as Executive KMP on 1 December 2020. 

–  No Executive KMP sold or purchased shares during FY2022, other than sales to satisfy taxation obligations, apart from Edgar Basto, who sold shares 

in order to fund the purchase of a residential dwelling.

Effective 1 July 2020, a two-year post-retirement shareholding requirement for the CEO applies from the date of retirement, which will be the lower of the 
CEO’s MSR or the CEO’s actual shareholding at the date of retirement. 

Subject to securities dealing constraints, Non-executive Directors have agreed to apply at least 25 per cent of their remuneration (base fees plus 
Committee fees) to the purchase of BHP shares until they achieve an MSR equivalent in value to one year of remuneration (base fees plus Committee 
fees). Thereafter, they must maintain at least that level of shareholding throughout their tenure. At the end of FY2022, each Non-executive Director met 
the MSR.

5.7  Transactions with KMP
During the financial year, there were no transactions between the Group and its subsidiaries and KMP (including their related parties) (2021: US$ nil; 
2020: US$ nil). There were no amounts payable by or loans with KMP (including their related parties) at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil).

A number of KMP hold or have held positions in other companies (i.e. personally related entities) where it is considered they control or significantly 
influence the financial or operating policies of those entities. There have been no transactions with those entities and no amounts were owed by the 
Group to personally related entities or any other related parties (2021: US$ nil; 2020: US$ nil).

This Remuneration Report was approved by the Board on 16 August 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Christine O’Reilly 
Chair, Remuneration Committee

16 August 2022

124

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Financial Statements

In this section:
1

Consolidated Financial Statements

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

2

3

4

Consolidated Income Statement

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

Consolidated Balance Sheet

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

Notes to the Financial Statements

Directors’ declaration

Lead Auditor’s Independence Declaration under  
Section 307C of the Australian Corporations Act 2001

Independent Auditors’ reports

Notes to the Financial Statements
Performance

1

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

Segment reporting

Revenue

Exceptional items

Significant events – Samarco dam failure

Expenses and other income

Income tax expense

Earnings per share

Working capital

8 

9 

10 

Trade and other receivables

Trade and other payables

Inventories

Resource assets

11 

12 

13

14 

15 

Property, plant and equipment

Intangible assets

Impairment of non-current assets

Deferred tax balances

Closure and rehabilitation provisions

Capital Structure

16

17

18

19

Share capital

Other equity

Dividends

Provisions for dividends and other liabilities

Financial Management

20

21

22

23

Net debt 

Leases

Net finance costs 

Financial risk management 

Operating 
and Financial 
Review

Governance

Financial  
Statements

Additional 
Information

126

126

126

127

128

129

134

187

188

189

134

136

137

139

145

146

148

149

149

149

150

152

153

156

157

160

161

162

162

163

165

167

167

Employee matters

24

25

26

Key management personnel

Employee share ownership plans

Employee benefits, restructuring and  
post-retirement employee benefits provisions

Group and related party information

27

28

29

30

31

Discontinued operations

Subsidiaries

Investments accounted for using the equity method

Interests in joint operations

Related party transactions

Unrecognised items and uncertain events

32

33

Contingent liabilities

Subsequent events

Other items

34

35

36

37

Auditor’s remuneration

BHP Group Limited

Deed of Cross Guarantee

New and amended accounting standards and 
interpretations and changes to accounting policies

173

173

176

177

179

180

182

182

183

183

184

184

185

186

About these Financial Statements

Reporting entity

BHP Group Limited, an incorporated Australian-listed company, and BHP Group 
Plc, an incorporated UK-listed company, formed a Dual Listed Company (DLC) 
until 31 January 2022. Under the DLC structure BHP Group Limited, BHP Group 
Plc and their subsidiaries operated together as a single for-profit economic 
entity with a common Board of Directors, unified management structure and 
joint objectives. On 31 January 2022, BHP unified its corporate structure under 
BHP Group Limited, and subsequently BHP Group Plc changed its name to BHP 
Group (UK) Ltd. Throughout the Consolidated Financial Statements (the Financial 
Statements), the collective contributions of the aforementioned entities are referred 
to as ‘BHP’ or ‘the Group’, regardless of the DLC or unified corporate structure.

Group and related party information is presented in note 31 ‘Related party 
transactions’ to the Financial Statements. This details transactions between 
the Group’s subsidiaries, associates, joint arrangements and other related 
parties. The nature of the operations and principal activities of the Group are 
described in the segment information (refer to note 1 ‘Segment reporting’ to the 
Financial Statements).

Presentation of the Consolidated Financial Statements

Directors of BHP have included information in this report they deem to be material 
and relevant to the understanding of the Financial Statements. Disclosure may be 
considered material and relevant if the dollar amount is significant due to its size or 
nature, or the information is important to understand the: 

–  Group’s current year results

–  impact of significant changes in the Group’s business or 

–  aspects of the Group’s operations that are important to future performance 

On 22 November 2021, the Group and Woodside Energy Group Limited 
(‘Woodside’) signed a binding Share Sale Agreement (‘SSA’) for the merger of the 
Group’s oil and gas portfolio with Woodside. While the merger had an economic 
effective date of 1 July 2021, the Group continued to control the Petroleum assets 
and carry on business in the normal course for 11 months until 1 June 2022 
(Completion Date). As such, the Group recognises its share of revenue, expenses, 
net finance costs and associated income tax expense related to the Discontinued 
operation until the Completion Date. Comparative periods have been adjusted 
for the effects of applying IFRS 5/AASB 5 ‘Non-current Assets Held for Sale and 
Discontinued Operations’ to disclose the Group’s Petroleum business on the same 
basis as the current period.

These Financial Statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 
16 August 2022. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

125

 
1  Consolidated Financial Statements

1.1  Consolidated Income Statement
for the year ended 30 June 2022

Continuing operations
Revenue
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Profit from operations

Financial expenses
Financial income
Net finance costs
Profit before taxation 

Income tax expense
Royalty-related taxation (net of income tax benefit)
Total taxation expense
Profit after taxation from Continuing operations
Discontinued operations
Profit/(loss) after taxation from Discontinued operations
Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations

Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Basic earnings per ordinary share (cents)
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (cents)
Basic earnings from Continuing operations per ordinary share (cents)
Diluted earnings from Continuing operations per ordinary share (cents)

The accompanying notes form part of these Financial Statements.

Notes

2

5

5

29

22

6

27

7

7

7

7

2022  
US$M

65,098
1,398
(32,371)
(19)
34,106

(1,050)
81
(969)
33,137

(10,430)
(307)
(10,737)
22,400

10,655
33,055
2,155
30,900

610.6
609.3
400.0
399.2

2021  
US$M 
Restated

2020  
US$M 
Restated

56,921
380
(30,871)
(915)
25,515

(1,290)
67
(1,223)
24,292

(10,376)
(240)
(10,616)
13,676

(225)
13,451
2,147
11,304

223.5
223.0
228.0
227.5

38,924
720
(25,453)
(508)
13,683

(1,192)
334
(858)
12,825

(4,216)
19
(4,197)
8,628

108
8,736
780
7,956

157.3
157.0
155.2
154.8

1.2  Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
for the year ended 30 June 2022

Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations
Other comprehensive income 
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement:
Hedges:

(Losses)/gains taken to equity
Losses/(gains) transferred to the income statement

Exchange fluctuations on translation of foreign operations taken to equity
Exchange fluctuations on translation of foreign operations transferred to income statement
Tax recognised within other comprehensive income
Total items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement:
Re-measurement gains/(losses) on pension and medical schemes
Equity investments held at fair value
Tax recognised within other comprehensive income
Total items that will not be reclassified to the income statement
Total other comprehensive (loss)/income
Total comprehensive income

Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

The accompanying notes form part of these Financial Statements.

Notes

2022  
US$M

33,055

2021  
US$M

13,451

2020  
US$M

8,736

6

6

(914)
881
(5)
(54)
10
(82)

24
(8)
(9)
7
(75)
32,980
2,160
30,820

863
(837)
5
−
(8)
23

58
(2)
(20)
36
59
13,510
2,158
11,352

(315)
297
1
 − 
5
(12)

(81)
(2)
26
(57)
(69)
8,667
769
7,898

126

BHP

Annual Report 2022

1.3  Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 30 June 2022

ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables
Other financial assets
Inventories
Assets held for sale
Current tax assets
Other 
Total current assets
Non-current assets
Trade and other receivables
Other financial assets
Inventories
Property, plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Investments accounted for using the equity method
Deferred tax assets
Other
Total non-current assets
Total assets
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Interest bearing liabilities
Liabilities directly associated with the assets held for sale
Other financial liabilities
Current tax payable
Provisions 
Deferred income
Total current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Interest bearing liabilities
Other financial liabilities
Non-current tax payable
Deferred tax liabilities
Provisions
Deferred income
Total non-current liabilities
Total liabilities
Net assets
EQUITY
Share capital – BHP Group Limited
Share capital – BHP Group Plc
Treasury shares
Reserves
Retained earnings
Total equity attributable to BHP shareholders
Non-controlling interests
Total equity

Notes

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

20

8

23

10

8

23

10

11

12

29

14

9

20

23

4,15,19,26

20

23

14

4,15,19,26

17

17

17,236
5,426
629
4,935
 −
263
175
28,664

153
802
1,315
61,295
1,369
1,420
56
92
66,502
95,166

6,687
2,622
 −
579
3,032
3,965
34
16,919

13,806
1,997
87
3,063
10,478
50
29,481
46,400
48,766

4,638
 −
(31)
12
40,338
44,957
3,809
48,766

15,246
6,059
230
4,426
324
279
129
26,693

337
1,610
1,358
73,813
1,437
1,742
1,912
25
82,234
108,927

7,027
2,628
17
130
2,800
3,696
105
16,403

18,355
1,146
120
3,314
13,799
185
36,919
53,322
55,605

1,111
1,057
(33)
2,350
46,779
51,264
4,341
55,605

The accompanying notes form part of these Financial Statements.

The Financial Statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 16 August 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Ken MacKenzie 
Chair 

Mike Henry 
Chief Executive Officer

BHP

Annual Report 2022

127

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
 
 
 
1.4  Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 30 June 2022

Operating activities
Profit before taxation from Continuing operations
Adjustments for:

Depreciation and amortisation expense
Impairments of property, plant and equipment, financial assets and intangibles
Net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Other

Changes in assets and liabilities:
Trade and other receivables
Inventories
Trade and other payables
Provisions and other assets and liabilities

Cash generated from operations
Dividends received
Interest received
Interest paid
Proceeds/(settlements) of cash management related instruments
Net income tax and royalty-related taxation refunded
Net income tax and royalty-related taxation paid
Net operating cash flows from Continuing operations
Net operating cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net operating cash flows
Investing activities
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Exploration expenditure
Exploration expenditure expensed and included in operating cash flows
Net investment and funding of equity accounted investments
Proceeds from sale of assets
Proceeds/(settlements) from sale of subsidiaries, operations and joint operations net of their cash
Other investing
Net investing cash flows from Continuing operations
Net investing cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents disposed on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Net investing cash flows
Financing activities
Proceeds from interest bearing liabilities
Proceeds/(settlements) of debt related instruments
Repayment of interest bearing liabilities
Purchase of shares by Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) Trusts
Dividends paid
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
Net financing cash flows from Continuing operations
Net financing cash flows from Discontinued operations
Net financing cash flows
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from Continuing operations
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents disposed on merger of Petroleum with Woodside
Cash and cash equivalents, net of overdrafts, at the beginning of the financial year
Foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents, net of overdrafts, at the end of the financial year

The accompanying notes form part of these Financial Statements.

Notes

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M 
Restated

2020  
US$M 
Restated

33,137

24,292

12,825

5,683
515
969
19
(350)

(703)
(865)
727
(248)
38,884
1,018
58
(657)
378
105
(10,501)
29,285
2,889
32,174

(5,855)
(256)
199
(266)
221
1,255
(271)
(4,973)
(904)
(683)
(399)
(6,959)

1,164
 −
(3,358)
(149)
(17,851)
(2,540)
(22,734)
(33)
(22,767)
1,578
1,952
(683)
(399)
15,246
(458)
17,236

5,084
2,507
1,223
915
573

(2,389)
(405)
1,149
486
33,435
728
97
(766)
(401)
222
(7,432)
25,883
1,351
27,234

(5,612)
(192)
134
(553)
158
(3)
(257)
(6,325)
(1,520)
 −
 −
(7,845)

568
167
(8,357)
(234)
(7,901)
(2,127)
(17,884)
(38)
(17,922)
1,674
(207)
 −
 −
13,426
353
15,246

4,667
482
858
508
896

128
(714)
(589)
1,350
20,411
117
368
(1,213)
85
47
(5,130)
14,685
1,021
15,706

(5,991)
(176)
123
(596)
187
−
(130)
(6,583)
(1,033)
 −
 −
(7,616)

514
(157)
(2,008)
(143)
(6,876)
(1,043)
(9,713)
(39)
(9,752)
(1,611)
(51)
 −
 −
15,593
(505)
13,426

27

27

27

27

27

20

128

BHP

Annual Report 2022

1.5  Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
for the year ended 30 June 2022

Attributable to BHP shareholders

Share capital

Treasury shares

BHP  
Group  
Limited

BHP  
Group  

Plc Reserves

Retained 
earnings

Total equity 
attributable 
to BHP 
shareholders

Non-
controlling 
interests

US$M

Balance as at 1 July 2021
Total comprehensive income
Transactions with owners:
BHP Group Limited shares issued
Purchase of shares by ESOP Trusts 
Employee share awards exercised net of employee  
contributions net of tax
Vested employee share awards that have lapsed, 
been cancelled or forfeited
Accrued employee entitlement for unexercised 
awards net of tax
Corporate structure unification
Dividends
In specie dividend on merger of Petroleum 
with Woodside
Divestment of subsidiaries, operations and joint 
operations
Transfers within equity on divestment of 
subsidiaries, operations and joint operations
Equity contributed net of tax
Balance as at 30 June 2022

Balance as at 1 July 2020
Total comprehensive income
Transactions with owners:
Purchase of shares by ESOP Trusts 
Employee share awards exercised net of employee 
contributions net of tax
Vested employee share awards that have lapsed, 
been cancelled or forfeited
Accrued employee entitlement for unexercised 
awards net of tax
Dividends
Balance as at 30 June 2021

Balance as at 1 July 2019
Total comprehensive income
Transactions with owners:
Purchase of shares by ESOP Trusts 
Employee share awards exercised net of 
employee contributions net of tax
Vested employee share awards that have lapsed, 
been cancelled or forfeited
Accrued employee entitlement for unexercised 
awards net of tax
Dividends
Balance as at 30 June 2020

BHP  
Group  
Limited

1,111
 −

BHP  
Group  
Plc

1,057
 −

172
 −

 −

 −

 −
 −

 −

 −

 −
3,355
 −

 −
(1,057)
 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
4,638

1,111
 −

 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
1,111

1,111
 −

 −

 −

 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
 −

1,057
 −

 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
1,057

1,057
 −

 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
1,111

 −
 −
1,057

The accompanying notes form part of these Financial Statements.

(32)
 −

(172)
(148)

321

 −

 −
 −
 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
(31)

(5)
 −

(229)

202

 −

 −
 −
(32)

(32)
 −

(139)

166

 −

 −
 −
(5)

(1)
 −

 −
(1)

2

 −

 −
 −
 −

 −

 −

 −
 −
 −

 −
 −

(5)

4

 −

 −
 −
(1)

 −
 −

(4)

4

 −

 −
 −
 −

2,350
(90)

46,779
30,910

51,264
30,820

4,341
2,160

 −
 −

 −
 −

(207)

(116)

(30)

30

 −
(149)

 −

 −

 −
 −

 −

 −

Total  
equity

55,605
32,980

 −
(149)

 −

 −

143
(2,298)
 −

 −
 −
(17,720)

143
 −
(17,720)

 −
 −
(2,540)

143
 −
(20,260)

 −

 −

(19,559)

(19,559)

 −

(19,559)

 −

 −

(157)

(157)

(14)
158
12

14
 −
40,338

2,306
22

43,396
11,330

 −
158
44,957

47,865
11,352

 −

 −

(234)

(149)

(57)

(4)

4

175
 −
2,350

 −
(7,894)
46,779

2,285
(12)

42,748
7,910

 −

(132)

(10)

 −

(38)

10

 −

 −

175
(7,894)
51,264

47,169
7,898

(143)

 −

 −

 −
5
3,809

4,310
2,158

 −

 −

 −

 −
163
48,766

52,175
13,510

(234)

 −

 −

 −
(2,127)
4,341

175
(10,021)
55,605

4,584
769

51,753
8,667

 −

 −

 −

(143)

 −

 −

175
 −
2,306

 −
(7,234)
43,396

175
(7,234)
47,865

 −
(1,043)
4,310

175
(8,277)
52,175

BHP

Annual Report 2022

129

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewBasis of preparation

Principles of consolidation

The Group’s Financial Statements as at and for the year ended 
30 June 2022:

In preparing the Financial Statements, the effects of all intragroup balances 
and transactions have been eliminated.

–  are a consolidated general purpose financial report

–  have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of:

–  the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act 2001)

–  Australian Accounting Standards and other authoritative 

pronouncements of the Australian Accounting Standards Board 
(AASB) and International Financial Reporting Standards as issued 
by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (collectively 
referred to as IFRS)

–  are prepared on a going concern basis as the Directors:

–  have made an assessment of the Group’s ability to continue as a 

going concern for the 12 months from the date of this report 

A list of significant entities in the Group, including subsidiaries, joint 
arrangements and associates at year-end is contained in note 28 
‘Subsidiaries’, note 29 ‘Investments accounted for using the equity method’ 
and note 30 ‘Interests in joint operations’.

Subsidiaries: The Financial Statements of the Group include the 
consolidation of BHP Group Limited (the Company or parent entity) and 
its subsidiaries, being the entities controlled by the parent entity during the 
year and BHP Group Plc and its subsidiaries whilst the DLC was in effect. 
Control exists where the Group:

–  has power over the investee

–  is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with 

the entity 

–  consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting 

–  has the ability to affect those returns through its power to direct the 

in preparing the Group’s Financial Statements

activities of the entity

–  measure items on the basis of historical cost principles, except for the 

following items:

–  derivative financial instruments and certain other financial assets and 

liabilities, which are carried at fair value 

–  non-current assets or disposal groups that are classified as held-

for-sale or held-for-distribution, which are measured at the lower of 
carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell

–  include significant accounting policies in the notes to the Financial 

Statements that summarise the recognition and measurement basis 
used and are relevant to an understanding of the Financial Statements

–  apply a presentation currency of US dollars, consistent with the 

predominant functional currency of the Group’s operations. Amounts are 
rounded to the nearest million dollars, unless otherwise stated, in 
accordance with ASIC (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) 
Instrument 2016/191 

–  present reclassified comparative information where required for 

consistency with the current year’s presentation

–  adopt all new and amended standards and interpretations under IFRS, 
that are mandatory for application in periods beginning on 1 July 2021. 
None had a significant impact on the Financial Statements. Refer note 
37 ‘New and amended accounting standards and interpretations and 
changes to accounting policies’ for details 

–  have not early adopted any standards and interpretations that have 

been issued or amended but are not yet effective. Refer note 37 ‘New 
and amended accounting standards and interpretations and changes to 
accounting policies’ for details

The accounting policies are consistently applied by all entities included in 
the Financial Statements.

Following unification of the Group’s corporate structure under BHP Group 
Limited, which was completed in January 2022, the Group Financial 
Statements are no longer required to be prepared in accordance with:

–  the UK Companies Act 2006

–  International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements 
of the UK Companies Act 2006 and International Financial Reporting 
Standards adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 as it 
applies in the European Union (EU)

–  International Accounting Standards adopted for use within the UK

In assessing the appropriateness of the going concern assumption over 
the going concern period, management have stress tested BHP’s most 
recent financial projections to incorporate a range of potential future 
outcomes by considering BHP’s principal risks. The Group’s financial 
forecasts, including downside commodity price and production scenarios, 
demonstrate that the Group believes that it has sufficient financial 
resources to meet its obligations as they fall due throughout the going 
concern period. As such, the Financial Statements continue to be prepared 
on the going concern basis.

The ability to approve the operating and capital budget of a subsidiary 
and the ability to appoint key management personnel are decisions that 
demonstrate that the Group has the existing rights to direct the relevant 
activities of a subsidiary. 

Consolidation of a subsidiary begins when the Company obtains control 
over the subsidiary and ceases when the Company loses control of the 
subsidiary. Specifically, the results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of 
during the year are included in profit or loss from the date the Company 
gains control until the date when the Company ceases to control 
the subsidiary.

Where the Group’s interest is less than 100 per cent, the interest 
attributable to outside shareholders is reflected in non-controlling interests. 

Changes in the Group’s interests in subsidiaries that do not result in a 
loss of control are accounted for as equity transactions. The carrying 
amount of the Group’s interests and the non-controlling interests are 
adjusted to reflect the changes in their relative interests in the subsidiaries. 
Any difference between the amount by which the non-controlling interests 
are adjusted and the fair value of the consideration paid or received is 
recognised directly in equity and attributed to the owners of the Company. 

When the Group loses control of a subsidiary, the gain or loss on disposal 
is recognised in profit or loss.

The Financial Statements of subsidiaries are prepared for the same 
reporting period as the Group. The acquisition method of accounting is 
used to account for the Group’s business combinations.

Joint arrangements: The Group undertakes a number of business activities 
through joint arrangements, which exist when two or more parties have 
joint control. Joint arrangements are classified as either joint operations or 
joint ventures, based on the contractual rights and obligations between the 
parties to the arrangement:

–  Joint operations: A joint operation is an arrangement in which the Group 
shares joint control, primarily via contractual arrangements with other 
parties. In a joint operation, the Group has rights to the underlying 
assets and obligations for the liabilities relating to the arrangement. 
This includes situations where the parties benefit from the joint activity 
through a share of the output, rather than by receiving a share of the 
results of trading. In relation to the Group’s interest in a joint operation, 
the Group recognises: its assets and liabilities, including its share of 
any assets and liabilities held or incurred jointly; revenue from the sale 
of its share of the output and its share of any revenue generated from 
the sale of the output by the joint operation; and its expenses including 
its share of expenses incurred jointly. All such amounts are allocated 
in accordance with the terms of the arrangement, which is usually in 
proportion to the Group’s interest in the joint operation.

The Group accounts for the assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses 
relating to its interest in a joint operation in accordance with the IFRS 
Standards applicable to the particular assets, liabilities, revenue 
and expenses.

130

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–  Joint ventures: A joint venture is a joint arrangement in which the parties 
that share joint control have rights to the net assets of the arrangement. 
A separate vehicle, not the parties, will have the rights to the assets and 
obligations for the liabilities relating to the arrangement. More than an 
insignificant share of output from a joint venture is sold to third parties, 
which indicates the joint venture is not dependent on the parties to the 
arrangement for funding, nor do the parties have an obligation for the 
liabilities of the arrangement. Joint ventures are accounted for using the 
equity method as outlined below.

Associates: The Group accounts for investments in associates using the 
equity method as outlined below. An entity is considered an associate 
where the Group is deemed to have significant influence but not control or 
joint control. Significant influence is presumed to exist where the Group:

Foreign currencies

Transactions related to the Group’s worldwide operations are conducted 
in a number of foreign currencies. The majority of the subsidiaries, joint 
arrangements and associates within each of the operations have assessed 
US dollars as the functional currency, however, some subsidiaries, joint 
arrangements and associates have functional currencies other than 
US dollars.

Transactions and monetary items denominated in foreign currencies are 
translated into US dollars as follows:

Foreign currency item

Applicable exchange rate

Transactions
Monetary assets and liabilities

Date of underlying transaction
Period-end rate

–  has over 20 per cent but less than 50 per cent of the voting rights of an 
entity, unless it can be clearly demonstrated that this is not the case or

–  holds less than 20 per cent of the voting rights of an entity; however, has 
the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions 
affecting the entity

Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from translation are 
recognised in the income statement, except for qualifying cash flow hedges 
(which are deferred to equity) and foreign exchange gains or losses on 
foreign currency provisions for site closure and rehabilitation costs (which 
are capitalised in property, plant and equipment for operating sites).

The Group uses the term ‘equity accounted investments’ to refer to joint 
ventures and associates collectively.

Under the equity method, an investment in an associate or a joint venture 
is recognised initially at cost and adjusted thereafter to recognise the 
Group’s share of the profit or loss and other comprehensive income of 
the associate or joint venture. When the Group’s share of losses of an 
associate or a joint venture exceeds the Group’s interest in that associate 
or joint venture, the Group discontinues recognising its share of further 
losses. Additional losses are recognised only to the extent that the Group 
has incurred legal or constructive obligations or made payments on behalf 
of the associate or joint venture.

On consolidation, the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of foreign 
operations with non-US dollar functional currencies are translated into US 
dollars using the following applicable exchange rates:

Foreign currency amount

Applicable exchange rate

Income and expenses
Assets and liabilities
Equity
Reserves

Date of underlying transaction
Period-end rate
Historical rate
Historical rate

Foreign exchange differences resulting from translation are initially 
recognised in the foreign currency translation reserve and subsequently 
transferred to the income statement on disposal of a foreign operation.

Significant accounting policies, judgements and estimates

The Group’s accounting policies require the use of judgement, estimates 
and assumptions. All judgements, estimates and assumptions are based 
on the most current facts and circumstances and are reassessed on an 
ongoing basis. Actual results in future reporting periods may differ for 
these estimates under different assumptions and conditions. 

Further information regarding the Group’s significant judgements and key 
estimates and assumptions, being those where changes may materially 
affect financial results and the carrying amount of assets and liabilities 
to be reported in the next reporting period, are embedded within the 
following notes:

Note

4 
6 
11
11
13
15
21

Significant events – Samarco dam failure
Taxation
Overburden removal costs
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Impairments of non-current assets
Closure and rehabilitation provisions
Leases

Additional information including sensitivity analysis, where appropriate, 
has been provided in the relevant notes to enhance an understanding 
of the impact of key estimates and assumptions on the Group’s financial 
position and performance.

Reserve estimates

Reserves are estimates of the amount of product that can be 
demonstrated to be able to be economically and legally extracted from 
the Group’s properties. In order to estimate reserves, assumptions are 
required about a range of technical and economic factors, including 
quantities, qualities, production techniques, recovery efficiency, 
production and transport costs, commodity supply and demand, 
commodity and carbon prices and exchange rates. 

Estimating the quantity and/or quality of reserves requires the size, 
shape and depth of ore bodies to be determined by analysing geological 
data, such as drilling samples and geophysical survey interpretations. 
Economic assumptions used to estimate reserves change from period-
to-period as additional technical and operational data is generated. 
This process may require complex and difficult geological judgements to 
interpret the data.

Reserve impact on financial reporting

Estimates of reserves may change from period-to-period as the economic 
assumptions used to estimate reserves change and additional geological 
data is generated during the course of operations. Changes in reserves 
may affect the Group’s financial results and financial position in a number 
of ways, including:

–  asset carrying values may be affected due to changes in estimated 

future production levels

–  depreciation, depletion and amortisation charged to the income 

statement may change where such charges are determined on the 
units of production basis, or where the useful economic lives of 
assets change

–  overburden removal costs recorded on the balance sheet or charged 

to the income statement may change due to changes in stripping ratios 
or the units of production basis of depreciation

–  closure and rehabilitation provisions may change where changes in 
estimated reserves affect expectations about the timing or cost of 
these activities

–  the carrying amount of deferred tax assets may change due to 
changes in estimates of the likely recovery of the tax benefits

BHP

Annual Report 2022

131

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewClimate change

Global transition signposts

The Group continues to develop its assessment of the potential 
impacts of climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy. 
The Group’s current climate change strategy focuses on reducing 
operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, investing in low emissions 
technologies, supporting emissions reductions in our value chain and 
promoting product stewardship, managing climate-related risk and 
opportunity, and working with others to enhance the global policy and 
market response. Future changes to the Group’s climate change strategy 
or global decarbonisation signposts may impact the Group’s significant 
judgements and key estimates and result in material changes to financial 
results and the carrying values of certain assets and liabilities in future 
reporting periods.

During FY2022, the Group completed the merger of the Group’s Petroleum 
business with Woodside and the divestments of the Group’s interests in 
BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC) and the Cerrejón non-operated energy coal 
joint venture. In addition, the Group announced that it will retain New South 
Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC) in its portfolio, seek approvals to continue 
mining at NSWEC beyond its current mining consent that expires in 2026, 
and intends to proceed with a managed process to cease mining at the 
asset by the end of FY2030. While climate change and the transition to a 
low carbon economy remain key considerations in the Group’s significant 
judgements and estimates, the portfolio updates during FY2022 have 
reduced the Group’s exposure to fossil fuels. Following the updates, the 
potential risk to the carrying value of the Group’s assets and liabilities from 
long-term price estimates for oil, gas and energy coal is largely limited to 
the impact of those commodities on the Group’s supply chain. 

The Group’s current climate change strategy is reflected in the Group’s 
significant judgements and key estimates, and therefore the Financial 
Statements, as follows:

Transition risks

The Group’s targets and goals

As part of its response to the Paris Agreement goals, the Group has set 
a target to reduce its operational GHG emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 
2 from our operated assets) by at least 30 per cent from FY2020 levels 
by FY2030 and a goal to achieve net zero operational GHG emissions 
by 2050. For the FY2030 target, the FY2020 baseline has been adjusted 
to reflect the divestment of the Group’s Petroleum and BMC operations 
and will be adjusted for any material future acquisitions and divestments. 
Approved emissions reduction projects aimed at contributing to the 
achievement of the Group’s operational GHG emissions target and goal 
have been incorporated into the forecast cash flows of the Group’s assets. 
The use of carbon offsets will be governed by the Group’s approach to 
carbon offsetting, with the Group’s offset strategy currently being managed 
at a consolidated Group level and therefore not currently incorporated into 
the forecast cash flows of individual assets. Any change to the Group’s 
climate change strategy could impact these forecasts and the Group’s 
significant judgements and key estimates. 

The Group continues to invest, including in partnership with others, in 
emissions reduction projects and technology innovation and development 
in its value chain to support reductions to its total reported Scope 3 GHG 
emissions inventory, with a particular focus on steelmaking and maritime 
emissions. However, while we seek to influence, Scope 3 emissions occur 
outside of our direct control. Reduction pathways are dependent on the 
development, and upstream or downstream deployment of solutions and/
or supportive policy. Where possible, the financial impact of the Group’s 
activities in support of Scope 3 reduction pathways is reflected in the 
financial statements, for example the Group’s chartering of LNG-fuelled 
vessels. It is however currently not possible to reliably estimate or measure 
the full potential financial statement impacts of the Group’s pursuit of its 
Scope 3 goals and targets. 

The Climate Investment Program (CIP), as announced by the Group in 
July 2019, aims to invest at least US$400 million over the CIP’s five-year 
life in emissions reduction projects across the Group’s operated assets and 
value chain. Spend under the CIP, along with capital expenditure in support 
of operational decarbonisation at our operated assets, is recognised in the 
relevant year of spend.

132

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Annual Report 2022

In addition to the Group’s targets and goals, significant judgements and 
key estimates are also impacted by the Group’s current assessment of 
the range of economic and climate related conditions that could exist in 
transitioning to a low carbon economy, considering the current trajectory of 
society and the global economy as a whole. Signposts do not yet indicate 
that the appropriate measures are in place to drive decarbonisation at 
the pace or scale required for the Group to assess achieving the aims 
of the Paris Agreement as the most likely future outcome. However, 
as governments, institutions, companies and society increasingly 
focus on addressing climate change, the potential for a non-linear and/
or more rapid transition and the subsequent impact on threats and 
opportunities increases.

The BHP Climate Transition Action Plan 2021 references the Group’s 
divergent climate scenarios across a range of temperature outcomes. 
The Group currently uses two of those scenarios, being the Central 
Energy View and Lower Carbon View1 as inputs to the Group’s operational 
planning cases. The use of these two scenarios reflects the Group’s 
current estimates of the most likely range of future states for the global 
economy and associated sub-systems. These operational planning cases 
inform updates to the Group’s supply, demand and price outlooks, capital 
allocation and portfolio decisions. 

Given the complexity of climate modelling, these scenarios are reviewed 
periodically to reflect new information, with developments in the periods 
between scenario updates being reflected in updated internal long-term 
price outlooks. 

Investment decisions and asset valuations also incorporate carbon price 
assumptions for major Group operational, competitor and customer 
countries. In determining the Group’s forecast, factors such as a country’s 
current and announced climate policies and targets and societal factors 
such as public acceptance and demographics are considered, with the 
Group forecasting the global range of regional carbon prices to reach 
between US$0-175/tCO2-e in FY2030 and US$10-250/tCO2-e in FY2050, 
and US$10-175/tCO2-e in FY2030 and US$100-250/tCO2-e in FY2050 in 
BHP’s current major operational and market countries.

The operational planning cases, price outlooks and cost of carbon 
assumptions, impact certain significant judgements and key estimates, 
including the determination of the valuation of assets and potential 
impairment charges (notes 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’ and 13 
‘Impairment of non-current assets’), the estimation of the remaining useful 
economic life of assets for depreciation purposes (note 11 ‘Property, plant 
and equipment’) and the timing of closure and rehabilitation activities (note 
15 ‘Closure and rehabilitation provisions’).

In addition to the operational planning cases, the Group utilises a range 
of scenarios, including its 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario2, when testing 
the resilience of its portfolio, forming strategy and making investment 
decisions. While a 1.5ºC Paris-aligned scenario does not currently 
represent one of the inputs to the Group’s operational planning cases, the 
Group has, during FY2022, systematically integrated the Group’s 1.5ºC 
Paris-aligned scenario into the Group’s strategy and capital allocation 
process to test the extent to which its capital allocation is aligned with a 
rapidly decarbonising global economy. Specifically, the Group applies the 
Group’s 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario to assess whether future demand 
for the Group’s products under that scenario supports ongoing capital 
investment. The internal allocation of capital under the Group’s Capital 
Allocation Framework and all major investment decisions now require 
an assessment of investment viability under the Group’s 1.5°C Paris-
aligned scenario. 

1  Central Energy View reflects, and is periodically updated to respond to, existing 

policy trends and commitments. Lower Carbon View accelerates decarbonisation 
trends and policies, particularly in easier-to-abate sectors such as power 
generation and light duty vehicles. BHP’s Climate Change Report 2020 describes 
these scenarios in more detail. 

2  This scenario aligns with the aims of the Paris Agreement and requires steep 

global annual emissions reduction, sustained for decades, to stay within a 1.5°C 
carbon budget. 1.5°C is above pre-industrial levels. BHP’s Climate Change Report 
2020 describes this scenario, including its assumptions, outputs and limitations, in 
more detail.

The Group continues to monitor global decarbonisation signposts and 
update its operational planning cases, price outlooks, and cost of carbon 
assumptions and assessments relating to strategy and capital allocation 
accordingly. Where such signposts indicate the appropriate measures are 
in place for achievement of a 1.5ºC Paris-aligned scenario, this will be 
reflected in the Group’s operational planning cases. 

Sensitivity to demand for the Group’s commodities

The Group acknowledges that there are a range of possible energy 
transition scenarios, including those that are aligned with the aims of 
the Paris Agreement, that may indicate different outcomes for individual 
commodities. The resilience of the Group’s portfolio to a 1.5°C Paris-
aligned scenario (the Group’s 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario) continues 
to be considered, including the impact of Paris-aligned commodity price 
estimates under that scenario on the Group’s latest asset plans.

There are inherent limitations with scenario analysis and it is difficult to 
predict which, if any, of the scenarios might eventuate and none of the 
scenarios considered constitutes a definitive outcome for the Group. 

However, the long-term commodity price estimates under the Group’s 
1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario reflect the world needing around twice 
as much steel, copper and potash and four times as much nickel in 
the next 30 years as in the last 30. In addition, the Group’s portfolio 
is transitioning towards higher quality iron ore and metallurgical coal 
that enable steelmakers to be more efficient and operate with a lower 
emissions intensity. 

As such, although all potential financial reporting consequences under the 
Group’s 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario are currently impracticable to fully 
assess, the long-term commodity price outlooks under this scenario for 
iron ore, copper, metallurgical coal, nickel and potash are either largely 
consistent with or favourable to the price outlooks in the Group’s current 
operational planning cases.

Given the positive long-term price outlooks for these commodities, the 
Group currently considers that a material adverse change is not expected 
to the valuation, and remaining useful life, of assets and discounting 
of closure and rehabilitation provisions for assets relating to these 
commodities under its 1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario. 

While energy coal long-term commodity price outlooks under the Group’s 
1.5°C Paris-aligned scenario are unfavourable when compared to the 
price outlooks in the Group’s current operational planning cases, following 
impairments recognised in FY2021, the carrying value of assets at the 
Group’s remaining energy coal operations at NSWEC is no longer material.

Further, the Group’s closure provision for NSWEC reflects the 
announcement in FY2022 of the Group’s plans to seek approvals to 
continue mining at NSWEC beyond its current mining consent that expires 
in 2026 and intention to proceed with a managed process to cease 
mining at NSWEC by the end of FY2030. While the closure provision 
remains subject to estimation and assumptions, the timing of closure is 
no longer considered materially susceptible to the long-term impacts of 
climate change. 

Physical risks

The Group is progressing work to assess the potential impact of physical 
risks of climate change in line with the Group’s Risk Management 
Framework. In FY2022, the Group conducted a physical risk identification 
process that prioritised key potential climate hazards for more detailed 
analysis including, for example, risks associated with higher sea levels 
disrupting port operations and extreme rainfall impacting the stability of 
tailings storage facilities. Given the ongoing nature of the Group’s physical 
risk assessment process, inclusion of adaptation risk in the Group’s 
operating plans, and associated asset valuations, is currently limited. 
As the Group progresses its adaptation strategy, including risk evaluations 
planned for FY2023, the identification of additional risks or the detailed 
development of the Group’s response may result in material changes to 
financial results and the carrying values of assets and liabilities in future 
reporting periods.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

133

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review1.6  Notes to the Financial Statements

Performance

1  Segment reporting

Reportable segments

The Group operated three reportable segments during FY2022, which are aligned with the commodities that are extracted and marketed and reflect the 
structure used by the Group’s management to assess the performance of the Group.

Reportable segment
Copper 
Iron Ore
Coal

Principal activities
Mining of copper, silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium and gold
Mining of iron ore
Mining of metallurgical coal and energy coal

On 22 November 2021, the Group signed a binding SSA for the merger of the Group’s oil and gas portfolio with Woodside. Following that announcement, the 
Group’s Petroleum business no longer meets the reporting segment recognition criteria as outlined in IFRS 8/AASB 8 ‘Operating segments’ and therefore 
does not form part of the reportable segments. Comparative periods have been adjusted for the effects of applying IFRS 5/AASB 5 ‘Non-current Assets Held 
for Sale and Discontinued Operations’ to disclose the Group’s Petroleum business on the same basis as the current period.

Group and unallocated items includes functions, other unallocated operations including Potash, Nickel West and legacy assets, and consolidation 
adjustments. Revenue not attributable to reportable segments comprises the sale of freight and fuel to third parties, as well as revenues from unallocated 
operations. Exploration and technology activities are recognised within relevant segments.

Year ended 30 June 2022 
US$M

Revenue
Inter-segment revenue
Total revenue

Underlying EBITDA
Depreciation and amortisation
Impairment losses1
Underlying EBIT
Exceptional items2
Net finance costs
Profit before taxation

Copper

16,849
 −
16,849

8,565
(1,765)
(470)
6,330
(81)

Iron Ore

30,767
 −
30,767

21,707
(2,203)
(33)
19,471
(648)

Coal

15,549
 −
15,549

9,504
(762)
(9)
8,733
849

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations

Group total

1,933
 −
1,933

858
(953)
(3)
(98)
(450)

65,098
 −
65,098

40,634
(5,683)
(515)
34,436
(330)
(969)
33,137

Capital expenditure (cash basis)
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments 
and expenses
Investments accounted for using the equity method
Total assets3
Total liabilities3

2,528

1,848

621

858

5,855

577
1,415
32,762
5,342

(595)
 −
24,613
7,790

 −
 −
11,524
3,874

(1)
5
26,267
29,394

(19)
1,420
95,166
46,400

Year ended 30 June 2021
US$M 
Restated

Revenue
Inter-segment revenue
Total revenue

Underlying EBITDA
Depreciation and amortisation
Impairment losses1
Underlying EBIT
Exceptional items2
Net finance costs
Profit before taxation

Copper

15,726
 −
15,726

8,489
(1,608)
(72)
6,809
(144)

Iron Ore

34,475
 −
34,475

26,278
(1,971)
(13)
24,294
(1,319)

Coal

5,154
 −
5,154

288
(845)
(20)
(577)
(1,567)

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations

Group total

1,566
 −
1,566

18
(660)
(31)
(673)
(1,308)

56,921
 −
56,921

35,073
(5,084)
(136)
29,853
(4,338)
(1,223)
24,292

Capital expenditure (cash basis)
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments 
and expenses
Investments accounted for using the equity method
Total assets3
Total liabilities3

2,180

2,188

579

665

5,612

692
1,482
31,517
4,589

(1,126)
 −
26,171
7,508

(480)
 −
11,030
3,518

(1)
260
40,209
37,707

(915)
1,742
108,927
53,322

134

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Annual Report 2022

1  Segment reporting continued

Year ended 30 June 2020
US$M
Restated

Revenue
Inter-segment revenue
Total revenue

Underlying EBITDA
Depreciation and amortisation
Impairment losses1
Underlying EBIT
Exceptional items2
Net finance costs
Profit before taxation

Copper

10,666
 −
10,666

4,347
(1,740)
(17)
2,590
(1,228)

Iron Ore

20,797
 −
20,797

14,554
(1,608)
(22)
12,924
(614)

Coal

6,241
1
6,242

1,632
(807)
(14)
811
(18)

Group and 
unallocated 
items/ 
eliminations

Group total

1,220
(1)
1,219

(663)
(512)
(20)
(1,195)
413

38,924
 −
38,924

19,870
(4,667)
(73)
15,130
(1,447)
(858)
12,825

Capital expenditure (cash basis)
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments 
and expenses
Investments accounted for using the equity method
Total assets3
Total liabilities3

2,434

2,328

603

626

5,991

67
1,558
28,892
3,535

(508)
 −
23,841
5,441

(68)
776
12,110
2,601

1
251
40,890
41,981

(508)
2,585
105,733
53,558

Impairment losses exclude exceptional items of US$ nil (2021: US$2,371 million; 2020: US$409 million).

1 
2  Exceptional items reported in Group and unallocated include Samarco dam failure costs of US$(13) million (2021: US$(14) million; 2020: US$(32) million) and Samarco 

related other income of US$ nil (2021: US$34 million; 2020: US$489 million). Refer to note 3 ‘Exceptional items’ for further information.

3  Group and unallocated comparative periods total assets and total liabilities include Petroleum assets and liabilities that were previously disclosed as part of the 

Petroleum segment.

Geographical information

Australia
Europe
China
Japan
India
South Korea
Rest of Asia
North America
South America
Rest of world

Australia
North America
South America
Rest of world
Unallocated assets1

Revenue by location of customer

2022  
US$M

1,649
2,129
36,618
8,401
5,215
4,786
4,303
1,282
715
 −
65,098

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

1,871
886
39,653
4,387
2,189
3,420
2,934
1,147
426
8
56,921

1,212
963
26,503
3,314
1,475
2,666
1,730
719
315
27
38,924

Non-current assets by location of assets

2022  
US$M

43,250
3,964
18,280
150
858
66,502

2021  
US$M

48,612
9,701
18,548
1,851
3,522
82,234

2020  
US$M

48,236
9,682
18,179
1,955
6,210
84,262

1  Unallocated assets comprise deferred tax assets and other financial assets.

Underlying EBITDA

Underlying EBITDA is earnings before net finance costs, depreciation, amortisation and impairments, taxation expense, Discontinued operations and any 
exceptional items. Underlying EBITDA includes BHP’s share of profit/(loss) from investments accounted for using the equity method including net finance 
costs, depreciation, amortisation and impairments and taxation expense/(benefit). 

Exceptional items are excluded from Underlying EBITDA in order to enhance the comparability of such measures from period-to-period and provide 
investors with further clarity in order to assess the performance of the Group’s operations. Management monitors exceptional items separately. Refer to 
note 3 ‘Exceptional items’ for additional detail.

Segment assets and liabilities

Total segment assets and liabilities of reportable segments represents operating assets and operating liabilities, including the carrying amount of 
equity accounted investments and predominantly excludes cash balances, loans to associates, interest bearing liabilities and deferred tax balances. 
The carrying value of investments accounted for using the equity method represents the balance of the Group’s investment in equity accounted 
investments, with no adjustment for any cash balances, interest bearing liabilities or deferred tax balances of the equity accounted investment.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

135

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review2  Revenue

Revenue by segment and asset

Escondida
Pampa Norte
Olympic Dam
Third-party products
Total Copper1
Western Australia Iron Ore
Third-party products
Other
Total Iron Ore
BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
New South Wales Energy Coal
Other2
Total Coal3
Group and unallocated items4
Inter-segment adjustment
Total revenue

2022  
US$M

9,500
2,670
1,776
2,903
16,849
30,632
19
116
30,767
10,254
3,035
2,260
15,549
1,933
 −
65,098

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

9,470
1,801
2,211
2,244
15,726
34,337
18
120
34,475
3,537
839
778
5,154
1,566
 −
56,921

6,719
1,395
1,463
1,089
10,666
20,663
15
119
20,797
4,422
885
935
6,242
1,220
(1)
38,924

1  Total Copper revenue includes: copper US$15,992 million (2021: US$14,812 million; 2020: US$10,044 million) and other US$857 million (2021: US$914 million; 2020: 

US$622 million). Other consists of silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium and gold.
Includes revenue related to BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) divested in May 2022.

2 
3  Total Coal revenue includes: metallurgical coal US$11,990 million (2021: US$4,260 million; 2020: US$5,311 million) and energy coal US$3,559 million (2021: US$894 million; 

2020: US$931 million). 

4  Group and unallocated items revenue includes: Nickel West US$1,926 million (2021: US$1,545 million; 2020: US$1,189 million) and other revenue US$7 million (2021: 

US$21 million; 2020: US$31 million).

Revenue consists of revenue from contracts with customers of US$65,504 million (2021: US$55,562 million; 2020: US$38,917 million) and other revenue 
predominantly relating to provisionally priced sales of US$(406) million (2021: US$1,359 million; 2020: US$7 million).

Recognition and measurement

The Group generates revenue from the production and sale of commodities. Revenue is recognised when or as control of the promised goods or services 
passes to the customer. In most instances, control passes when the goods are delivered to a destination specified by the customer, typically on board 
the customer’s appointed vessel. Revenue from the provision of services is recognised over time as the services are provided, but does not represent a 
significant proportion of total revenue and is aggregated with the respective asset and product revenue for disclosure purposes. 

The amount of revenue recognised reflects the consideration to which the Group expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring goods or services. 

Where the Group’s sales are provisionally priced, the final price depends on future index prices. The amount of revenue initially recognised is based on 
the relevant forward market price. Adjustments between the provisional and final price are accounted for under IFRS 9/AASB 9 ‘Financial Instruments’ 
(IFRS 9), separately recorded as other revenue and presented as part of the total revenue of each asset. The period between provisional pricing and final 
invoicing is typically between 60 and 120 days.

Revenue from the sale of significant by-products is included within revenue. Where a by-product is not significant, revenue is credited against costs. 

The Group applies the practical expedient to not adjust the expected consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the period between the 
delivery and when the customer pays for the promised good or service is one year or less.

The Group applies the practical expedient not to disclose information relating to unfulfilled performance obligations, either due to the expected duration 
of the contract term being one year or less, or for longer term contracts, because the entity has a right to consideration (and can recognise revenue) for 
goods delivered. 

136

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Annual Report 2022

3  Exceptional items
Exceptional items are those gains or losses where their nature, including the expected frequency of the events giving rise to them, and impact is 
considered material to the Financial Statements. Such items included within the Group’s profit from Continuing operations for the year are detailed below. 
Exceptional items attributable to Discontinued operations are detailed in note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’. 

Year ended 30 June 2022

Exceptional items by category
Samarco dam failure
Impairment of US deferred tax assets
Corporate structure unification costs
BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) gain on disposal
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) dam failure

Gross  
US$M

(1,032)
 −
(428)
840
(620)
 −
(620)

Tax  
US$M

(31)
(423)
 −
 −
(454)
 −
(454)

The FY2022 exceptional loss of US$1,063 million (after tax) related to the Samarco dam failure in November 2015 comprises the following:

Year ended 30 June 2022

Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs:

Costs incurred directly by BHP Brasil and other BHP entities in relation to the Samarco dam failure

Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses:

Samarco impairment expense 
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning
Samarco dam failure provision
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives

Net finance costs
Income tax expense
Total1

1  Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information. 

Impairment of US deferred tax assets 

Net  
US$M

(1,063)
(423)
(428)
840
(1,074)
 −
(1,074)

US$M

 −

(66)

 −
68
(663)
(81)
(290)
(31)
(1,063)

The Group recognised an impairment charge of US$423 million (after tax) in relation to deferred tax assets where the recoverability has historically been 
reliant on Petroleum earnings in the same tax group. While these tax assets remained with the Group following the merger of the Group’s oil and gas 
portfolio with Woodside, the impairment charge reflects the extent of other currently forecast future earnings against which the assets can be recovered. 

Corporate structure unification costs

The Group incurred transaction costs associated with the unification of the Group corporate structure under its existing Australian parent company, BHP 
Group Limited, which was completed on 31 January 2022. Refer note 16 ‘Share capital’ for further information. 

BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) gain on disposal

On 3 May 2022 the Group sold its 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC) to Stanmore SMC Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of 
Stanmore Resources Limited (Stanmore Resources). 

Stanmore Resources paid US$1.1 billion cash consideration at completion plus a preliminary completion adjustment of US$218 million for working 
capital. US$100 million in cash remains payable in six months on 3 November 2022 with potential for an additional amount of up to US$150 million 
(US$122 million discounted) in a price-linked earnout payable in the 2024 calendar year. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

137

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review3  Exceptional items continued
Details of the gain on disposal is as follows:

Assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables
Other financial assets
Inventories
Property, plant and equipment
Total assets
Liabilities
Trade and other payables
Interest bearing liabilities
Tax payables
Provisions 
Deferred tax liabilities
Total liabilities
Net assets disposed
Less non-controlling interest share of net assets disposed
BHP share of net assets disposed
Gross consideration
Transaction and other directly applicable costs
Income tax expense
Deferred consideration
Gain on disposal

The exceptional items relating to the year ended 30 June 2021 and the year ended 30 June 2020 are detailed below.

30 June 2021

Year ended 30 June 2021  
Restated

Exceptional items by category
Samarco dam failure
COVID-19 related costs
Impairment of Energy coal assets
Impairment of Potash assets
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Gross  
US$M

(1,087)
(499)
(1,523)
(1,314)
(4,423)
(34)
(4,389)

Tax  
US$M

(71)
138
(651)
(473)
(1,057)
10
(1,067)

Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) dam failure

The FY2021 exceptional loss of US$1,158 million related to the Samarco dam failure in November 2015 comprises the following:

Year ended 30 June 2021

Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs:

Costs incurred directly by BHP Brasil and other BHP entities in relation to the Samarco dam failure

Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses:

Samarco impairment expense 
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning
Samarco dam failure provision
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives

Net finance costs
Income tax expense
Total1

1  Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information.

COVID-19 related costs

US$M

63
360
26
92
1,214
1,755

253
249
9
425
31
967
788
157
631
1,318
(69)
 −
222
840

Net  
US$M

(1,158)
(361)
(2,174)
(1,787)
(5,480)
(24)
(5,456)

US$M

34

(46)

(111)
(15)
(1,000)
136
(85)
(71)
(1,158)

The exceptional item reflects the directly attributable COVID-19 pandemic related additional costs for the Group for FY2021, including costs associated 
with the increased provision of health and hygiene services, the impacts of maintaining social distancing requirements and demurrage and other standby 
charges related to delays caused by COVID-19. At the time, COVID-19 was considered a single protracted globally pervasive event. 

However, as the pandemic has continued to evolve, certain impacts that were initially considered to be potentially short-term in nature are now expected 
to continue over a number of reporting periods. These activities are now considered to be part of business as usual operations and, as such, for FY2022, 
the incremental costs have not been classified as an exceptional item.

Impairment of Energy coal assets

The Group recognised an impairment charge of US$1,704 million (after tax) in relation to New South Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC) reflecting the status of 
the divestment process and current market conditions for thermal coal, the strengthening Australian dollar and changes to the mine plan. In addition, the 
Group recognised an impairment charge of US$470 million (after tax) for Cerrejón, reflecting the expected net sales proceeds. 

138

BHP

Annual Report 2022

3  Exceptional items continued
Impairment of Potash assets

The Group recognised an impairment charge of US$1,787 million (after tax) in relation to Potash. The impairment charge reflected an analysis of market 
perspectives and the value that we expected a market participant to attribute to our investments to date. 

30 June 2020

Year ended 30 June 2020  
Restated

Exceptional items by category
Samarco dam failure
Cancellation of power contracts
COVID-19 related costs
Cerro Colorado impairment
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Gross 
US$M

(176)
(778)
(177)
(409)
(1,540)
(291)
(1,249)

Tax 
US$M

 −
271
51
(83)
239
90
149

Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) dam failure

The FY2020 exceptional loss of US$176 million related to the Samarco dam failure in November 2015 comprises the following:

Year ended 30 June 2020

Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs:

Costs incurred directly by BHP Brasil and other BHP entities in relation to the Samarco dam failure

Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses:

Samarco impairment expense 
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning
Samarco dam failure provision

Net finance costs
Total1

1  Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information. 

Cancellation of power contracts

Net 
US$M

(176)
(507)
(126)
(492)
(1,301)
(201)
(1,100)

US$M

489

(64)

(95)
46
(459)
(93)
(176)

Reflects an onerous contract provision in relation to the cancellation of power contracts at the Group’s Escondida and Spence operations, as part of the 
shift towards 100 per cent renewable energy supply contracts.

COVID-19 related costs

The exceptional item reflects the directly attributable COVID-19 pandemic related additional costs for the Group for FY2020, including costs associated 
with the increased provision of health and hygiene services, the impacts of maintaining social distancing requirements and other standby charges related 
to delays caused by COVID-19. At the time, COVID-19 was considered a single protracted globally pervasive event. 

However, as the pandemic has continued to evolve, certain impacts that were initially considered to be potentially short-term in nature are now expected 
to continue over a number of reporting periods. These activities are now considered to be part of business as usual operations and, as such, for FY2022, 
the incremental costs have not been classified as an exceptional item.

Cerro Colorado impairment

The Group recognised an impairment charge of US$492 million (after tax) in relation to Cerro Colorado. This reflects the decision taken by the Group to 
reduce Cerro Colorado’s throughput for the remaining period of its current environmental licence, which expires at the end of CY2023. 

4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure
On 5 November 2015, the Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) iron ore operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil, experienced a tailings dam failure that resulted 
in a release of mine tailings, flooding the communities of Bento Rodrigues, Gesteira and Paracatu and impacting other communities downstream (the 
Samarco dam failure). Refer to section on ‘Samarco’ in the Operating and Financial Review.

Samarco is jointly owned by BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda (BHP Brasil) and Vale S.A. (Vale). BHP Brasil’s 50 per cent interest is accounted for as an equity 
accounted joint venture investment. BHP Brasil does not separately recognise its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of Samarco, but instead 
records the investment as one line on the balance sheet. Each period, BHP Brasil recognised its 50 per cent share of Samarco’s profit or loss and 
adjusted the carrying value of the investment in Samarco accordingly. Such adjustment continued until the investment carrying value was reduced to 
US$ nil, with any additional share of Samarco losses only recognised to the extent that BHP Brasil has an obligation to fund the losses. After applying 
equity accounting, any remaining carrying value of the investment is tested for impairment. 

Any charges relating to the Samarco dam failure incurred directly by BHP Brasil or other BHP entities are recognised 100 per cent in the Group’s results.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

139

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure continued
The financial impacts of the Samarco dam failure on the Group’s income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement for the year ended 30 June 
2022 are shown in the tables below and have been treated as an exceptional item. 

Financial impacts of Samarco dam failure 

Income statement 
Other income1
Expenses excluding net finance costs:

Costs incurred directly by BHP Brasil and other BHP entities in relation to the Samarco dam failure2

Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses:

Samarco impairment expense3
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning4
Samarco dam failure provision5
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives6

Loss from operations
Net finance costs7
Loss before taxation
Income tax expense8
Loss after taxation

Balance sheet movement
Trade and other payables 
Derivatives
Tax liabilities
Provisions
Net liabilities

Cash flow statement 
Loss before taxation
Adjustments for:
Samarco impairment expense3
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning4
Samarco dam failure provision5
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives6
Proceeds of cash management related instruments
Net finance costs7
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Trade and other payables
Net operating cash flows
Net investment and funding of equity accounted investments9
Net investing cash flows
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 −
(68)
663
81
79
290

1

2022 
US$M

(1,032)

14
(256)
(256)
(242)

111
15
1,000
(136)
 −
85

5

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

2020  
US$M

34

(46)

(111)
(15)
(1,000)
136
(1,002)
(85)
(1,087)
(71)
(1,158)

(5)
136
(71)
(741)
(681)

95
(46)
459
 −
 −
93

5

 −

(66)

 −
68
(663)
(81)
(742)
(290)
(1,032)
(31)
(1,063)

(1)
(160)
(31)
(629)
(821)

2021 
US$M

(1,087)

(7)
(470)
(470)
(477)

489

(64)

(95)
46
(459)
 −
(83)
(93)
(176)
 −
(176)

(5)
 −
 −
(137)
(142)

2020 
US$M

(176)

430
(464)
(464)
(34)

Includes legal and advisor costs incurred.
Impairment expense from working capital funding provided during the period. 

1  Proceeds from insurance settlements.
2 
3 
4  US$(56) million (2021: US$(6) million; 2020: US$37 million) change in estimate and US$(12) million (2021: US$21 million; 2020: US$(83) million) exchange translation.
5  US$747 million (2021: US$842 million; 2020: US$916 million) change in estimate and US$(84) million (2021: US$158 million; 2020: US$(457) million) exchange translation.
6  During the period the Group entered into forward exchange contracts to limit the Brazilian reais exposure on the dam failure provisions. While not applying hedge accounting, 

the fair value changes in the forward exchange instruments are recorded within Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses in the 
Income Statement.

7  Amortisation of discounting of provision.
8 
9 

Includes tax on forward exchange derivatives and other taxes incurred during the period.
Includes US$ nil (2021: US$(111) million; 2020: US$(95) million) funding provided during the period, US$(256) million (2021: US$(351) million; 2020: US$(365) million) 
utilisation of the Samarco dam failure provision, and US$ nil (2021: US$(8) million; 2020: US$(4) million) utilisation of the Samarco Germano decommissioning provision. 

Equity accounted investment in Samarco

BHP Brasil’s investment in Samarco remains at US$ nil. No dividends have been received by BHP Brasil from Samarco during the period and Samarco 
currently does not have profits available for distribution. 

140

BHP

Annual Report 2022

4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure continued

Provisions related to the Samarco dam failure

At the beginning of the financial year
Movement in provisions
Comprising:
Utilised
Adjustments charged to the income statement:

Change in estimate – Samarco dam failure provision
Change in estimate – Samarco Germano dam decommissioning
Amortisation of discounting impacting net finance costs
Exchange translation

At the end of the financial year
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

At the end of the financial year
Comprising:

Samarco dam failure provision
Samarco Germano dam decommissioning provision

Samarco dam failure provisions and contingencies 

(256)

747
(56)
290
(96)

2022  
US$M

2,792
629

3,421

1,815
1,606
3,421

3,237
184

(359)

842
(6)
85
179

2021  
US$M

2,051
741

2,792

1,206
1,586
2,792

2,560
232

As at 30 June 2022, BHP Brasil has identified provisions and contingent liabilities arising as a consequence of the Samarco dam failure as follows:

Provisions

Provision for Samarco dam failure

On 2 March 2016, BHP Brasil, Samarco and Vale, entered into a Framework Agreement with the Federal Government of Brazil, the states of Espírito 
Santo and Minas Gerais and certain other public authorities to establish a foundation (Fundação Renova) that is developing and executing environmental 
and socio-economic programs (Programs) to remediate and provide compensation for damage caused by the Samarco dam failure (the Framework 
Agreement). Key Programs include those for financial assistance and compensation of impacted persons, including fisherfolk impacted by the dam 
failure, and those for remediation of impacted areas and resettlement of impacted communities. A committee (Interfederative Committee) comprising 
representatives from the Brazilian Federal and State Governments, local municipalities, environmental agencies, impacted communities and Public 
Defence Office oversees the activities of the Fundação Renova in order to monitor, guide and assess the progress of actions agreed in the Framework 
Agreement. In addition, the 12th Federal Court is supervising the work of the Fundação Renova and the Court’s decisions, including decisions relating 
to the scope of individuals eligible for compensation and the amount of damages to which they are entitled, have been considered in the Samarco dam 
failure provision change in estimate. Any future decisions will be analysed for impacts on the provision at the time of any decision and the provision may 
be impacted in future reporting periods as a result of appeals and motions for clarification on certain Court decisions that remain outstanding. 

The term of the Framework Agreement is 15 years, renewable for periods of one year successively until all obligations under the Framework Agreement have been 
performed. Under the Framework Agreement, Samarco has primary responsibility for funding Fundação Renova’s annual calendar year budget for the duration of 
the Framework Agreement. The funding amounts for each calendar year will be dependent on the remediation and compensation projects to be undertaken in a 
particular year. Annual contributions may be reviewed under the Framework Agreement. To the extent that Samarco does not meet its funding obligations, each of 
BHP Brasil and Vale have secondary funding obligations under the Framework Agreement in proportion to their 50 per cent shareholding in Samarco.

Samarco began to gradually recommence operations in December 2020, however, there remains significant uncertainty regarding Samarco’s long-term 
cash flow generation and the outcome of the Judicial Reorganisation (outlined below). In light of these uncertainties and based on currently available 
information, BHP Brasil’s provision for its obligations under the Framework Agreement Programs is US$3.2 billion before tax and after discounting at 
30 June 2022 (30 June 2021: US$2.6 billion). The dam failure provision at 30 June 2022 reflects only the Group’s estimate of the costs to be incurred 
in completing those Programs, as the Group is unable to provide a range of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of other existing or potential future 
claims (refer to contingent liabilities below).

Under a Governance Agreement ratified on 8 August 2018, BHP Brasil, Samarco and Vale were to establish a process to renegotiate the Programs 
over two years to progress settlement of the R$155 billion (approximately US$30 billion) Federal Public Prosecution Office claim (described below). 
Pre-requisites established in the Governance Agreement, for re-negotiation of the Framework Agreement, were not implemented during the two year 
period and on 30 September 2020, Brazilian Federal and State prosecutors and public defenders filed a request for the immediate resumption of the 
R$155 billion (approximately US$30 billion) claim, which was suspended from the date of ratification of the Governance Agreement. Formal suspension of 
the claim ceased on 10 December 2021, however no further rulings have been made. 

BHP Brasil, Samarco, Vale and Federal and State prosecutors have been engaging in negotiations to seek a definitive and substantive settlement of the obligations 
under the Framework Agreement and the R$155 billion (approximately US$30 billion) Federal Public Prosecution Office claim. The negotiations are overseen by the 
President of the National Council of Justice, as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Brazil and are expected to continue until at least the expected end of the 
term of the current President on 31 August 2022. Outcomes of the negotiations are highly uncertain and, until any revisions to the Programs are agreed, Fundação 
Renova will continue to implement the Programs in accordance with the terms of the Framework Agreement and the Governance Agreement.

BHP Brasil, Samarco and Vale are required to maintain security of an amount equal to the Fundação Renova’s annual budget up to a limit of R$2.2 billion 
(approximately US$420 million). The security currently comprises R$1.3 billion (approximately US$250 million) in insurance bonds and a charge of 
R$800 million (approximately US$150 million) over Samarco’s assets. A further R$100 million (approximately US$20 million) in liquid assets previously 
maintained as security was released for COVID-19 related response efforts in Brazil. 

Samarco Germano dam decommissioning

Samarco is currently progressing plans for the accelerated decommissioning of its upstream tailings dams (the Germano dam complex). Given the 
uncertainties surrounding Samarco’s long-term cash flow generation, BHP Brasil’s provision for a 50 per cent share of the expected Germano 
decommissioning costs is US$184 million (30 June 2021: US$232 million). The decommissioning is progressing, however further engineering work and 
required validation by Brazilian authorities could lead to changes to estimates in future reporting periods.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

141

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure continued

Key judgements and estimates

Judgements: The outcomes of litigation are inherently difficult to 
predict and significant judgement has been applied in assessing the 
likely outcome of legal claims and determining which legal claims 
require recognition of a provision or disclosure of a contingent liability. 
The facts and circumstances relating to these cases are regularly 
evaluated in determining whether a provision for any specific claim 
is required. 

Management has determined that a provision can only be recognised 
for obligations under the Framework Agreement and Samarco Germano 
dam decommissioning as at 30 June 2022. It is not yet possible to 
provide a range of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of potential 
future exposures to BHP in connection to the contingent liabilities noted 
below, given their status.

Estimates: The provision for the Samarco dam failure currently only 
reflects the Group’s estimate of the remaining costs to complete 
Programs under the Framework Agreement and requires the use of 
significant judgements, estimates and assumptions. Based on current 
estimates, it is expected that approximately 95 per cent of remaining 
costs for Programs under the Framework Agreement will be incurred by 
December 2024.

While the provision has been measured based on the latest information 
available, changes in facts and circumstances are likely in future 
reporting periods and may lead to material revisions to these estimates. 
However, it is currently not possible to determine what facts and 
circumstances may change, therefore revisions in future reporting 
periods due to the key estimates and factors outlined below cannot be 
reliably measured. 

The key estimates that may have a material impact on the provision in 
the next and future reporting periods include the:

–  number of people eligible for financial assistance and compensation 

and the corresponding amount of expected compensation

–  costs to complete key infrastructure programs 

The provision may also be affected by factors including but not 
limited to: 

–  potential changes in scope of work and funding amounts required 

under the Framework Agreement including the impact of the 
decisions of the Interfederative Committee along with further 
technical analysis, community participation required under the 
Governance Agreement and rulings made by the 12th Federal Court

Contingent liabilities

The following matters are disclosed as contingent liabilities and given the 
status of these matters it is not possible to provide a range of possible 
outcomes or a reliable estimate of potential future exposures for BHP, 
unless otherwise stated. A number of the claims below have not specified 
the amount of damages sought and, where this is specified, amounts could 
change as the matter progresses. Ultimately, all the legal matters disclosed as 
contingent liabilities could have a material adverse impact on BHP’s business, 
competitive position, cash flows, prospects, liquidity and shareholder returns.

Federal Public Prosecution Office claim

BHP Brasil is among the defendants named in a claim brought by the 
Federal Public Prosecution Office on 3 May 2016, seeking R$155 billion 
(approximately US$30 billion) for reparation, compensation and moral 
damages in relation to the Samarco dam failure. 

The 12th Federal Court previously suspended the Federal Public 
Prosecution Office claim, including a R$7.7 billion (approximately 
US$1.5 billion) injunction request. On 30 September 2020, Brazilian 
Federal and State prosecutors and public defenders filed a request 
for the immediate resumption of the R$155 billion (approximately 
US$30 billion) claim, which was suspended since the date of ratification 
of the Governance Agreement. Formal suspension of the claim ceased 
on 10 December 2021, however no further rulings have been made.

BHP Brasil, Samarco, Vale and Federal and State prosecutors have been 
engaging in negotiations to seek a definitive and substantive settlement 
of the obligations under the Framework Agreement and the R$155 billion 
(approximately US$30 billion) Federal Public Prosecution Office claim. 
The negotiations are overseen by the President of the National Council 
of Justice, as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Brazil and are 
expected to continue until at least the expected end of the term of the 
current President on 31 August 2022. Outcomes of the negotiations 
are highly uncertain and it is therefore not possible to provide a reliable 
estimate of potential outcomes and there is a risk that a negotiated 
outcome may be materially higher than amounts currently reflected  
in the Samarco dam failure provision.

Australian class action complaint

BHP Group Ltd is named as a defendant in a shareholder class action filed 
in the Federal Court of Australia on behalf of persons who acquired shares 
in BHP Group Ltd on the Australian Securities Exchange or shares in 
BHP Group Plc on the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock 
Exchange in periods prior to the Samarco dam failure. The amount of 
damages sought is unspecified. 

–  the outcome of ongoing negotiations with State and Federal 

United Kingdom group action complaint

Prosecutors, including review of Fundação Renova’s Programs as 
provided in the Governance Agreement

–  actual costs incurred 

–  resolution of uncertainty in respect of the nature and extent of 

Samarco’s long-term cash generation

–  updates to discount and foreign exchange rates

–  the outcomes of Samarco’s judicial reorganisation 

In addition, the provision may be impacted by decisions in, or resolution 
of, existing and potential legal claims in Brazil and other jurisdictions, 
including the outcome of the United Kingdom group action complaint 
and the negotiations seeking a definitive and substantive settlement of 
the obligations under the Framework Agreement and the R$155 billion 
(approximately US$30 billion) Federal Public Prosecution Office claim. 

Outcomes of the negotiations are highly uncertain and it is therefore not 
possible to provide a reliable estimate of potential outcomes.

Given these factors, future actual cash outflows may differ from the 
amounts currently provided and changes to any of the key assumptions 
and estimates outlined above could result in a material impact to the 
provision in the next and future reporting periods. 

BHP Group Plc and BHP Group Ltd were named as defendants in group 
action claims for damages filed in the courts of England. These claims 
were filed on behalf of certain individuals, governments, businesses and 
communities in Brazil allegedly impacted by the Samarco dam failure. 
The amount of damages sought in these claims is unspecified. In August 
2019, the BHP parties filed a preliminary application to strike out or stay 
this action on jurisdictional and other procedural grounds. That application 
was successful before the High Court and the action was dismissed. 
However, on 8 July 2022, the Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal 
decision and allowed the action to proceed in England. BHP Group Ltd 
and BHP Group (UK) Ltd (formerly BHP Group Plc) will seek permission to 
appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Criminal charges

The Federal Prosecutors’ Office has filed criminal charges against BHP 
Brasil, Samarco and Vale and certain employees and former employees 
of BHP Brasil (Affected Individuals) in the Federal Court of Ponte Nova, 
Minas Gerais. On 3 March 2017, BHP Brasil filed its preliminary defences. 
The Federal Court terminated the charges against eight of the Affected 
Individuals. The Federal Prosecutors’ Office has appealed seven of those 
decisions with hearings of the appeals still pending. BHP Brasil rejects 
outright the charges against the company and the Affected Individuals 
and is defending itself from all charges while fully supporting each of the 
Affected Individuals in their defence of the charges.

142

BHP

Annual Report 2022

4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure continued
Civil public action commenced by Associations concerning the use of Tanfloc for 
water treatment 

The Vila Lenira Residents Association, State of Espírito Santo Rural 
Producers and Artisans Association, Colatina Velha Neighborhood 
Residents Association, and United for the Progress of Palmeiras 
Neighborhood Association have filed a lawsuit against Samarco, BHP 
Brasil and Vale and others, including the State of Minas Gerais, the State 
of Espirito Santo and the Federal Government. The plaintiffs allege that 
the defendants carried out a clandestine study on the citizens of the 
locations affected by the Fundão’s Dam Failure, using TANFLOC – a 
tannin-based flocculant/coagulant – that is currently used for wastewater 
treatment applications. The plaintiffs claim that this product allegedly put 
the population at risk due to its alleged experimental qualities. 

The plaintiffs are seeking multiple kinds of relief – material damage, moral 
damages, loss of profits – and that the defendants should pay for water 
supply in all locations where there is no water source other than the 
Doce River.

On 25 July 2022, Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale presented their defences 
individually, as well as the State of Minas Gerais, the State of Espírito 
Santo and the Federal Government. The Court’s decision is still pending. 

Other claims

BHP Brasil is among the companies named as defendants in a number of 
legal proceedings initiated by individuals, non-governmental organisations, 
corporations and governmental entities in Brazilian Federal and State 
courts following the Samarco dam failure. The other defendants include 
Vale, Samarco and Fundação Renova. The lawsuits include claims 
for compensation, environmental reparation and violations of Brazilian 
environmental and other laws, among other matters. The lawsuits seek 
various remedies including reparation costs, compensation to injured 
individuals and families of the deceased, recovery of personal and property 
losses, moral damages and injunctive relief. In addition, government 
inquiries and investigations relating to the Samarco dam failure have 
been commenced by numerous agencies of the Brazilian government and 
are ongoing.

Additional lawsuits and government investigations relating to the Samarco 
dam failure could be brought against BHP Brasil and possibly other BHP 
entities in Brazil or other jurisdictions.

BHP insurance

BHP has various third party general liability and directors and officers 
insurances for claims related to the Samarco dam failure made directly 
against BHP Brasil or other BHP entities, their directors and officers, 
including class actions. External insurers have been notified of the 
Samarco dam failure along with the third party claims and class actions 
referred to above. In the period since the dam failure, the Group has 
recognised US$573 million other income from general liability insurance 
proceeds related to the dam failure. Recoveries related to general liability 
insurance are now considered complete. 

As at 30 June 2022, an insurance receivable has not been recognised for 
any potential recoveries in respect of ongoing matters.

Commitments 

Under the terms of the Samarco joint venture agreement, BHP Brasil does 
not have an existing obligation to fund Samarco. 

BHP has agreed to fund a total of up to US$1,350 million for the Fundação 
Renova programs and Samarco’s working capital during calendar year 
2022. Samarco’s cash flow generation in the period was sufficient to 
fund its working capital and the Fundação Renova programs, as such no 
funding was provided by the Group in the six months to 30 June 2022. 
Any additional requests for funding or future investment provided would be 
subject to a future decision by BHP, accounted for at that time.

Samarco judicial reorganisation

Samarco filed for Judicial Reorganisation (JR) in April 2021, with 
the Commercial Courts of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, 
Brazil (JR Court), after multiple enforcement actions taken by certain 
financial creditors of Samarco which threatened Samarco’s operations. 
The JR Court granted a stay of the enforcement actions in Brazil until 
15 October 2022.

The JR is an insolvency proceeding that provides a means for Samarco to 
seek to restructure its financial debts and establish a sustainable financial 
position that allows Samarco to, among other things, continue to rebuild 
its operations and strengthen its ability to meet its Fundação Renova 
funding obligations. Samarco’s operations have continued during the 
JR proceeding.

According to the list of creditors filed with the JR Court by the Judicial 
Administrators (who are in charge of a first review of the list of creditors 
filed by Samarco), Fundação Renova’s funding obligations undertaken 
by Samarco are not subject to the JR, although some financial creditors 
of Samarco have objected to this position. Some such creditors filed 
challenges to the list of creditors filed by the Judicial Administrators, in 
order to, among other things, prevent Samarco from funding Fundação 
Renova. In December 2021, the 12th Federal Court granted BHP Brasil’s 
request that Samarco be able to fund Fundação Renova obligations, 
overturning a temporary injunction against such funding previously 
granted by the State Court in October 2021. BHP Brasil also obtained a 
preliminary injunction from the Superior Court supporting the jurisdiction of 
the 12th Federal Court, and not the State Court, in this matter. An appeal 
against this ruling by certain financial creditors is still to be ruled upon. 
Samarco has, with the support of BHP Brasil and Vale, continued to meet 
its Fundação Renova funding obligations.

In April 2022, Samarco presented a restructure proposal for voting at a 
meeting of its creditors under the JR proceeding, which was rejected by 
certain of the Samarco financial creditors. Certain Samarco creditors, 
including a group of financial creditors and Samarco’s employee unions 
then proposed alternative restructure proposals. Samarco, BHP Brasil and 
Vale subsequently each filed objections with the JR Court to both the voting 
process regarding the rejection of the Samarco proposal and the restructure 
proposal filed by a group of financial creditors. These legal disputes, and 
others in the JR process, have yet to be ruled on by the JR Court.

It is expected that there will be continuing litigation from creditors against 
Samarco and its shareholders over the course of the JR proceeding, 
including with respect to the treatment of Samarco’s Fundação Renova-
related obligations and attempts to pierce Samarco’s corporate veil to hold 
BHP Brasil and Vale liable for Samarco’s debts. The duration and outcome 
of the JR remains uncertain with the potential for protracted litigation and 
appeals because, among other things, the Samarco JR is occurring under 
new and untested Brazilian bankruptcy legislation. 

While the JR is not expected to affect Samarco’s obligation or commitment 
to make full redress for the 2015 Fundão dam failure, and is not expected 
to impact Fundação Renova’s ability to undertake that remediation and 
compensation, it is not possible to determine the outcomes of the JR or 
reliably estimate any impact that the reorganisation may have for BHP 
Brasil, including its share of the Samarco dam failure provisions.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

143

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review4  Significant events – Samarco dam failure continued

The following section includes disclosure required by IFRS of Samarco’s provisions, contingencies and other matters arising from the dam failure for matters in 
addition to the above-mentioned claims to which Samarco is a party. 

Samarco
Dam failure related provisions and contingencies

In addition to its obligations under the Framework Agreement as at 30 June 
2022, Samarco has recognised provisions of US$0.3 billion (30 June 2021: 
US$0.2 billion), based on currently available information. The magnitude, 
scope and timing of these additional costs are subject to a high degree 
of uncertainty and Samarco has indicated that it anticipates that it will 
incur future costs beyond those provided. These uncertainties are likely 
to continue for a significant period and changes to key assumptions could 
result in a material change to the amount of the provision in future reporting 
periods. Any such unrecognised obligations are therefore contingent 
liabilities and, at present, it is not practicable to estimate their magnitude or 
possible timing of payment. Accordingly, it is also not possible to provide a 
range of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of total potential future 
exposures at this time.

Samarco is also named as a defendant in a number of other legal 
proceedings initiated by individuals, non-governmental organisations, 
corporations and governmental entities in Brazilian Federal and State 
courts following the Samarco dam failure. The lawsuits include claims 
for compensation, environmental rehabilitation and violations of Brazilian 
environmental and other laws, among other matters. The lawsuits seek 
various remedies including rehabilitation costs, compensation to injured 
individuals and families of the deceased, recovery of personal and property 
losses, moral damages and injunctive relief. In addition, government 
inquiries and investigations relating to the Samarco dam failure have been 
commenced by numerous agencies of the Brazilian government and are 
ongoing. Given the status of proceedings it is not possible to provide a range 
of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of total potential future exposures 
to Samarco.

Additional lawsuits and government investigations relating to the Samarco 
dam failure could be brought against Samarco.

Samarco insurance

Samarco has standalone insurance policies in place with Brazilian 
and global insurers. Insurers’ loss adjusters or claims representatives 
continue to investigate and assist with the claims process for matters not 
yet settled. As at 30 June 2022, an insurance receivable has not been 
recognised by Samarco in respect of ongoing matters.

Samarco commitments

At 30 June 2022, Samarco has commitments of US$0.7 billion (30 June 
2021: US$0.7 billion). Following the dam failure Samarco invoked force 
majeure clauses in a number of long-term contracts with suppliers and 
service providers to suspend contractual obligations.

Samarco non-dam failure related contingent liabilities

The following non-dam failure related contingent liabilities pre-date 
and are unrelated to the Samarco dam failure. Samarco is currently 
contesting both of these matters in the Brazilian courts. Given the status 
of these tax matters, the timing of resolution and potential economic 
outflow for Samarco is uncertain. 

Brazilian Social Contribution Levy 

Samarco has received tax assessments for the alleged non-payment 
of Brazilian Social Contribution Levy for the calendar years 2007-2014 
totalling approximately R$6.2 billion (approximately US$1.2 billion).

Brazilian corporate income tax rate 

Samarco has received tax assessments for alleged incorrect calculation 
of Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) in respect of the 2000-2003 and 2007-
2014 income years totalling approximately R$4.8 billion (approximately 
US$0.9 billion).

144

BHP

Annual Report 2022

5  Expenses and other income

Employee benefits expense:

Wages, salaries and redundancies
Employee share awards
Social security costs
Pension and other post-retirement obligations
Less employee benefits expense classified as exploration and evaluation expenditure

Changes in inventories of finished goods and work in progress
Raw materials and consumables used
Freight and transportation
External services 
Third-party commodity purchases
Net foreign exchange (gains)/losses
Fair value change on derivatives1
Government royalties paid and payable
Exploration and evaluation expenditure incurred and expensed in the current period
Depreciation and amortisation expense
Net impairments:

Property, plant and equipment
Goodwill and other intangible assets

All other operating expenses
Total expenses

Insurance recoveries2
(Gain)/loss on disposal of subsidiaries and operations3
Dividend income4
Other income5
Total other income

2022  
US$M

4,197
109
4
338
(30)
(774)
5,991
2,319
4,525
2,959
(326)
(29)
4,014
199
5,683

515
 −
2,677
32,371

(4)
(840)
(241)
(313)
(1,398)

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

4,018
88
3
274
(26)
(321)
4,899
1,900
4,640
2,220
293
87
3,080
134
5,084

2,474
33
1,991
30,871

(46)
2
(2)
(334)
(380)

3,318
90
2
246
(15)
(348)
5,472
1,838
3,899
1,098
(617)
393
2,171
123
4,667

482
 −
2,634
25,453

(489)
 −
(2)
(229)
(720)

1  Fair value change on derivatives is principally related to commodity price contracts, foreign exchange contracts and embedded derivatives used in the ordinary course of 

business as well as derivatives used as part of the funding of dividends.
Insurance recoveries is principally related to claims received from Samarco dam failure. Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information.

2 
3  Mainly relates to the divestment of BMC in FY2022. Refer to note 3 ‘Exceptional items’ for further information.
4  During FY2022, the Group received dividends of US$238 million from Cerrejón, which reduced completion proceeds net of transaction costs to US$50 million. Refer to note 

29 ‘Investments accounted for using the equity method’ for details.

5  Other income is generally income earned from transactions outside the course of the Group’s ordinary activities and may include certain management fees from non-

controlling interests and joint arrangements, royalties and commission income. 

Recognition and measurement

Other income is recognised when it is probable that the economic benefits associated with a transaction will flow to the Group and can be reliably 
measured. Dividend income is recognised upon declaration. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

145

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review6  Income tax expense

Total taxation expense comprises:
Current tax expense
Deferred tax expense/(benefit)

Factors affecting income tax expense for the year
Income tax expense differs to the standard rate of corporation tax as follows:
Profit before taxation
Tax on profit at Australian prima facie tax rate of 30 per cent
Non-tax effected operating losses and capital gains1
Tax on remitted and unremitted foreign earnings
Investment and development allowance
Tax rate changes
Recognition of previously unrecognised tax assets 
Tax effect of loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses2 
Amounts (over)/under provided in prior years
Foreign exchange adjustments
Impact of tax rates applicable outside of Australia
Other 
Income tax expense
Royalty-related taxation (net of income tax benefit) 
Total taxation expense

2022  
US$M

10,673
64
10,737

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

9,018
1,598
10,616

4,285
(88)
4,197

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

33,137
9,941
1,087
441
 −
 −
(3)
(19)
(80)
(233)
(801)
97
10,430
307
10,737

24,292
7,288
2,640
485
 −
(1)
(28)
315
(57)
(33)
(669)
436
10,376
240
10,616

12,825
3,847
409
225
(99)
(8)
(7)
153
13
41
(272)
(86)
4,216
(19)
4,197

1 

Includes the tax impacts related to the exceptional impairments of US deferred tax assets in the year ended 30 June 2022, NSWEC and Potash in the year ended 30 June 
2021 and Cerro Colorado in the year ended 30 June 2020, as presented in note 3 ‘Exceptional items’. 

2  The loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses is net of income tax, with the exception of the Samarco forward exchange derivatives 

described in note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’. This item removes the prima facie tax effect on such loss, related impairments and expenses, excluding the 
impact of the Samarco forward exchange derivatives which are taxable.

Income tax recognised in other comprehensive income is as follows:

Income tax effect of:
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement:
Hedges:
Gains/(losses) taken to equity
(Gains)/losses transferred to the income statement
Others
Income tax credit/(charge) relating to items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement:
Remeasurement gains/(losses) on pension and medical schemes
Others
Income tax (charge)/credit relating to items that will not be reclassified to the income statement
Total income tax credit/(charge) relating to components of other comprehensive income1

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

2020  
US$M

274
(264)
 −
10

(9)
 −
(9)
1

(259)
252
(1)
(8)

(21)
1
(20)
(28)

94
(89)
 −
5

25
1
26
31

1 

Included within total income tax relating to components of other comprehensive income is US$1 million relating to deferred taxes and US$ nil relating to current taxes (2021: 
US$(28) million and US$ nil; 2020: US$31 million and US$ nil).

146

BHP

Annual Report 2022

6  Income tax expense continued
Recognition and measurement

Taxation on the profit/(loss) for the year comprises current and deferred tax. Taxation is recognised in the income statement except to the extent 
that it relates to items recognised directly in equity or other comprehensive income, in which case the tax effect is also recognised in equity or other 
comprehensive income.

Current tax
Current tax is the 
expected tax on the 
taxable income for the 
year, using tax rates 
and laws enacted or 
substantively enacted 
at the reporting 
date, and any 
adjustments to tax 
payable in respect of 
previous years.

Deferred tax
Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the 
carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements and the corresponding 
tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit, and is accounted for in accordance 
with IAS 12.

Deferred tax is generally provided on temporary differences arising between the tax 
bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the Financial Statements. 
Deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that future taxable 
profits will be available against which the temporary differences can be utilised.

Deferred tax is not recognised for temporary differences relating to:

–  initial recognition of goodwill
–  initial recognition of assets or liabilities in a transaction that is not a business combination and 

that affects neither accounting nor taxable profit

–  investment in subsidiaries, associates and jointly controlled entities where the Group is able 

to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that they will 
not reverse in the foreseeable future

Deferred tax is measured at the tax rates that are expected to be applied when the 
asset is realised or the liability is settled, based on the laws that have been enacted or 
substantively enacted at the reporting date.

Current and deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the Group has a legally 
enforceable right to offset and when the tax balances are related to taxes levied by the 
same tax authority and the Group intends to settle on a net basis, or realise the asset and 
settle the liability simultaneously.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting date and 
reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be 
available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered.

Royalty-related taxation
Royalties are treated as taxation 
arrangements (impacting 
income tax expense/(benefit)) 
when they are imposed under 
government authority and the 
amount payable is calculated 
by reference to revenue derived 
(net of any allowable deductions) 
after adjustment for temporary 
differences. Obligations arising 
from royalty arrangements that 
do not satisfy these criteria are 
recognised as current liabilities 
and included in expenses.

Uncertain tax and royalty matters

The Group operates across many tax jurisdictions. Application of tax law can be complex and requires judgement to assess risk and estimate outcomes, 
particularly in relation to the Group’s cross-border operations and transactions. These judgements are subject to risk and uncertainty, hence there is a 
possibility that changes in circumstances will alter expectations, which may impact the amount of tax assets and tax liabilities, including deferred tax, 
recognised on the balance sheet and the amount of other tax losses and temporary differences not yet recognised. The evaluation of tax risks considers 
both amended assessments received and potential sources of challenge from tax authorities. The status of proceedings for these matters will impact the 
ability to determine the potential exposure and in some cases, it may not be possible to determine a range of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of 
the potential exposure.

The Group has unresolved tax and royalty matters for which the timing of resolution and potential economic outflow are uncertain. Tax and royalty 
matters with uncertain outcomes arise in the normal course of business and occur due to changes in tax law, changes in interpretation of tax law, periodic 
challenges and disagreements with tax authorities and legal proceedings. 

Tax and royalty obligations assessed as having probable future economic outflows capable of reliable measurement are provided for as at 30 June 
2022. Matters with a possible economic outflow and/or presently incapable of being measured reliably are contingent liabilities and disclosed in note 32 
‘Contingent liabilities’. Details of uncertain tax and royalty matters relating to Samarco are disclosed in note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’.

Key judgements and estimates

Income tax classification

Judgements: The Group’s accounting policy for taxation, including royalty-related taxation, requires management’s judgement as to the types of 
arrangements considered to be a tax on income in contrast to an operating cost.

Deferred tax 

Judgements: Judgement is required to determine the amount of deferred tax assets that are recognised based on the likely timing and the level of 
future taxable profits. Judgement is applied in recognising deferred tax liabilities arising from temporary differences in investments. These deferred 
tax liabilities caused principally by retained earnings held in foreign tax jurisdictions are recognised unless repatriation of retained earnings can be 
controlled and is not expected to occur in the foreseeable future. 

Estimates: The Group assesses the recoverability of recognised and unrecognised deferred taxes, including losses in Australia, the United States and 
Canada on a consistent basis. Estimates and assumptions relating to projected earnings and cash flows as applied in the Group impairment process 
are used for operating assets.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

147

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review2021  
Restated

2020  
Restated

7  Earnings per share

Earnings attributable to BHP shareholders (US$M)
– Continuing operations
– Total
Weighted average number of shares (Million)
– Basic
– Diluted
Basic earnings per ordinary share (US cents)
– Continuing operations
– Total
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (US cents)
– Continuing operations
– Total
Headline earnings per ordinary share (US cents)
– Basic
– Diluted

2022

20,245
30,900

5,061
5,071

400.0
610.6

399.2
609.3

439.0
438.1

11,529
11,304

5,057
5,068

228.0
223.5

227.5
223.0

284.8
284.2

Refer to note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share for Discontinued operations.

Earnings on American Depositary Shares represent twice the earnings for BHP Group Limited ordinary shares.

Headline earnings is a Johannesburg Stock Exchange defined performance measure and is reconciled from earnings attributable to ordinary 
shareholders as follows:

Earnings attributable to BHP shareholders
Adjusted for:
(Gain)/loss on sales of PP&E, Investments and Operations1
Impairments of property, plant and equipment, financial assets and intangibles
Samarco impairment expense
Cerrejόn impairment expense
Gain on disposal of BHP Mitsui Coal
Gain on merger of Petroleum
Other2
Tax effect of above adjustments
Subtotal of adjustments
Headline earnings
Diluted headline earnings

2022  
US$M

30,900

(95)
515
 −
 −
(840)
(8,167)
 −
(97)
(8,684)
22,216
22,216

2021  
US$M

11,304

(50)
2,633
111
466
 −
 −
 −
(60)
3,100
14,404
14,404

7,848
7,956

5,057
5,069

155.2
157.3

154.8
157.0

171.1
170.7

2020  
US$M

7,956

4
494
95
 −
 −
 −
48
54
695
8,651
8,651

Included in other income.

1 
2  Mainly represent BHP share of impairment embedded in the statutory income statement of the Group’s equity accounted investments.

Recognition and measurement

Diluted earnings attributable to BHP shareholders are equal to the earnings attributable to BHP shareholders.

Prior to Group’s corporate structure unification, the calculation of the number of ordinary shares used in the computation of basic earnings per share 
was the aggregate of the weighted average number of ordinary shares of BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc outstanding during the period 
after deduction of the number of shares held by the Billiton Employee Share Ownership Trust and the BHP Billiton Limited Employee Equity Trust. 
Effective from 31 January 2022, the aggregate of the weighted average number of ordinary shares of only BHP Group Limited is considered in the 
computation of basic earnings per share. Refer to note 16 ‘Share capital’ for details on unification.

For the purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share, the effect of 10 million dilutive shares has been taken into account for the year ended 30 June 
2022 (2021: 11 million shares; 2020: 12 million shares). The Group’s only potential dilutive ordinary shares are share awards granted under the employee 
share ownership plans for which terms and conditions are described in note 25 ‘Employee share ownership plans’. Diluted earnings per share calculation 
excludes instruments which are considered antidilutive.

At 30 June 2022, there are no instruments which are considered antidilutive (2021: nil; 2020: nil). 

148

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Working capital

8  Trade and other receivables

Trade receivables
Other receivables1
Total 
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

2022  
US$M

4,411
1,168
5,579

5,426
153

2021  
US$M

4,450
1,946
6,396

6,059
337

1  Other receivables mainly relate to indirect tax refunds and receivables from joint venture partners. 

Recognition and measurement

Trade receivables are recognised initially at their transaction price or, for those receivables containing a significant financing component, at fair value. 
Trade receivables are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less an allowance for impairment, except for 
provisionally priced receivables which are subsequently measured at fair value through profit or loss under IFRS 9. 

The collectability of trade and other receivables is assessed continuously. At the reporting date, specific allowances are made for any expected credit 
losses based on a review of all outstanding amounts at reporting period-end. Individual receivables are written off when management deems them 
unrecoverable. The net carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair values. 

Credit risk

Trade receivables generally have terms of less than 30 days. The Group has no material concentration of credit risk with any single counterparty and is 
not dominantly exposed to any individual industry.

Credit risk can arise from the non-performance by counterparties of their contractual financial obligations towards the Group. To manage credit risk, the 
Group maintains Group-wide procedures covering the application for credit approvals, granting and renewal of counterparty limits, proactive monitoring 
of exposures against these limits and requirements triggering secured payment terms. As part of these processes, the credit exposures with all 
counterparties are regularly monitored and assessed on a timely basis. The credit quality of the Group’s customers is reviewed and the solvency of each 
debtor and their ability to pay the receivable is considered in assessing receivables for impairment.

The 10 largest customers represented 34 per cent (2021: 31 per cent) of total credit risk exposures managed by the Group. 

Receivables are deemed to be past due or impaired in accordance with the Group’s terms and conditions. These terms and conditions are determined on 
a case-by-case basis with reference to the customer’s credit quality, payment performance and prevailing market conditions. As at 30 June 2022, trade 
receivables of US$103 million (2021: US$68 million) were past due but not impaired. The majority of these receivables were less than 30 days overdue.

At 30 June 2022, trade receivables are stated net of provisions for expected credit losses of US$3 million (2021: US$3 million).

9  Trade and other payables

Trade payables
Other payables
Total
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

10  Inventories

Raw materials and consumables

Work in progress

Finished goods
Total1
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

2022  
US$M

5,360
1,327
6,687

6,687
 −

2021  
US$M

5,079
1,948
7,027

7,027
 −

2022  
US$M

1,713

3,827

710
6,250

4,935
1,315

2021  
US$M

1,904

3,046

834
5,784

4,426
1,358

Definitions

Spares, consumables and other supplies yet to be utilised in the production process or 
in the rendering of services.
Commodities currently in the production process that require further processing by the 
Group to a saleable form.
Commodities ready-for-sale and not requiring further processing by the Group.

Inventories classified as non-current are not expected to be utilised or sold within 12 
months after the reporting date or within the operating cycle of the business.

1 

Inventory write-downs of US$163 million were recognised during the year (2021: US$58 million; 2020: US$37 million). Inventory write-downs of US$23 million made in 
previous periods were reversed during the year (2021: US$26 million; 2020: US$8 million).

BHP

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149

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review10  Inventories continued

Recognition and measurement

Regardless of the type of inventory and its stage in the production process, inventories are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Cost is 
determined primarily on the basis of average costs and involves estimates of expected metal recoveries and work in progress volumes, calculated using 
available industry, engineering and scientific data. These estimates are periodically reassessed by the Group taking into account technical analysis and 
historical performance. 

For processed inventories, cost is derived on an absorption costing basis. Cost comprises costs of purchasing raw materials and costs of production, 
including attributable mining and manufacturing overheads taking into consideration normal operating capacity. 

Inventory quantities are assessed primarily through surveys and assays.

Resource assets

11  Property, plant and equipment

Net book value – 30 June 2022
At the beginning of the financial year 
Additions1
Remeasurements of index-linked freight contracts2
Depreciation for the year
Impairments for the year3
Disposals
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations4
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year5
– Cost
– Accumulated depreciation and impairments

Net book value – 30 June 2021
At the beginning of the financial year 
Additions1
Acquisition of subsidiaries & operations6
Remeasurements of index-linked freight contracts2
Depreciation for the year
Impairments for the year3
Disposals
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year5
– Cost
– Accumulated depreciation and impairments

Land and 
buildings 
US$M

Plant and 
equipment 
US$M

Other mineral 
assets  
US$M

Assets under 
construction 
US$M

Exploration 
and evaluation 
US$M

8,072
41
 −
(663)
(14)
(3)
(448)
1,094
8,079
14,823
(6,744)

8,387
25
 −
 −
(694)
(208)
(18)
 −
580
8,072
14,545
(6,473)

44,682
1,935
(369)
(5,564)
(499)
(22)
(8,007)
3,344
35,500
81,218
(45,718)

39,429
3,841
151
(59)
(5,748)
(877)
(9)
(14)
7,968
44,682
108,049
(63,367)

8,941
792
 −
(276)
(2)
 −
(545)
(416)
8,494
14,353
(5,859)

8,652
797
491
 −
(310)
(687)
 −
 −
(2)
8,941
15,059
(6,118)

10,432
5,872
 −
 −
 −
 −
(3,549)
(3,724)
9,031
9,755
(724)

13,774
5,961
 −
 −
 −
(745)
 −
(2)
(8,556)
10,432
11,177
(745)

1,686
137
 −
 −
 −
 −
(842)
(790)
191
981
(790)

2,120
93
 −
 −
 −
(66)
 −
 −
(461)
1,686
2,531
(845)

Total  
US$M

73,813
8,777
(369)
(6,503)
(515)
(25)
(13,391)
(492)
61,295
121,130
(59,835)

72,362
10,717
642
(59)
(6,752)
(2,583)
(27)
(16)
(471)
73,813
151,361
(77,548)

1 

Includes change in estimates and net foreign exchange gains/(losses) related to the closure and rehabilitation provisions for operating sites. Refer to note 15 ‘Closure and 
rehabilitation provisions’.

2  Relates to remeasurements of index-linked freight contracts including continuous voyage charters (CVCs). Refer to note 21 ‘Leases’.
3  Refer to note 13 ‘Impairment of non-current assets’ for information on impairments.
4  BMC and Petroleum were disposed in May 2022 and June 2022 respectively. Refer to notes 3 ‘Exceptional items’ and 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.
5 

Includes the carrying value of the Group’s right-of-use assets relating to land and buildings and plant and equipment of US$2,361 million (2021: US$3,350 million). Refer to 
note 21 ‘Leases’ for the movement of the right-of-use assets.

6  Relates to the acquisition of an additional 28 per cent working interest in Shenzi.

Recognition and measurement
Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment charges. Cost is the fair value of consideration given 
to acquire the asset at the time of its acquisition or construction and includes the direct costs of bringing the asset to the location and the condition 
necessary for operation and the estimated future costs of closure and rehabilitation of the facility. 

Right-of-use assets are measured at cost, less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, and adjusted for any remeasurement of lease 
liabilities. Refer to note 21 ‘Leases’ for further details. Right-of-use assets are presented within the category of property, plant and equipment according 
to the nature of the underlying asset leased. 

Exploration and evaluation

Exploration costs are incurred to discover mineral resources. Evaluation costs are incurred to assess the technical feasibility and commercial viability 
of resources found.

Exploration and evaluation expenditure is charged to the income statement as incurred, except in the following circumstances in which case the 
expenditure may be capitalised:

–  the exploration and evaluation activity is within an area of interest that was previously acquired as an asset acquisition or in a business combination 

and measured at fair value on acquisition or

–  the existence of a commercially viable mineral deposit has been established

150

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11  Property, plant and equipment continued
A regular review of each area of interest is undertaken to determine the appropriateness of continuing to carry forward costs in relation to that area. 
Capitalised costs are only carried forward to the extent that they are expected to be recovered through the successful exploitation of the area of interest 
or alternatively by its sale. To the extent that capitalised expenditure is no longer expected to be recovered, it is charged to the income statement.

Development expenditure

When proven mineral reserves are determined and development is sanctioned, capitalised exploration and evaluation expenditure is reclassified as 
assets under construction within property, plant and equipment. All subsequent development expenditure is capitalised and classified as assets under 
construction, provided commercial viability conditions continue to be satisfied.

The Group may use funds sourced from external parties to finance the acquisition and development of assets and operations. Finance costs are 
expensed as incurred, except where they relate to the financing of construction or development of qualifying assets. Borrowing costs directly attributable 
to acquiring or constructing a qualifying asset are capitalised during the development phase. Development expenditure is net of proceeds from the 
saleable material extracted during the development phase. On completion of development, all assets included in assets under construction are 
reclassified as either plant and equipment or other mineral assets and depreciation commences. 

Other mineral assets

Other mineral assets comprise:

–  capitalised exploration, evaluation and development expenditure for assets in production

–  mineral rights acquired

–  capitalised development and production stripping costs

Overburden removal costs

The process of removing overburden and other waste materials to access mineral deposits is referred to as stripping. Stripping is necessary to obtain 
access to mineral deposits and occurs throughout the life of an open-pit mine. Development and production stripping costs are classified as other mineral 
assets in property, plant and equipment. 

Stripping costs are accounted for separately for individual components of an ore body. The determination of components is dependent on the mine plan 
and other factors, including the size, shape and geotechnical aspects of an ore body. The Group accounts for stripping activities as follows:

Development stripping costs

These are initial overburden removal costs incurred to obtain access to mineral deposits that will be commercially produced. These costs are capitalised 
when it is probable that future economic benefits (access to mineral ores) will flow to the Group and costs can be measured reliably. 

Once the production phase begins, capitalised development stripping costs are depreciated using the units of production method based on the proven 
and probable reserves of the relevant identified component of the ore body which the initial stripping activity benefits.

Production stripping costs

These are post initial overburden removal costs incurred during the normal course of production activity, which commences after the first saleable 
minerals have been extracted from the component. Production stripping costs can give rise to two benefits, the accounting for which is outlined below:

Production stripping activity

Benefits of stripping activity
Period benefited
Recognition and 
measurement criteria

Extraction of ore (inventory) in current period.
Current period
When the benefits of stripping activities are realised in 
the form of inventory produced; the associated costs 
are recorded in accordance with the Group’s inventory 
accounting policy.

Improved access to future ore extraction.
Future period(s)
When the benefits of stripping activities are improved access 
to future ore; production costs are capitalised when all the 
following criteria are met:

–  the production stripping activity improves access to a specific 
component of the ore body and it is probable that economic 
benefits arising from the improved access to future ore 
production will be realised

–  the component of the ore body for which access has been 

improved can be identified

–  costs associated with that component can be measured reliably

Allocation of costs

Asset recognised from 
stripping activity
Depreciation basis

Production stripping costs are allocated between the inventory produced and the production stripping asset using a life-of-
component waste-to-ore (or mineral contained) strip ratio. When the current strip ratio is greater than the estimated life-of-
component ratio a portion of the stripping costs is capitalised to the production stripping asset.
Inventory

Other mineral assets within property, plant and equipment.

Not applicable 

On a component-by-component basis using the units of 
production method based on proven and probable reserves.

Key judgements and estimates

Judgements: Judgement is applied by management in determining the components of an ore body.

Estimates: Estimates are used in the determination of stripping ratios and mineral reserves by component. Changes to estimates related to life-
of-component waste-to-ore (or mineral contained) strip ratios and the expected ore production from identified components are accounted for 
prospectively and may affect depreciation rates and asset carrying values.

BHP

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151

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review11  Property, plant and equipment continued
Depreciation

Depreciation of assets, other than land, assets under construction and capitalised exploration and evaluation that are not depreciated, is calculated 
using either the straight-line (SL) method or units of production (UoP) method, net of residual values, over the estimated useful lives of specific assets. 
The depreciation method and rates applied to specific assets reflect the pattern in which the asset’s benefits are expected to be used by the Group. 
The Group’s proved reserves for petroleum assets and proved and probable reserves for minerals assets are used to determine UoP depreciation unless 
doing so results in depreciation charges that do not reflect the asset’s useful life. Where this occurs, alternative approaches to determining reserves 
are applied, such as using management’s expectations of future oil and gas prices rather than yearly average prices, to provide a phasing of periodic 
depreciation charges that better reflects the asset’s expected useful life. 

Where assets are dedicated to a mine or petroleum lease, the useful lives below are subject to the lesser of the asset category’s useful life and the life 
of the mine or petroleum lease, unless those assets are readily transferable to another productive mine or lease.

Assets classified as held for sale are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value less cost to sell and therefore not depreciated. 
BMC and Petroleum were classified as held for sale since November 2021 and December 2021 respectively.

Key estimates

The determination of useful lives, residual values and depreciation methods involves estimates and assumptions and is reviewed annually. 
Any changes to useful lives or any other estimates or assumptions, including the expected impact of climate change and the transition to a lower 
carbon economy, may affect prospective depreciation rates and asset carrying values. The table below summarises the principal depreciation methods 
and rates applied to major asset categories by the Group.

Category

Typical depreciation methodology
Depreciation rate

Commitments

Buildings

SL
25-50 years

Plant and 
equipment

SL
3-30 years

Mineral rights and  
petroleum interests

Capitalised exploration, evaluation and 
development expenditure

UoP
Based on the rate of  
depletion of reserves

UoP
Based on the rate of  
depletion of reserves

The Group’s commitments for capital expenditure were US$2,820 million as at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$2,469 million). The Group’s commitments related 
to leases are included in note 21 ‘Leases’.

12  Intangible assets

Net book value
At the beginning of the financial year
Additions
Amortisation for the year
Impairments for the year1
Disposals
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations2
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year
– Cost
– Accumulated amortisation and impairments

2022

Other 
intangibles 
US$M

Goodwill  
US$M

Total  
US$M

Goodwill  
US$M

1,197
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
1,197
1,197
 −

240
36
(60)
 −
(16)
(66)
38
172
1,363
(1,191)

1,437
36
(60)
 −
(16)
(66)
38
1,369
2,560
(1,191)

1,197
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
1,197
1,197
 −

2021

Other 
intangibles 
US$M

377
23
(93)
(52)
 −
 −
(15)
240
1,506
(1,266)

Total  
US$M

1,574
23
(93)
(52)
 −
 −
(15)
1,437
2,703
(1,266)

1  Refer to note 13 ‘Impairment of non-current assets’ for information on impairments.
2  Relates to the merger of Petroleum with Woodside. Refer to note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.

Recognition and measurement
Goodwill

Where the fair value of the consideration paid for a business acquisition exceeds the fair value of the identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities 
acquired, the difference is treated as goodwill. Where consideration is less than the fair value of acquired net assets, the difference is recognised 
immediately in the income statement. Goodwill is not amortised and is measured at cost less any impairment losses.

Other intangibles

The Group capitalises amounts paid for the acquisition of identifiable intangible assets, such as software, licences and initial payments for the acquisition 
of mineral lease assets, where it is considered that they will contribute to future periods through revenue generation or reductions in cost. These assets, 
classified as finite life intangible assets, are carried in the balance sheet at the fair value of consideration paid (cost) less accumulated amortisation and 
impairment charges. Intangible assets with finite useful lives are amortised on a straight-line basis over their useful lives. The estimated useful lives are 
generally no greater than eight years.

Initial payments for the acquisition of intangible mineral lease assets are capitalised and amortised over the term of the permit. A regular review is 
undertaken of each area of interest to determine the appropriateness of continuing to carry forward costs in relation to that area. Capitalised costs are 
only carried forward to the extent that they are expected to be recovered through the successful exploitation of the area of interest or alternatively by its 
sale. To the extent that capitalised expenditure is no longer expected to be recovered, it is charged to the income statement.

Assets classified as held for sale are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value less cost to sell and therefore not amortised. 

152

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13  Impairment of non-current assets

Cash generating unit

Cerro Colorado
Other
Total impairment of non-current assets
Reversal of impairment
Net impairment of non-current assets – Continuing operations
Net impairment of non-current assets – Discontinued operations
Net impairment of non-current assets

Segment

Copper
Various

Cash generating unit

New South Wales Energy Coal
Cerrejόn
Potash
Other
Total impairment of non-current assets
Reversal of impairment
Net impairment of non-current assets – Continuing operations
Net impairment of non-current assets – Discontinued operations
Net impairment of non-current assets

Segment

Coal
Coal
G&U
Various

Recognition and measurement

2022

Property, plant 
and equipment 
US$M

Goodwill 
and other 
intangibles 
US$M

Equity-
accounted 
investment 
US$M

455
60
515
 −
515
 −
515

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

Property, plant 
and equipment 
US$M

2021 Restated

Goodwill  
and other 
intangibles 
US$M

Equity-
accounted 
investment 
US$M

1,025
 −
1,314
135
2,474
 −
2,474
109
2,583

32
 −
 −
1
33
 −
33
19
52

 −
466
 −
 −
466
 −
466
 −
466

Total  
US$M

455
60
515
 −
515
 −
515

Total  
US$M

1,057
466
1,314
136
2,973
 −
2,973
128
3,101

Impairment tests for all non-financial assets (excluding goodwill) are performed when there is an indication of impairment. Goodwill is tested for impairment 
at least annually. Where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets, the Group estimates the recoverable amount 
of the cash generating unit (CGU) to which the asset belongs, being the smallest identifiable group of assets that generates cash inflows that are largely 
independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets. If the carrying amount of the asset or CGU exceeds its recoverable amount, the 
asset or CGU is impaired and an impairment loss is charged to the income statement so as to reduce the carrying amount in the balance sheet to its 
recoverable amount. 

Previously impaired assets (excluding goodwill as impairment losses are not reversed in subsequent periods) are reviewed for possible reversal of previous 
impairment at each reporting date. Impairment reversal cannot exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined (net of depreciation) had no 
impairment loss been recognised for the asset or CGU. Such reversal is recognised in the income statement. There were no reversals of impairment in the 
current or prior year. 

How recoverable amount is calculated

The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s or CGU’s fair value less cost of disposal (FVLCD) and its value in use (VIU). 

Fair value less cost of disposal 

FVLCD is an estimate of the amount that a market participant would pay for an asset or CGU, less the cost of disposal. FVLCD for mineral assets is 
generally determined using independent market assumptions to calculate the present value of the estimated future post-tax cash flows expected to arise 
from the continued use of the asset, including the anticipated cash flow effects of any capital expenditure to enhance production or reduce cost, and its 
eventual disposal where a market participant may take a consistent view. Cash flows are discounted using an appropriate post-tax market discount rate 
to arrive at a net present value of the asset, which is compared against the asset’s carrying value. FVLCD may also take into consideration other market-
based indicators of fair value. FVLCD are based primarily on Level 3 inputs as defined in note 23 ‘Financial risk management’ unless otherwise noted.

Value in use 

VIU is determined as the present value of the estimated future cash flows expected to arise from the continued use of the asset in its present form and 
its eventual disposal or closure. VIU is determined by applying assumptions specific to the Group’s continued use and cannot take into account future 
development. These assumptions are different to those used in calculating FVLCD and consequently the VIU calculation is likely to give a different result 
(usually lower) to a FVLCD calculation.

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153

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review13  Impairment of non-current assets continued

Impairment of non-current assets (excluding goodwill)

Impairment of non-current assets relating to the year ended 30 June 2022 are detailed below.

Impairment of Cerro Colorado 

The Group recognised a pre-tax impairment charge of US$455 million. The impairment charge primarily relates to an increase in closure and rehabilitation 
provision at Cerro Colorado due to additional work required to re-profile waste dumps for closure and an increase in scope for the closure activities.

Impairments of non-current assets relating to the year ended 30 June 2021 are detailed below.

Impairment of New South Wales Energy Coal

The Group recognised pre-tax impairment charges of US$1,057 million. The recoverable amount of negative US$300 million as at 30 June 2021 was 
determined using VIU methodology, applying discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques. The valuation for NSWEC was most sensitive to changes in energy 
coal prices, estimated future production volumes and discount rates. The valuation applied a post-tax real discount rate of 6.5 per cent.

Impairment of Cerrejόn 

The Group recognised a pre-tax impairment charge of US$466 million. The recoverable amount of US$284 million as at 30 June 2021 represented 
a FVLCD based on the expected net sale proceeds. 

Impairment of Potash assets

The Group recognised a pre-tax impairment charge of US$1,314 million. The recoverable amount of US$3.3 billion as at 30 June 2021 was determined 
using FVLCD methodology, applying DCF techniques. The valuation was most sensitive to changes in the long-term potash price outlook and the risking 
applied to the future development phases of the potash resource. The valuation applied a post-tax real discount rate of 6.5 per cent. 

Impairment test for goodwill

The carrying amount of goodwill has been allocated to the CGUs, or groups of CGUs, as follows:

Cash generating unit

Olympic Dam
Other
Total goodwill

2022  
US$M

1,010
187
1,197

2021  
US$M

1,010
187
1,197

For the purpose of impairment testing, goodwill has been allocated to CGUs or groups of CGUs, that are expected to benefit from the synergies of previous 
business combinations, which represent the level at which management will monitor and manage goodwill.

Olympic Dam goodwill

Impairment test conclusion 

How did the goodwill arise?
Segment
How were the 
valuations calculated?
Significant assumptions 
and sensitivities

The Group performed an impairment test of the Olympic Dam CGU, including goodwill, as at 31 December 2021 
and an impairment charge was not required. A goodwill impairment test was not required at 30 June 2022 as there 
were no indicators of impairment.
Goodwill arose on the acquisition of WMC Resources Ltd in June 2005. 
Olympic Dam is part of the Copper reportable segment.
FVLCD methodology using DCF techniques has been applied in determining the recoverable amount of 
Olympic Dam.
The current valuation of Olympic Dam exceeds its carrying amount by approximately US$2.4 billion (2021: 
US$1.8 billion) and is most sensitive to changes in copper and gold commodity prices, production volumes, 
operating costs and discount rates. The valuation applied a post-tax real discount rate of 6.5 per cent 
(2021: 6 per cent). 

Management consider that there are no reasonably possible changes in copper and gold price forecasts, operating 
cost estimates or the discount rate that would, in isolation, result in the estimated recoverable amount being equal 
to the carrying amount.

A production volume decrease of 6 per cent (2021: 4.8 per cent) across all commodities (copper, gold, silver 
and uranium) would, in isolation, result in the estimated recoverable amount being equal to the carrying amount. 
Typically, changes in any one of the aforementioned assumptions (including operating performance) would be 
accompanied by a change in another assumption which may have an offsetting impact. Action is usually taken to 
respond to adverse changes in assumptions to mitigate the impact of any such change.

Key judgements and estimates that have been applied in the FVLCD valuation are disclosed further below.

Other goodwill

Goodwill held by other CGUs is US$187 million (2021: US$187 million). This represents less than one per cent of net assets at 30 June 2022 
(2021: less than one per cent). There was no impairment of other goodwill in the year to 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil).

154

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13  Impairment of non-current assets continued

Key judgements and estimates

Judgements: Assessment of indicators of impairment or impairment 
reversal and the determination of CGUs for impairment purposes require 
significant management judgement.

Indicators of impairment may include changes in the Group’s operating 
and economic assumptions, including those arising from changes in 
reserves or mine planning, updates to the Group’s commodity supply, 
demand and price forecasts, or the possible additional impacts from 
emerging risks including those related to climate change and the 
transition to a low carbon economy. 

Climate change

Impacts related to climate change and the transition to a low carbon 
economy may include: 

All estimates require management judgements and assumptions and 
are subject to risk and uncertainty that may be beyond the control of 
the Group; hence, there is a possibility that changes in circumstances 
will materially alter projections, which may impact the recoverable 
amount of assets/CGUs at each reporting date. While no indicators of 
impairment, or impairment reversal, were identified across the Group’s 
CGUs at 30 June 2022, with the exception of the Cerro Colorado CGU, 
the carrying value of the Spence CGU is the most susceptible to changes 
in the significant estimates outlined below in the next reporting period.

The significant estimates impacting the Group’s recoverable amount 
determinations are:

–  demand for the Group’s commodities decreasing, due to policy, 

Commodity prices

regulatory (including carbon pricing mechanisms), legal, technological, 
market or societal responses to climate change, resulting in a 
proportion of a CGU’s reserves becoming incapable of extraction in an 
economically viable fashion

–  physical impacts related to acute risks resulting from increased 

frequency or severity of extreme weather events, and those related to 
chronic risks resulting from longer-term changes in climate patterns

The Group’s assessment of the potential impacts of climate change and 
the transition to a low carbon economy continues to mature. As outlined 
in the Basis of Preparation, where sufficiently developed, the potential 
financial impacts on the Group of climate change and the transition to 
a low carbon economy have been considered in the assessment of 
indicators of impairment, including:

–  the Group’s current assumptions relating to demand for commodities 
and carbon pricing, including their impact on the Group’s long-term 
price forecasts

–  the Group’s operational emissions reduction strategy

Estimates: The Group performs a recoverable amount determination 
for an asset or CGU when there is an indication of impairment or 
impairment reversal. 

When the recoverable amount is measured by reference to FVLCD, 
in the absence of quoted market prices or binding sale agreement, 
estimates are made regarding the present value of future post-tax cash 
flows. These estimates are made from the perspective of a market 
participant and include prices, future production volumes, operating 
costs, capital expenditure, closure and rehabilitation costs, taxes, risking 
factors applied to cash flows and discount rates. The cash flow forecasts 
may include net cash flows expected from the extraction, processing 
and sale of material that does not currently qualify for inclusion in ore 
reserves. Reserves and resources are included in the assessment 
of FVLCD to the extent that it is considered probable that a market 
participant would attribute value to them.

When recoverable amount is measured using VIU, estimates are made 
regarding the present value of future cash flows based on internal 
budgets and forecasts and life of asset plans. Key estimates are similar 
to those identified for FVLCD, although some assumptions and values 
may differ as they reflect the perspective of management rather than a 
market participant. 

Commodity prices were based on latest internal forecasts which assume 
short-term market prices will revert to the Group’s assessment of 
long-term price. These price forecasts reflect management’s long-term 
views of global supply and demand, built upon past experience of the 
commodity markets and are benchmarked with external sources of 
information such as analyst forecasts. Prices are adjusted based upon 
premiums or discounts applied to global price markers to reflect the 
location, nature and quality of the Group’s production, or to take into 
account contracted prices.

Future production volumes

Estimated production volumes were based on detailed data and took 
into account development plans established by management as part 
of the Group’s long-term planning process. When estimating FVLCD, 
assumptions reflect all reserves and resources that a market participant 
would consider when valuing the respective CGU, which in some cases 
are broader in scope than the reserves that would be used in a VIU 
test. In determining FVLCD, risk factors may be applied to reserves and 
resources which do not meet the criteria to be treated as proved.

Cash outflows (including operating costs, capital expenditure, closure and 
rehabilitation costs and taxes)

Cash outflows are based on internal budgets and forecasts and life of 
asset plans. Cost assumptions reflect management experience and 
expectations. Tax assumptions reflect existing tax and royalty regimes 
and rates applicable in the jurisdiction of the CGU. In the case of FVLCD, 
cash flow projections include the anticipated cash flow effects of any 
capital expenditure to enhance production or reduce cost where a market 
participant may take a consistent view. VIU does not take into account 
future development.

Discount rates

The Group uses real post-tax discount rates applied to real post-tax cash 
flows. The discount rates are derived using the weighted average cost of 
capital methodology. Adjustments to the rates are made for any risks that 
are not reflected in the underlying cash flows, including country risk.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

155

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review14  Deferred tax balances
The movement for the year in the Group’s net deferred tax position is as follows:

Net deferred tax (liability)/asset
At the beginning of the financial year
Income tax (charge)/credit recorded in the income statement1 
Income tax (charge)/credit recorded directly in equity
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations2
Other movements
At the end of the financial year

2022  
US$M

(1,402)
(125)
(42)
(1,439)
1
(3,007)

2021  
US$M

(91)
(1,325)
42
 −
(28)
(1,402)

2020  
US$M

(491)
335
34
 −
31
(91)

Includes Discontinued operations income tax (charge)/credit to the income statement of US$(61) million (2021: US$273 million; 2020: US$247 million).

1 
2  Relates to the divestment of BMC and merger of Petroleum with Woodside. Refer to notes 3 ‘Exceptional items’ and 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.

For recognition and measurement refer to note 6 ‘Income tax expense’.

The composition of the Group’s net deferred tax assets and liabilities recognised in the balance sheet and the deferred tax expense charged/(credited) to 
the income statement is as follows:

Type of temporary difference
Depreciation1
Exploration expenditure
Employee benefits
Closure and rehabilitation
Resource rent tax 
Other provisions
Deferred income
Deferred charges
Investments, including foreign tax credits
Foreign exchange gains and losses
Tax losses
Lease liability1
Other
Total 

Deferred tax assets

Deferred tax liabilities

Charged/(credited) to the income statement

2022  
US$M

(526)
9
21
104
 −
70
51
(57)
139
(13)
225
17
16
56

2021  
US$M

(1,349)
51
94
638
122
108
11
(36)
147
(3)
1,999
68
62
1,912

2022  
US$M

4,844
 −
(322)
(1,448)
 −
(192)
(1)
584
365
154
(307)
(594)
(20)
3,063

2021  
US$M

4,716
 −
(333)
(2,086)
368
(227)
(16)
602
671
133
(82)
(658)
226
3,314

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

2020  
US$M

554
13
20
24
(129)
49
(31)
7
(298)
33
28
(10)
(135)
125

488
347
(68)
(515)
(309)
77
(31)
68
414
63
678
67
46
1,325

1,394
51
(38)
(334)
(119)
(268)
33
(132)
(77)
(18)
(148)
(793)
114
(335)

1 

Includes deferred tax associated with the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on adoption of IFRS 16. Refer to note 21 ‘Leases’. 

The amount of deferred tax assets dependent on future taxable profits not arising from the reversal of existing deferred tax liabilities, and which relate to 
tax jurisdictions where the taxable entity has suffered a loss in the current or preceding year, was US$18 million at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$1,675 million). 
The decrease from FY2021 is primarily attributable to the disposal of assets giving rise to these deferred tax assets as part of the merger of Petroleum with 
Woodside. For operating assets, the group assesses the recoverability of these deferred tax assets using estimates and assumptions relating to projected 
earnings and cash flows as applied in the Group impairment process for associated operations. Further information on the key judgements and estimates 
relating to the recognition of deferred tax assets is provided in note 6 ‘Income tax expense’.

156

BHP

Annual Report 2022

14  Deferred tax balances continued
The composition of the Group’s unrecognised deferred tax assets and liabilities is as follows:

Unrecognised deferred tax assets
Tax losses and tax credits1
Investments in subsidiaries2
Deductible temporary differences relating to PRRT3
Mineral rights4
Other deductible temporary differences5
Total unrecognised deferred tax assets
Unrecognised deferred tax liabilities
Investments in subsidiaries2
Future taxable temporary differences relating to unrecognised deferred tax asset for PRRT3
Total unrecognised deferred tax liabilities

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

8,462
1,597
 −
2,781
1,777
14,617

2,099
 −
2,099

5,944
1,712
2,402
3,359
1,630
15,047

2,203
720
2,923

1  At 30 June 2022, the Group had income and capital tax losses with a tax benefit of US$5,777 million (2021: US$3,569 million) and tax credits of US$2,685 million (2021: 

US$2,375 million), which are not recognised as deferred tax assets, because it is not probable that future taxable profits or capital gains will be available against which the 
Group can utilise the benefits. 
The gross amount of tax losses carried forward that have not been recognised is as follows:

Year of expiry

Income tax losses
Not later than one year
Later than one year and not later than two years
Later than two years and not later than five years
Later than five years and not later than 10 years
Later than 10 years and not later than 20 years
Unlimited

Capital tax losses
Not later than one year
Later than two years and not later than five years
Unlimited
Gross amount of tax losses not recognised
Tax effect of total losses not recognised

2022  
US$M

 −
 −
43
248
1,290
4,157
5,738

 −
 −
14,173
19,911
5,777

2021 
US$M

13
5
105
1,449
3,347
4,799
9,718

 −
 −
4,238
13,956
3,569

  Of the US$2,685 million of tax credits, US$2,129 million expires not later than 10 years and US$556 million expires later than 10 years and not later than 20 years.
2  The Group had deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities associated with undistributed earnings of subsidiaries that have not been recognised because the Group is 

able to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary differences and it is not probable that these differences will reverse in the foreseeable future. Where the Group has 
undistributed earnings held by associates and joint interests, the deferred tax liability will be recognised as there is no ability to control the timing of the potential distributions.
3  The Group had unrecognised deferred tax assets relating to Australian Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) in FY2021. The assets giving rise to these deferred tax assets 

were disposed as part of the merger of Petroleum with Woodside. Refer to note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.

4  The Group had deductible temporary differences relating to mineral rights for which deferred tax assets had not been recognised because it is not probable that future capital 

gains will be available against which the Group can utilise the benefits. The deductible temporary differences do not expire under current tax legislation.

5  The Group had other deductible temporary differences for which deferred tax assets had not been recognised because it is not probable that future taxable profits will be 

available against which the Group can utilise the benefits. The deductible temporary differences do not expire under current tax legislation.

15  Closure and rehabilitation provisions

At the beginning of the financial year
Capitalised amounts for operating sites:

Change in estimate
Exchange translation 

Adjustments charged/(credited) to the income statement:

Increases to existing and new provisions
Exchange translation 
Released during the year

Other adjustments to the provision:

Amortisation of discounting impacting net finance costs 
Acquisition of subsidiaries and operations
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations 
Expenditure on closure and rehabilitations activities
Exchange variations impacting foreign currency translation reserve
Other movements

At the end of the financial year
Comprising:
Current
Non-current
Operating sites
Closed sites

2022  
US$M

11,910

1,579
(694)

174
(58)
(42)

554
 −
(4,477)
(316)
(3)
62
8,689

475
8,214
6,198
2,491

2021  
US$M

8,810

1,974
483

564
76
(157)

380
179
(81)
(321)
3
 −
11,910

591
11,319
9,279
2,631

BHP

Annual Report 2022

157

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
15  Closure and rehabilitation provisions continued
The Group is required to close and rehabilitate sites and associated facilities at the end of or, in some cases, during the course of production to a 
condition acceptable to the relevant authorities, as specified in licence requirements and the Group’s closure performance requirements as set out within 
Our Charter. 

The key components of closure and rehabilitation activities are:

–  the removal of all unwanted infrastructure associated with an operation

–  the return of disturbed areas to a safe, stable and self-sustaining condition, consistent with the agreed post-closure land use 

Recognition and measurement

Provisions for closure and rehabilitation are recognised by the Group when:

–  it has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events

–  it is more likely than not that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation 

–  the amount can be reliably estimated

Initial recognition and measurement
Closure and rehabilitation provisions are 
initially recognised when an environmental 
disturbance first occurs. The individual site 
provisions are an estimate of the expected 
value of future cash flows required to close 
the relevant site using current standards 
and techniques and taking into account 
risks and uncertainties. Individual site 
provisions are discounted to their present 
value using currency specific discount 
rates aligned to the estimated timing of 
cash outflows. 

When provisions for closure and 
rehabilitation are initially recognised, the 
corresponding cost is capitalised as an 
asset, representing part of the cost of 
acquiring the future economic benefits of 
the operation.

Subsequent measurement
The closure and rehabilitation asset, recognised within property, plant and equipment, is depreciated over 
the life of the operations. The value of the provision is progressively increased over time as the effect of 
discounting unwinds, resulting in an expense recognised in net finance costs.

The closure and rehabilitation provision is reviewed at each reporting date to assess if the estimate 
continues to reflect the best estimate of the obligation. If necessary, the provision is remeasured to account 
for factors such as:

–  additional disturbance during the period

–  revisions to estimated reserves, resources and lives of operations including any changes to expected 
operating lives arising from the Group’s latest assessment of the potential impacts of climate change 
and the transition to a low carbon economy

–  developments in technology

–  changes to regulatory requirements and environmental management strategies

–  changes in the estimated extent and costs of anticipated activities, including the effects of inflation and 

movements in foreign exchange rates

–  movements in interest rates affecting the discount rate applied

Changes to the closure and rehabilitation estimate for operating sites are added to, or deducted from, 
the related asset and amortised on a prospective basis over the remaining life of the operation, generally 
applying the units of production method.

Costs arising from unforeseen circumstances, such as the contamination caused by unplanned 
discharges, are recognised as an expense and liability when the event gives rise to an obligation that is 
probable and capable of reliable estimation.

Closed sites

Where future economic benefits are no longer expected to be derived through operation, changes to the associated closure and remediation costs are 
charged to the income statement in the period identified. This amounted to US$74 million in the year ended 30 June 2022 (2021: US$483 million; 2020: 
US$669 million).

158

BHP

Annual Report 2022

15  Closure and rehabilitation provisions continued

Key estimates

Closure cost estimates are generally based on conceptual level studies 
early in the operating life of an asset with more detailed studies and 
planning performed as closure risks (including those related to climate 
change) are identified and/or as an asset, or parts thereof, near closure. 
As such, the recognition and measurement of closure and rehabilitation 
provisions requires the use of significant estimates and assumptions, 
including, but not limited to:

–  the extent (due to legal or constructive obligations) of potential 

activities required for the removal of infrastructure, decharacterisation 
of tailings storage facilities and rehabilitation activities

–  costs associated with future closure activities

–  the extent and period of post-closure monitoring and maintenance, 

including water management

–  applicable discount rates

–  the timing of cash flows and ultimate closure of operations

The extent, cost and timing of future closure activities may also be 
impacted by the potential physical impacts of climate change. 
In estimating the potential cost of closure activities, the Group considers 
factors such as long-term weather outlooks, for example forecast 
changes in rainfall patterns. Closure cost estimates also consider the 
impact of the Group’s energy transition strategy on the costs and timing 
of performing closure activities and the impact of new technology when 
appropriately developed and tested. For example, closure cost estimates 
largely continue to reflect the use of existing fuel sources for the Group’s 
equipment while the Group continues to invest in the development of 
alternative fuel sources and fleet electrification. 

Estimates for post-closure monitoring and maintenance reflect the 
Group’s strategies for individual sites, which may include possible 
relinquishment. The period of monitoring and maintenance included in 
the provision requires judgement and considers regulatory and licencing 
requirements, the outcomes of studies and management’s current 
assessment of stakeholder expectations. As post-closure monitoring 
and maintenance may be required for significant periods beyond the 
completion of other closure activities, it is exposed to the potential long-
term impacts of climate change, particularly changes in rainfall patterns. 
While reflecting management’s current best estimate, the cost of post-
closure monitoring and maintenance may change in future reporting 
periods as the understanding of, and potential long-term impacts from, 
climate change continue to evolve. 

While progressive closure is performed across a number of operations, 
significant activities are generally undertaken at the end of the production 
life at the individual sites, the estimated timing of which is informed by 
the Group’s current assumptions relating to demand for commodities and 
carbon pricing, and their impact on the Group’s long-term price forecasts.

Remaining production lives range from 2-104 years (2021: 3-91 years). 
Given the generally shorter remaining operational lives of the Group’s 
previously held Petroleum assets, the average remaining production 
life for all operating sites, weighted by current closure provision, has 
increased to approximately 29 years (2021: 27 years). The discount 
rates applied to the Group’s closure and rehabilitation provisions are 
determined by reference to the currency of the closure cash flows, the 
period over which the cash flows will be incurred and prevailing market 
interest rates (where available). The Group continues to monitor current 
market conditions with no change made to the Group’s discount rates in 
the current year.

The increase in closure and rehabilitation provisions relating to continuing 
operating sites reflects updates to the expected cost and timing of 
closure activities across the Group’s portfolio, with the most significant 
increases in the year ended 30 June 2022 being at BHP Mitsubishi 
Alliance (BMA) and Cerro Colorado. 

For BMA, the increase largely reflects a preliminary assessment of the 
potential impacts on BMA mine lives resulting from:

–  the significant increase in coal royalties applicable in Queensland from 

1 July 2022

–  consideration of the Group’s long-term outlook for metallurgical coal 
commodity prices, which reflects a range of drivers of commodity 
demand and supply, for example, the latest climate-related 
announcements from key market countries 

These factors have resulted in the Group recognising that the end of 
operations at BMA sites may be earlier than previously anticipated. 
The best estimate of the impact on the estimated closure cash flows and 
their timing, and therefore the discounting of the provision, contributed 
to an increase in the provision, and associated rehabilitation asset, of 
approximately US$750 million. Given the timing of the announcement of 
the change to the Queensland coal royalty regime and the preliminary 
nature of the assessment, further changes to the provision may arise in 
future reporting periods. 

At Cerro Colorado, additional work required to re-profile waste dumps 
for closure and an increase in scope for other closure activities have 
contributed to an increase in the closure provision of approximately 
US$400 million. As operations are ongoing at Cerro Colorado the 
increase has initially been capitalised. However, given the proximity 
to closure and the estimated future cash flows of Cerro Colorado the 
resulting rehabilitation asset has been impaired as outlined in note 13 
‘Impairment of non-current assets’. 

While the closure and rehabilitation provisions reflect management’s best 
estimates based on current knowledge and information, further studies, 
trials and detailed analysis of relevant knowledge and resultant closure 
activities for individual assets continue to be performed throughout the 
life of asset. Such studies and analysis can impact the estimated costs 
of closure activities. Estimates can also be impacted by the emergence 
of new closure and rehabilitation techniques, changes in regulatory 
requirements and stakeholder expectations for closure (including costs 
associated with equitable transition), development of new technologies, 
risks relating to climate change and the transition to a low carbon 
economy, and experience at other operations. These uncertainties may 
result in future actual expenditure differing from the amounts currently 
provided for in the balance sheet.

Sensitivity

A 0.5 per cent increase in the discount rates applied at 30 June 2022 
would result in a decrease to the closure and rehabilitation provision 
of approximately US$675 million, a decrease in property, plant and 
equipment of approximately US$490 million in relation to operating 
sites and an income statement credit of approximately US$185 million 
in respect of closed sites. In addition, the change would result in a 
decrease of approximately US$70 million to depreciation expense and 
a US$25 million increment in net finance costs for the year ending 
30 June 2023.

Given the long-lived nature of the majority of the Group’s assets, the 
majority of final closure activities are generally not expected to occur for 
a significant period of time. 

However, a one-year acceleration in forecast cash flows of the Group’s 
closure and rehabilitation provisions, in isolation, would result in an 
increase to the provision of approximately US$185 million, an increase in 
property, plant and equipment of US$125 million in relation to operating 
sites and an income statement charge of US$60 million in respect of 
closed sites. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

159

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewCapital structure

16  Share capital

Share capital issued
Opening number of shares
Issue of shares
Corporate structure unification
Purchase of shares by ESOP Trusts
Employee share awards exercised following vesting
Movement in treasury shares under Employee Share Plans
Closing number of shares

Comprising: 

Shares held by the public
Treasury shares

Other share classes
5.5% Preference shares of £1 each
Special Voting share of no par value
Special Voting share of US$0.50 par value
DLC Dividend share

BHP Group Limited

BHP Group Plc

2022  
shares

2021  
shares

2020  
shares

2022  
shares

2021  
shares

2020  
shares

2,945,851,394 2,945,851,394 2,945,851,394
 −
 −
(5,975,189)
6,893,113
(917,924)
5,062,323,190 2,945,851,394 2,945,851,394

4,400,000
2,112,071,796
(8,704,669)
8,522,684
181,985

 −
 −
(7,587,353)
6,948,683
638,670

 −
(2,112,071,796)
(63,567)
77,748
(14,181)

2,112,071,796 2,112,071,796 2,112,071,796
 −
 −
(185,297)
222,245
(36,948)
 − 2,112,071,796 2,112,071,796

 −
 −
(185,054)
173,644
11,410

5,061,272,144 2,944,982,333 2,945,621,003
230,391

869,061

1,051,046

 − 2,112,057,615 2,112,069,025
2,771
 −

14,181

 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
1
 −
1

 −
1
 −
1

 −
 −
 −
 −

50,000
 −
1
 −

50,000
 −
1
 −

During August 2021, BHP Group Limited issued 4,400,000 fully paid ordinary shares to the BHP Billiton Limited Employee Equity Trust at A$52.99 per share, 
to satisfy the vesting of employee share awards and related dividend equivalent entitlements under those employee share plans. 

On 3 September 2021, BHP Group Plc acquired by way of gift from J.P. Morgan Limited the 50,000 issued 5.5 per cent cumulative preference shares of 
£1.00, in the capital of BHP Group Plc. These preference shares held by BHP Group Plc were cancelled on 31 January 2022. 

On 31 January 2022, 2,112,071,796 fully paid ordinary shares in BHP Group Limited were issued to BHP Group Plc shareholders in a one for one exchange 
of their BHP Group Plc ordinary shares, resulting in BHP Group Limited becoming the sole parent company of the Group with a single set of shareholders.

BHP Group Plc had one Special Voting share on issue and BHP Group Limited had one Special Voting share and one DLC dividend share on issue to 
facilitate operation of the Group’s dual listed structure. These shares were bought back for nominal value in January 2022 and subsequently cancelled.

Share capital of BHP Group Limited at 30 June 2022 is composed of the following classes of shares:

Ordinary shares fully paid

Treasury shares

Each fully paid ordinary share of BHP Group 
Limited carries the right to one vote at a meeting 
of the Company. 

Treasury shares are shares of BHP Group Limited that are held by the ESOP Trusts for the purpose of 
issuing shares to employees under the Group’s Employee Share Plans. Treasury shares are recognised at 
cost and deducted from equity, net of any income tax effects. When the treasury shares are subsequently 
sold or reissued, any consideration received, net of any directly attributable costs and income tax effects, 
is recognised as an increase in equity. Any difference between the carrying amount and the consideration, 
if reissued, is recognised in retained earnings. 

The following classes of shares existed prior to the Group’s unification on 31 January 2022:

Special Voting shares

Preference shares 

DLC Dividend share 

Each of BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc 
issued one Special Voting share to facilitate joint 
voting by shareholders of BHP Group Limited and 
BHP Group Plc on Joint Electorate Actions. 

Preference shares have the right to repayment of 
the amount paid up on the nominal value and any 
unpaid dividends in priority to the holders of any 
other class of shares in BHP Group Plc on a return 
of capital or winding up. The holders of preference 
shares have limited voting rights if payment of 
the preference dividends are six months or more 
in arrears or a resolution is passed changing the 
rights of the preference shareholders. 

The DLC Dividend share supported the Dual Listed 
Company (DLC) equalisation principles in place since 
the merger in 2001, including the requirement that 
ordinary shareholders of BHP Group Plc and BHP 
Group Limited are paid equal cash dividends per 
share. This share enabled efficient and flexible capital 
management across the DLC and was issued on 
23 February 2016 at par value of US$10. 

160

BHP

Annual Report 2022

17  Other equity

Share premium account

Capital redemption reserve

2022  
US$M

 −

 −

2021  
US$M

518

2020  
US$M

518

177

177

Common control reserves

(1,603)

 −

 −

Employee share awards reserve

174

268

246

Cash flow hedge reserve

41

100

50

Cost of hedging reserve

(19)

(54)

(23)

Foreign currency translation 
reserve

Equity investments reserve

(14)

(8)

43

15

39

16

Non-controlling interest 
contribution reserve

1,441

1,283

1,283

Total reserves

12

2,350

2,306

Recognition and measurement 

The share premium account represented the premium paid on the issue of BHP 
Group Plc shares recognised in accordance with the UK Companies Act 2006. It was 
transferred to the common control reserve as part of the unification of the Group’s 
corporate structure.
The capital redemption reserve represented the par value of BHP Group Plc shares 
that were purchased and subsequently cancelled. It was transferred to the common 
control reserve as part of unification of the Group’s corporate structure.
The common control reserve arose on unification of the Group’s corporate structure 
and represents the residual on consolidation between BHP Group Ltd’s investment 
in BHP Group Plc’s and BHP Group Plc’s share capital, share premium and capital 
redemption reserve at the time of unification.
The employee share awards reserve represents the accrued employee entitlements to 
share awards that have been charged to the income statement and have not yet been 
exercised.
Once exercised, the difference between the accumulated fair value of the awards and 
their historical on-market purchase price is recognised in retained earnings.
The cash flow hedge reserve represents hedging gains and losses recognised on 
the effective portion of cash flow hedges. The cumulative deferred gain or loss on the 
hedge is recognised in the income statement when the hedged transaction impacts 
the income statement, or is recognised as an adjustment to the cost of non-financial 
hedged items. The hedging reserve records the portion of the gain or loss on a 
hedging instrument in a cash flow hedge that is determined to be an effective hedge 
relationship.
The cost of hedging reserve represents the recognition of certain costs of hedging for 
example, basis adjustments, which have been excluded from the hedging relationship 
and deferred in other comprehensive income until the hedged transaction impacts the 
income statement. 
The foreign currency translation reserve represents exchange differences arising from 
the translation of non-US dollar functional currency operations within the Group into 
US dollars.
The equity investment reserve represents the revaluation of investments in shares 
recognised through other comprehensive income. Where a revalued financial asset 
is sold, the relevant portion of the reserve is transferred to retained earnings.
The non-controlling interest contribution reserve represents the excess of 
consideration received over the book value of net assets attributable to equity 
instruments when acquired by non-controlling interests.

Summarised financial information relating to each of the Group’s subsidiaries with non-controlling interests (NCI) that are material to the Group before any 
intra-group eliminations is shown below:

US$M

Group share (per cent)
Current assets
Non-current assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Net assets
Net assets attributable to NCI 

Revenue
Profit after taxation
Other comprehensive income
Total comprehensive income
Profit after taxation attributable to NCI
Other comprehensive income attributable to NCI
Net operating cash flow 
Net investing cash flow 
Net financing cash flow 
Dividends paid to NCI

2022

Other individually 
immaterial 
subsidiaries 
(incl. intra-group 
eliminations)

Minera 
Escondida 
Limitada

2021

Other individually 
immaterial 
subsidiaries 
(incl. intra-group 
eliminations)

Total

Minera 
Escondida 
Limitada

Total

57.5
2,929
11,636
(2,192)
(4,762)
7,611
3,235

9,500
3,522
11
3,533
1,497
5
4,519
(860)
(4,029)
1,760

57.5
2,996
11,867
(1,912)
(4,733)
8,218
3,493

9,470
3,605
27
3,632
1,532
11
5,007
(655)
(4,001)
1,590

574

3,809

658
 −

2,155
5

780

2,540

848

4,341

615
 −

2,147
11

537

2,127

While the Group controls Minera Escondida Limitada, the non-controlling interests hold certain protective rights that restrict the Group’s ability to sell 
assets held by Minera Escondida Limitada, or use the assets in other subsidiaries and operations owned by the Group. Minera Escondida Limitada is also 
restricted from paying dividends without the approval of the non-controlling interests.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

161

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review18  Dividends

Dividends paid during the period1
Prior year final dividend 
Interim dividend

Year ended 30 June 2022

Year ended 30 June 2021

Year ended 30 June 2020

Per share  
US cents

Total  
US$M

Per share  
US cents

Total  
US$M

Per share 
US cents

200
150
350

10,119
7,601
17,720

55
101
156

2,779
5,115
7,894

78
65
143

Total  
US$M

3,946
3,288
7,234

1  5.5 per cent dividend on 50,000 preference shares of £1 each determined and paid for financial years 2021 and 2020. No dividend paid for the financial year 2022. 

These preference shares were cancelled on 31 January 2022. 

Dividends paid during the period differs from the amount of dividends paid in the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement as a result of foreign exchange gains 
and losses relating to the timing of equity distributions between the record date and the payment date. Additional derivative proceeds of US$127 million 
were received as part of the funding of the interim dividend and is disclosed in Proceeds/(settlements) of cash management related instruments in the 
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement.

Prior to the corporate structure unification, the Dual Listed Company merger terms required that ordinary shareholders of BHP Group Limited and BHP 
Group Plc were paid equal cash dividends on a per share basis. 

Each American Depositary Share (ADS) represents two ordinary shares of BHP Group Limited. Dividends determined on each ADS represent twice the 
dividend determined on BHP Group Limited ordinary share.

Dividends are determined after period-end and announced with the results for the period. Interim dividends are determined in February and paid in March. 
Final dividends are determined in August and paid in September. Dividends determined are not recorded as a liability at the end of the period to which 
they relate. Subsequent to year-end, on 16 August 2022, BHP Group Limited determined a final dividend of 175 US cents per share (US$8,857 million), 
which will be paid on 22 September 2022 (30 June 2021: final dividend of 200 US cents per share – US$10,114 million; 30 June 2020: final dividend of 
55 US cents per share – US$2,782 million). 

BHP Group Limited dividends for all periods presented are, or will be, fully franked based on a tax rate of 30 per cent.

Franking credits as at 30 June
Franking credits arising from the payment of current tax
Total franking credits available1

2022  
US$M

7,007
2,043
9,050

2021  
US$M

14,302
1,799
16,101

2020  
US$M

10,980
471
11,451

1  The payment of the final 2022 dividend determined after 30 June 2022 will reduce the franking account balance by US$3,796 million.

In addition to dividends paid, the Group made an in specie dividend to eligible BHP shareholders during the period by distributing the 914,768,948 
Woodside shares it received as consideration for the sale of BHP Petroleum. The closing price of Woodside shares on ASX on 31 May 2022 was 
A$29.76. The implied value of the in specie dividend was therefore A$27.2 billion (US$19.6 billion). At this valuation, the in specie dividend was 
approximately A$5.38 (US$3.86), with A$2.30 (US$1.66) of franking credits being distributed, per BHP share. Further detail are detailed in note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.

19  Provisions for dividends and other liabilities
The disclosure below excludes closure and rehabilitation provisions (refer to note 15 ‘Closure and rehabilitation provisions’), employee benefits, restructuring 
and post-retirement employee benefits provisions (refer to note 26 ‘Employee benefits, restructuring and post-retirement employee benefits provisions’) and 
provisions related to the Samarco dam failure (refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’).

Movement in provision for dividends and other liabilities
At the beginning of the financial year
Dividends determined
Charge/(credit) for the year:

Underlying
Discounting
Exchange variations
Released during the year

Utilisation
Dividends paid
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations 
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

162

BHP

Annual Report 2022

2022  
US$M

581
17,720

493
1
122
(48)
(96)
(17,851)
(146)
(102)
674

356
318

2021  
US$M

1,240
7,894

260
2
20
(43)
(267)
(7,901)
 −
(624)
581

293
288

Financial management

20  Net debt
The Group seeks to maintain a strong balance sheet and deploys its capital with reference to the Capital Allocation Framework.

The Group monitors capital using the net debt balance and the gearing ratio, being the ratio of net debt to net debt plus net assets.

The net debt definition includes the fair value of derivative financial instruments used to hedge cash and borrowings which reflects the Group’s risk 
management strategy of reducing the volatility of net debt caused by fluctuations in foreign exchange and interest rates.

Under IFRS 16/AASB16 ‘Leases’, vessel lease contracts are required to be remeasured at each reporting date to the prevailing freight index. While these 
liabilities are included in the Group interest bearing liabilities, they are excluded from the net debt calculation as they do not align with how the Group 
assesses net debt for decision making in relation to the Capital Allocation Framework. In addition, the freight index has historically been volatile which 
creates significant short-term fluctuation in these liabilities. 

US$M

Interest bearing liabilities 
Bank loans 
Notes and debentures 
Lease liabilities
Bank overdraft and short-term borrowings
Other
Total interest bearing liabilities 
Less: Lease liability associated with index-linked freight contracts
Less: Cash and cash equivalents 
Cash
Short-term deposits
Less: Total cash and cash equivalents
Less: Derivatives included in net debt 
Net debt management related instruments1
Net cash management related instruments2
Less: Total derivatives included in net debt 
Net debt 
Net assets
Gearing

2022

2021

Current

Non-current

Current

Non-current

397
1,690
519
 −
16
2,622
113

5,728
11,508
17,236

(358)
273
(85)

437
1,244
889
 −
58
2,628
346

4,408
10,838
15,246

20
34
54

2,075
9,673
2,057
 −
1
13,806
161

 −
 −
 −

(1,330)
 −
(1,330)
333
48,766
0.7%

1,823
13,525
3,007
 −
 −
18,355
679

 −
 −
 −

537
 −
537
4,121
55,605
6.9%

1  Represents the net cross currency and interest rate swaps designated as effective hedging instruments included within current and non-current other financial assets 

and liabilities.

2  Represents the net forward exchange contracts included within current and non-current other financial assets and liabilities.

Cash and short-term deposits are disclosed in the cash flow statement net of bank overdrafts and interest bearing liabilities at call.

Total cash and cash equivalents 
Bank overdrafts and short-term borrowings
Total cash and cash equivalents, net of overdrafts

2022  
US$M

17,236
 −
17,236

2021  
US$M

15,246
 −
15,246

2020  
US$M

13,426
 −
13,426

Cash and cash equivalents includes US$127 million (2021: US$159 million) restricted by legal or contractual arrangements.

Recognition and measurement

Cash and short-term deposits in the balance sheet comprise cash at bank and on hand and highly liquid cash deposits with short-term maturities that 
are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with insignificant risk of change in value. The Group considers that the carrying value of cash and 
cash equivalents approximate fair value due to their short-term to maturity. Refer to note 21 ‘Leases’ and note 23 ‘Financial risk management’ for the 
recognition and measurement principles for lease liabilities and other financial liabilities.

Interest bearing liabilities and cash and cash equivalents include balances denominated in the following currencies:

USD
EUR
GBP
AUD
CAD
Other
Total

Interest bearing liabilities

Cash and cash equivalents

2022  
US$M

8,813
3,463
2,621
783
584
164
16,428

2021  
US$M

11,146
4,505
3,415
1,053
635
229
20,983

2022  
US$M

7,654
2,656
30
3,360
3,437
99
17,236

2021  
US$M

12,003
4
32
573
2,455
179
15,246

The Group enters into derivative transactions to convert the majority of its exposures above into US dollars. Further information on the Group’s risk 
management activities relating to these balances is provided in note 23 ‘Financial risk management’.

Liquidity risk 

The Group’s liquidity risk arises from the possibility that it may not be able to settle or meet its obligations as they fall due and is managed as part of the 
portfolio risk management strategy. Operational, capital and regulatory requirements are considered in the management of liquidity risk, in conjunction 
with short-term and long-term forecast information. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

163

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review20  Net debt continued
Recognising the cyclical volatility of operating cash flows, the Group has defined minimum target cash and liquidity buffers to be maintained to mitigate 
liquidity risk and support operations through the cycle.

The Group’s strong credit profile, diversified funding sources, its minimum cash buffer and its committed credit facilities ensure that sufficient liquid funds 
are maintained to meet its daily cash requirements. 

The Group’s Moody’s credit rating has remained at A2/P-1 outlook stable (long-term/short-term) throughout FY2022 and Moody’s affirmed its credit rating 
on 2 June 2022. The Group’s Standard & Poor’s rating changed from A/A-1 outlook stable (long-term/short-term) to A/A-1 CreditWatch negative (long-
term/short-term) on 23 August 2021 following the announcement of the proposed merger of our petroleum business with Woodside. Upon completion of 
the merger, on 1 June 2022 Standard & Poor’s lowered the Group’s long-term credit rating by one notch, removed the credit rating from CreditWatch, and 
confirmed a credit rating of A-/A-1 outlook stable (long-term/short-term).

There were no defaults on the Group’s liabilities during the period.

Counterparty risk

The Group is exposed to credit risk from its financing activities, including short-term cash investments such as deposits with banks and derivative 
contracts. This risk is managed by Group Treasury in line with the counterparty risk framework, which aims to minimise the exposure to a counterparty 
and mitigate the risk of financial loss through counterparty failure.

Exposure to counterparties is monitored at a Group level across all products and includes exposure with derivatives and cash investments.

Investments and derivatives are only transacted with approved counterparties who have been assigned specific limits based on a quantitative credit risk 
model. These limits are updated at least bi-annually. Additionally, derivatives are subject to tenor limits and investments are subject to concentration limits 
by rating.

Derivative fair values are inclusive of valuation adjustments that take into account both the counterparty and the Group’s risk of default.

Standby arrangements and unused credit facilities

The Group’s committed revolving credit facility operates as a back-stop to the Group’s uncommitted commercial paper program. The combined amount 
drawn under the facility or as commercial paper will not exceed US$5.5 billion. As at 30 June 2022, US$ nil commercial paper was drawn (2021: US$ nil). 
The facility was amended in November 2021 for IBOR transition and is due to mature on 10 October 2026. A commitment fee is payable on the undrawn 
balance and interest is payable on any drawn balance comprising a reference rate plus a margin. The agreed margins are typical for a credit facility 
extended to a company with the Group’s credit rating. 

Maturity profile of financial liabilities 

The maturity profile of the Group’s financial liabilities based on the undiscounted contractual amounts, taking into account the derivatives related to debt, 
is as follows: 

2022
US$M

Due for payment:
In one year or less or on demand
In more than one year but not more than two years
In more than two years but not more than five years
In more than five years
Total
Carrying amount

2021  
US$M

Due for payment:
In one year or less or on demand
In more than one year but not more than two years
In more than two years but not more than five years
In more than five years
Total
Carrying amount

Bank loans, 
debentures and 
other loans

Expected 
future interest 
payments

Derivatives 
related to 
debentures

Other 
derivatives

Obligations 
under lease 
liabilities

Trade  
and other 
payables1

2,109
1,634
2,609
7,550
13,902
13,852

492
427
1,032
3,705
5,656
 −

525
300
492
1,467
2,784
1,824

221
112
246
245
824
752

579
443
936
1,470
3,428
2,576

6,608
 −
 −
 −
6,608
6,608

Bank loans, 
debentures and 
other loans

Expected 
future interest 
payments

Derivatives 
related to 
debentures

Other 
derivatives

Obligations 
under lease 
liabilities

Trade  
and other 
payables1

1,722
2,278
4,062
7,801
15,863
17,087

729
661
1,492
4,136
7,018
 −

61
267
256
585
1,169
586

149
80
240
317
786
690

980
680
1,397
1,842
4,899
3,896

6,851
 −
 −
 −
6,851
6,851

Total

10,534
2,916
5,315
14,437
33,202
25,612

Total

10,492
3,966
7,447
14,681
36,586
29,110

1  Excludes input taxes of US$79 million (2021: US$176 million) included in other payables. Refer to note 9 ‘Trade and other payables’.

164

BHP

Annual Report 2022

21  Leases
Movements in the Group’s lease liabilities during the year are as follows:

At the beginning of the financial year

Additions
Remeasurements of index-linked freight contracts
Lease payments1
Foreign exchange movement
Amortisation of discounting
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations2 
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year
Comprising:

Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities

2022  
US$M

3,896

866
(369)
(1,288)
(126)
125
(492)
(36)
2,576

519
2,057

2021  
US$M

3,443

1,223
(59)
(879)
115
109
 −
(56)
3,896

889
3,007

Includes US$39 million (2021: US$45 million) related to Discontinued operations.

1 
2  Relates to the divestment of BMC and merger of Petroleum with Woodside. Refer to notes 3 ‘Exceptional items’ and 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.

A significant proportion by value of the Group’s lease contracts relate to plant facilities, office buildings and vessels. Lease terms for plant facilities and 
office buildings typically run for over 10 years and vessels for four to 10 years. Other leases include port facilities, various equipment and vehicles. 
The lease contracts contain a wide range of different terms and conditions including extension and termination options and variable lease payments.

The Group’s lease obligations are included in the Group’s Interest bearing liabilities and, with the exception of vessel lease contracts that are priced with 
reference to a freight index, form part of the Group’s net debt. 

The maturity profile of lease liabilities based on the undiscounted contractual amounts is as follows:

Lease liability

Due for payment:
In one year or less or on demand
In more than one year but not more than two years
In more than two years but not more than five years
In more than five years1
Total
Carrying amount

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

579
443
936
1,470
3,428
2,576

980
680
1,397
1,842
4,899
3,896

1 

Includes US$707 million (2021: US$878 million) due for payment in more than ten years. 

At 30 June 2022, commitments for leases not yet commenced based on undiscounted contractual amounts were US$928 million (2021: US$457 million).

Movements in the Group’s right-of-use assets during the year are as follows:

Net book value
At the beginning of the financial year
Additions 
Remeasurements of index-linked freight contracts
Depreciation expensed during the period 
Depreciation classified as exploration
Impairments for the year
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations1
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year
– Cost
– Accumulated depreciation and impairments

Land and 
buildings 
US$M

2022

Plant and 
equipment 
US$M

638
41
 −
(103)
 −
(7)
(116)
(1)
452
745
(293)

2,712
825
(369)
(872)
(3)
 −
(313)
(71)
1,909
4,307
(2,398)

Land and 
buildings  
US$M

2021

Plant and 
equipment 
US$M

689
25
 −
(111)
 −
(30)
 −
65
638
897
(259)

2,358
1,227
(59)
(670)
(19)
(2)
 −
(123)
2,712
4,393
(1,681)

Total  
US$M

3,350
866
(369)
(975)
(3)
(7)
(429)
(72)
2,361
5,052
(2,691)

Total  
US$M

3,047
1,252
(59)
(781)
(19)
(32)
 −
(58)
3,350
5,290
(1,940)

1  Relates to the divestment of BMC and merger of Petroleum with Woodside. Refer to notes 3 ‘Exceptional items’ and 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for more information.

Right-of-use assets are included within the underlying asset classes in Property, plant and equipment. Refer to note 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

165

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review21  Leases continued
Amounts recorded in the income statement and the cash flow statement for the year were: 

Income statement

Depreciation of right-of-use assets
Short-term, low-value and variable lease costs1
Interest on lease liabilities 

Cash flow statement

Principal lease payments 
Lease interest payments 

2022  
US$M

964
847
119

1,130
119

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

753
834
102

732
102

623
637
82

632
82

Included within

Profit from operations
Profit from operations
Financial expenses

Cash flows from financing activities
Cash flows from operating activities

1  Relates to US$585 million of variable lease costs (2021: US$510 million; 2020: US$415 million), US$222 million of short-term lease costs (2021: US$294 million; 2020: 
US$201 million) and US$40 million of low-value lease costs (2021: US$30 million; 2020: US$21 million). Variable lease costs include contracts for hire of mining service 
equipment, drill rigs and transportation services. These contracts contain variable lease payments based on usage and asset performance.

Recognition and measurement

All leases with the exception of short-term (under 12 months) and low-value leases are recognised on the balance sheet, as a right-of-use asset 
and a corresponding interest bearing liability. Lease liabilities are initially measured at the present value of the future lease payments from the lease 
commencement date and are subsequently adjusted to reflect the interest on lease liabilities, lease payments and any remeasurements due to, for 
example, lease modifications or a change to future lease payments linked to an index or rate. Lease payments are discounted using the interest rate 
implicit in the lease, where this is readily determinable. Where the implicit interest rate is not readily determinable, the interest payments are discounted 
at the Group’s incremental borrowing rate, adjusted to reflect factors specific to the lease, including where relevant the currency, tenor and location of 
the lease. 

In addition to containing a lease, the Group’s contractual arrangements may include non-lease components. For example, certain mining services 
arrangements involve the provision of additional services, including maintenance, drilling activities and the supply of personnel. The Group has elected to 
separate these non-lease components from the lease components in measuring lease liabilities. Non-lease components are accounted for in accordance 
with the accounting policies applied to each underlying good or service received.

Low-value and short-term leases continue to be expensed to the income statement. Variable lease payments not dependent on an index or rate are 
excluded from lease liabilities, and expensed to the income statement. 

Right-of-use assets are measured at cost, less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, and adjusted for any remeasurement of lease 
liabilities. The cost will initially correspond to the lease liability, adjusted for initial direct costs, lease payments made prior to lease commencement, 
capitalised provisions for closure and rehabilitation and any lease incentives received.

The lease asset and liability associated with all index-linked freight contracts, including continuous voyage charters (CVCs), are measured at each 
reporting date based on the prevailing freight index (generally the Baltic C5 index).

Lease costs are recognised in the income statement over the lease term in the form of depreciation on the right-of-use asset and the unwinding of finance 
charges on the lease liability. 

Where the Group is the operator of an unincorporated joint operation and all investors are parties to a lease, the Group recognises its proportionate share 
of the lease liability and associated right-of-use asset. In the event the Group is the sole signatory to a lease, and therefore has the sole legal obligation to 
make lease payments, the lease liability is recognised in full. Where the associated right-of-use asset is sub-leased (under a finance sub-lease) to a joint 
operation, for instance where it is dedicated to a single operation and the joint operation has the right to direct the use of the asset, the Group (as lessor) 
recognises its proportionate share of the right-of-use asset and a net investment in the lease, representing amounts to be recovered from the other parties 
to the joint operation. If the Group is not party to the head lease contract but sub-leases the associated right-of-use asset (as lessee), it recognises its 
proportionate share of the right-of-use asset and a lease liability which is payable to the operator.

Key judgements and estimates

Judgements: Certain contractual arrangements not in the form of a 
lease require the Group to apply significant judgement in evaluating 
whether the Group controls the right to direct the use of assets and 
therefore whether the contract contains a lease. Management considers 
all facts and circumstances in determining whether the Group or the 
supplier has the rights to direct how, and for what purpose, the underlying 
assets are used in certain mining contracts and other arrangements, 
including outsourcing and shipping arrangements. Judgement is used to 
assess which decision-making rights mostly affect the benefits of use of 
the assets for each arrangement. 

Where a contract includes the provision of non-lease services, judgement 
is required to identify the lease and non-lease components. 

Estimates: Where the Group cannot readily determine the interest rate 
implicit in the lease, estimation is involved in the determination of the 
weighted average incremental borrowing rate to measure lease liabilities. 

The incremental borrowing rate reflects the rates of interest a lessee 
would have to pay to borrow over a similar term, with similar security, the 
funds necessary to obtain an asset of similar value to the right-of-use 
asset in a similar economic environment. Under the Group’s portfolio 
approach to debt management, the Group does not specifically borrow for 
asset purchases. Therefore, the incremental borrowing rate is estimated 
referencing the Group’s corporate borrowing portfolio and other similar 
rated entities, adjusted to reflect the terms and conditions of the lease 
(including the impact of currency, credit rating of subsidiary entering 
into the lease and the term of the lease), at the inception of the lease 
arrangement or the time of lease modification. 

The Group estimates stand-alone prices, where such prices are not readily 
observable, in order to allocate the contractual payments between lease 
and non-lease components.

166

BHP

Annual Report 2022

22  Net finance costs

Financial expenses
Interest expense using the effective interest rate method:
Interest on bank loans, overdrafts and all other borrowings 
Interest capitalised at 2.90% (2021: 2.83%; 2020: 4.14%)1
Interest on lease liabilities
Discounting on provisions and other liabilities
Other gains and losses:
Fair value change on hedged loans
Fair value change on hedging derivatives
Loss on bond repurchase2
Exchange variations on net debt 
Other
Total financial expenses
Financial income
Interest income 
Net finance costs

2022  
US$M

491
(113)
119
645

(1,286)
1,277
 −
(99)
16
1,050

(81)
969

2021  
US$M  
Restated

2020  
US$M  
Restated

607
(204)
102
353

(779)
704
395
99
13
1,290

(67)
1,223

1,093
(265)
82
343

721
(788)
 −
(18)
24
1,192

(334)
858

1 

Interest has been capitalised at the rate of interest applicable to the specific borrowings financing the assets under construction or, where financed through general 
borrowings, at a capitalisation rate representing the average interest rate on such borrowings. Tax relief for capitalised interest is approximately US$34 million (2021: 
US$61 million; 2020: US$80 million).

2  Relates to the additional cost on settlement of two multi-currency hybrid debt repurchase programs and the unwind of the associated hedges, included in a total cash 

payment of US$3,402 million disclosed in repayment of interest bearing liabilities in the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement.

Recognition and measurement

Interest income is accrued using the effective interest rate method. Finance costs are expensed as incurred, except where they relate to the financing 
of construction or development of qualifying assets.

23  Financial risk management

23.1  Financial risks

Financial and capital risk management strategy

The financial risks arising from the Group’s operations comprise market, liquidity and credit risk. These risks arise in the normal course of business and 
the Group manages its exposure to them in accordance with the Group’s portfolio risk management strategy. The objective of the strategy is to support 
the delivery of the Group’s financial targets, while protecting its future financial security and flexibility by taking advantage of the natural diversification 
provided by the scale, diversity and flexibility of the Group’s operations and activities.

As part of the risk management strategy, the Group monitors target gearing levels and credit rating metrics under a range of different stress test scenarios 
incorporating operational and macroeconomic factors.

Market risk management

The Group’s activities expose it to market risks associated with movements in interest rates, foreign currencies and commodity prices. Under the strategy 
outlined above, the Group seeks to achieve financing costs, currency impacts, input costs and commodity prices on a floating or index basis. 

In executing the strategy, financial instruments are potentially employed in three distinct but related activities. The following table summarises these 
activities and the key risk management processes: 

Activity

1 Risk mitigation 
On an exception basis, hedging for the purposes of mitigating risk related to specific and significant 
expenditure on investments or capital projects will be executed if necessary to support the Group’s 
strategic objectives.
2 Economic hedging of commodity sales, operating costs, short-term cash deposits, 
other monetary items and debt instruments 
Where Group commodity production is sold to customers on pricing terms that deviate from the 
relevant index target and where a relevant derivatives market exists, financial instruments may 
be executed as an economic hedge to align the revenue price exposure with the index target and 
US dollars.

Key risk management processes

Execution of transactions within 
approved mandates.

Measuring and reporting the exposure in 
customer commodity contracts and issued 
debt instruments.

Where debt is issued in a currency other than the US dollar and/or at a fixed interest rate, fair value 
and cash flow hedges may be executed to align the debt exposure with the Group’s functional 
currency of US dollars and/or to swap to a floating interest rate.

Executing hedging derivatives to align the 
total group exposure to the index target.

Where short-term cash deposits and other monetary items are denominated in a currency other than 
US dollars, derivative financial instruments may be executed to align the foreign exchange exposure to 
the Group’s functional currency of US dollars.
3 Strategic financial transactions 
Opportunistic transactions may be executed with financial instruments to capture value from perceived 
market over/under valuations. 

Execution of transactions within 
approved mandates.

Execution of transactions within 
approved mandates.

Primary responsibility for the identification and control of financial risks, including authorising and monitoring the use of financial instruments for the above 
activities and stipulating policy thereon, rests with the Financial Risk Management Committee under authority delegated by the Chief Executive Officer.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

167

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
 
 
23  Financial risk management continued
Interest rate risk 

The Group is exposed to interest rate risk on its outstanding borrowings and short-term cash deposits from the possibility that changes in interest 
rates will affect future cash flows or the fair value of fixed interest rate financial instruments. Interest rate risk is managed as part of the portfolio risk 
management strategy. 

The majority of the Group’s debt is issued at fixed interest rates. The Group has entered into interest rate swaps and cross currency interest rate swaps 
to convert most of its fixed interest rate exposure to floating US dollar interest rate exposure. As at 30 June 2022, 80 per cent of the Group’s borrowings 
were exposed to floating interest rates inclusive of the effect of swaps (2021: 82 per cent). 

The fair value of interest rate swaps and cross currency interest rate swaps in hedge relationships used to hedge both interest rate and foreign currency 
risks are shown in the valuation hierarchy in section 23.4 ‘Derivatives and hedge accounting’.

Based on the net debt position as at 30 June 2022, taking into account interest rate swaps and cross currency interest rate swaps, it is estimated that a 
one percentage point increase in the US LIBOR interest rate will increase the Group’s equity and profit after taxation by US$29 million (2021: increase of 
US$7 million). This assumes the change in interest rates is effective from the beginning of the financial year and the fixed/floating mix and balances are 
constant over the year. 

Interest Rate Benchmark Reform

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark interest rates are being replaced by alternative risk-free rates (ARR) as part of inter-
bank offer rate (IBOR) reform. Sterling LIBOR ceased to be published on 1 January 2022 and USD LIBOR will no longer be published after 30 June 
2023. The Group has assessed the implication of IBOR reform and has updated various policies, systems and processes including the adoption 
of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) IBOR Fallbacks Protocol. In November 2021, the Group amended its US$5.5 billion 
revolving credit facility to reference ARRs. Furthermore, in March 2022 Escondida executed the Group’s first Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) 
linked loans. 

The amendments to IFRS 9/AASB 9 ‘Financial Instruments’, IFRS 7/AASB 7 ‘Financial Instruments (IFRS 7): Disclosures’ and IFRS 16/AASB 16 ‘Leases’ 
in relation to IBOR reform early adopted by the Group in previous periods impact the Group’s cross currency and interest rate swaps, which reference US 
LIBOR, and the associated hedge accounting. Refer to section 23.4 ‘Derivatives and hedge accounting’ for further information. 

Currency risk

The US dollar is the predominant functional currency within the Group and as a result, currency exposures arise from transactions and balances 
in currencies other than the US dollar. The Group’s potential currency exposures comprise:

–  translational exposure in respect of non-functional currency monetary items 

–  transactional exposure in respect of non-functional currency expenditure and revenues 

The Group’s foreign currency risk is managed as part of the portfolio risk management strategy. 

Translational exposure in respect of non-functional currency monetary items

Monetary items, including financial assets and liabilities, denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of an operation are restated at the 
end of each reporting period to US dollar equivalents and the associated gain or loss is taken to the income statement. The exception is foreign exchange 
gains or losses on foreign currency denominated provisions for closure and rehabilitation at operating sites, which are capitalised in property, plant 
and equipment. 

The Group has entered into cross currency interest rate swaps and foreign exchange forwards to convert its significant foreign currency exposures in 
respect of monetary items into US dollars. Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates are therefore not expected to have a significant impact on equity and 
profit after tax.

The following table shows the carrying values of financial assets and liabilities at the end of the reporting period denominated in currencies other than the 
US dollar that are exposed to foreign currency risk:

Net financial (liabilities)/assets – by currency of denomination

AUD
CLP
GBP
EUR
Other
Total

2022  
US$M

(3,649)
(602)
388
280
187
(3,396)

2021  
US$M

(4,421)
(649)
535
366
128
(4,041)

The principal non-functional currencies to which the Group is exposed are the Australian dollar, the Chilean peso, the Pound sterling and the Euro. Based on 
the Group’s net financial assets and liabilities as at 30 June 2022, a weakening of the US dollar against these currencies (one cent strengthening in 
Australian dollar, 10 pesos strengthening in Chilean peso, one penny strengthening in Pound sterling and one cent strengthening in Euro), with all other 
variables held constant, would decrease the Group’s equity and profit after taxation by US$16 million (2021: decrease of US$21 million).

Transactional exposure in respect of non-functional currency expenditure and revenues

Certain operating and capital expenditure is incurred in currencies other than an operation’s functional currency. To a lesser extent, certain sales revenue 
is earned in currencies other than the functional currency of operations and certain exchange control restrictions may require that funds be maintained 
in currencies other than the functional currency of the operation. These currency risks are managed as part of the portfolio risk management strategy. 
The Group may enter into forward exchange contracts when required under this strategy. 

Commodity price risk 

The risk associated with commodity prices is managed as part of the portfolio risk management strategy. Substantially all of the Group’s commodity 
production is sold on market-based index pricing terms, with derivatives used from time to time to achieve a specific outcome.

Financial instruments with commodity price risk comprise forward commodity and other derivative contracts with net liabilities at fair value of 
US$56 million (2021: net assets of US$138 million). 

168

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23  Financial risk management continued
Provisionally priced commodity sales and purchases contracts

Provisionally priced sales or purchases volumes are those for which price finalisation, referenced to the relevant index, is outstanding at the reporting 
date. Provisional pricing mechanisms within these sales and purchases arrangements have the character of a commodity derivative. Trade receivables 
or payables under these contracts are carried at fair value through profit or loss using Level 2 valuation inputs based on forecast selling prices in 
the quotation period. The Group’s exposure at 30 June 2022 to the impact of movements in commodity prices upon provisionally invoiced sales and 
purchases volumes was predominately around copper.

The Group had 289 thousand tonnes of copper exposure as at 30 June 2022 (2021: 254 thousand tonnes) that was provisionally priced. The final price 
of these sales and purchases volumes will be determined during the first half of FY2023. A 10 per cent change in the price of copper realised on the 
provisionally priced sales, with all other factors held constant, would increase or decrease profit after taxation by US$162 million (2021: US$166 million). 

The relationship between commodity prices and foreign currencies is complex and movements in foreign exchange rates can impact commodity prices.

Liquidity risk

Refer to note 20 ‘Net debt’ for details on the Group’s liquidity risk. 

Credit risk

Credit risk is the risk that a counterparty will not meet its obligations under a financial instrument or customer contract, leading to a financial loss. 
The Group is exposed to credit risk from its operating activities (primarily from customer receivables) and from its financing activities, including deposits 
with banks and financial institutions, other short-term investments, interest rate and currency derivative contracts and other financial instruments.

Refer to note 8 ‘Trade and other receivables’ and note 20 ‘Net debt’ for details on the Group credit risk. 

23.2  Recognition and measurement 

All financial assets and liabilities, other than derivatives and trade receivables, are initially recognised at the fair value of consideration paid or received, 
net of transaction costs as appropriate. Financial assets are initially recognised on their trade date.

Financial assets are subsequently carried at fair value or amortised cost based on:

–  the Group’s purpose, or business model, for holding the financial asset

–  whether the financial asset’s contractual terms give rise to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest

The resulting Financial Statements classifications of financial assets can be summarised as follows:

Contractual cash flows

Business model

Category

Solely principal and interest
Solely principal and interest
Solely principal and interest
Other

Hold in order to collect contractual cash flows
Hold in order to collect contractual cash flows and sell
Hold in order to sell
Any of those mentioned above

Amortised cost
Fair value through other comprehensive income
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss

Solely principal and interest refers to the Group receiving returns only for the time value of money and the credit risk of the counterparty for financial 
assets held. The main exceptions for the Group are provisionally priced receivables and derivatives which are measured at fair value through profit or loss 
under IFRS 9.

The Group has the intention of collecting payment directly from its customers in most cases, however the Group also participates in receivables 
financing programs in respect of selected customers. Receivables in these portfolios which are classified as ‘hold in order to sell’, are provisionally priced 
receivables and are therefore held at fair value through profit or loss prior to sale to the financial institution.

With the exception of derivative contracts and provisionally priced trade payables which are carried at fair value through profit or loss, the Group’s 
financial liabilities are classified as subsequently measured at amortised cost. 

The Group may in addition elect to designate certain financial assets or liabilities at fair value through profit or loss or to apply hedge accounting where 
they are not mandatorily held at fair value through profit or loss.

Fair value measurement

The carrying amount of financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value is principally calculated based on inputs other than quoted prices that are 
observable for these financial assets or liabilities, either directly (i.e. as unquoted prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices). Where no price information 
is available from a quoted market source, alternative market mechanisms or recent comparable transactions, fair value is estimated based on the Group’s 
views on relevant future prices, net of valuation allowances to accommodate liquidity, modelling and other risks implicit in such estimates. 

The inputs used in fair value calculations are determined by the relevant segment or function. The functions support the assets and operate under 
a defined set of accountabilities authorised by the Executive Leadership Team. Movements in the fair value of financial assets and liabilities may be 
recognised through the income statement or in other comprehensive income according to the designation of the underlying instrument. 

For financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value, the Group uses the following to categorise the inputs to the valuation method used based on the 
lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement as a whole:

IFRS 13 Fair value hierarchy

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Valuation inputs

Based on quoted prices (unadjusted) 
in active markets for identical 
financial assets and liabilities.

Based on inputs other than quoted prices 
included within Level 1 that are observable 
for the financial asset or liability, either 
directly (i.e. as unquoted prices) or 
indirectly (i.e. derived from prices).

Based on inputs not observable in the market 
using appropriate valuation models, including 
discounted cash flow modelling.

BHP

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169

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review23  Financial risk management continued

23.3  Financial assets and liabilities

The financial assets and liabilities are presented by class in the table below at their carrying amounts.

Current cross currency and interest rate swaps2
Current other derivative contracts3
Current other financial assets
Current other investments5
Non-current cross currency and interest rate swaps2
Non-current other derivative contracts3
Non-current other financial assets4
Non-current investment in shares

Non-current other investments5

Total other financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables6
Provisionally priced trade receivables
Total financial assets
Non-financial assets
Total assets

Current cross currency and interest rate swaps2
Current other derivative contracts3
Current other financial liabilities7
Non-current cross currency and interest rate swaps2
Non-current other derivative contracts3
Non-current other financial liabilities7

Total other financial liabilities
Trade and other payables8
Provisionally priced trade payables
Bank loans9
Notes and debentures9
Lease liabilities
Other9
Total financial liabilities
Non-financial liabilities
Total liabilities

IFRS 13  
Fair value hierarchy 
Level1

2
2,3

1,2
2
2,3
3
1,3

1,2

2

2
2,3

2
2,3

2

IFRS 9 Classification

Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Amortised cost
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through other 
comprehensive income
Fair value through profit or loss

Amortised cost
Amortised cost
Fair value through profit or loss

Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Amortised cost
Fair value through profit or loss
Fair value through profit or loss
Amortised cost

Amortised cost
Fair value through profit or loss
Amortised cost
Amortised cost

Amortised cost

2022  
US$M

 −
326
100
203
136
16
273
138

239
1,431
17,236
1,674
3,478
23,819
71,347
95,166

358
118
103
1,466
31
500
2,576
5,223
1,385
2,472
11,363
2,576
17
25,612
20,788
46,400

2021  
US$M

20
207
 −
3
1,123
152
 −
31

304
1,840
15,246
2,363
3,547
22,996
85,931
108,927

 −
52
78
586
 −
560
1,276
6,277
574
2,260
14,769
3,896
58
29,110
24,212
53,322

1  All of the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities recognised at fair value were valued using market observable inputs categorised as Level 2 unless specified 

otherwise in the following footnotes.

2  Cross currency and interest rate swaps are valued using market data including interest rate curves (which include the base LIBOR rate and swap rates) and foreign exchange 

3 

4 
5 

rates. A discounted cash flow approach is used to derive the fair value of cross currency and interest rate swaps at the reporting date. 
Includes other derivative contracts of US$ nil (2021: US$121 million) categorised as Level 3. Significant items in FY2021 were derivatives embedded in physical commodity 
purchase and sales contracts of gas in Trinidad and Tobago which were disposed as part of the merger of the Petroleum business during the period.
Includes receivables contingent on outcome of future events relating to mining, and regulatory approvals of US$233 million (2021: US$ nil).
Includes investments held by BHP Billiton Foundation which are restricted and not available for general use by the Group of US$252 million (2021: US$260 million) of which 
other investment (mainly US Treasury Notes) of US$119 million categorised as Level 1 (2021: US$72 million). 

Includes the discounted settlement liability in relation to the cancellation of power contracts at the Group’s Escondida operations. 

6  Excludes input taxes of US$427 million (2021: US$486 million) included in other receivables.
7 
8  Excludes input taxes of US$79 million (2021: US$176 million) included in other payables.
9  All interest bearing liabilities, excluding lease liabilities, are unsecured.

The carrying amounts in the table above generally approximate to fair value. In the case of US$3,018 million (2021: US$3,018 million) of fixed 
rate debt not swapped to floating rate, the fair value at 30 June 2022 was US$3,126 million (2021: US$4,052 million). The fair value is determined 
using a method that can be categorised as Level 2 and uses inputs based on benchmark interest rates, alternative market mechanisms or recent 
comparable transactions.

For financial instruments that are carried at fair value on a recurring basis, the Group determines whether transfers have occurred between levels in the 
hierarchy by reassessing categorisation at the end of each reporting period. There were no transfers between categories during the period.

Offsetting financial assets and liabilities

The Group enters into money market deposits and derivative transactions under International Swaps and Derivatives Association master netting 
agreements that do not meet the criteria in IAS 32 ‘Financial Instruments: Presentation’ for offsetting, but allow for the related amounts to be set-off in 
certain circumstances. The amounts set out as cross currency and interest rate swaps in the table above represent the derivative financial assets and 
liabilities of the Group that may be subject to the above arrangements and are presented on a gross basis.

23.4  Derivatives and hedge accounting

The Group uses derivatives to hedge its exposure to certain market risks and may elect to apply hedge accounting.

Hedge accounting

Derivatives are included within financial assets or liabilities at fair value through profit or loss unless they are designated as effective hedging instruments. 
Financial instruments in this category are classified as current if they are due or expected to be settled within 12 months otherwise they are classified as 
non-current.

170

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23  Financial risk management continued
Where hedge accounting is applied, at the start of the transaction, the Group documents the type of hedge, the relationship between the hedging 
instrument and hedged items and its risk management objective and strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions. The documentation also 
demonstrates that the hedge is expected to be effective. 

The Group applies the following types of hedge accounting to its derivatives hedging the interest rate and currency risks of its notes and debentures:

–  Fair value hedges – the fair value gain or loss on interest rate and cross currency swaps relating to interest rate risk, together with the change in the 
fair value of the hedged fixed rate borrowings attributable to interest rate risk are recognised immediately in the income statement. If the hedge no 
longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, the fair value adjustment on the note or debenture is amortised to the income statement over the period 
to maturity using a recalculated effective interest rate.

–  Cash flow hedges – changes in the fair value of cross currency interest rate swaps which hedge foreign currency cash flows on the notes and 

debentures are recognised directly in other comprehensive income and accumulated in the cash flow hedging reserve. To the extent a hedge is 
ineffective, changes in fair value are recognised immediately in the income statement. 

When a hedging instrument expires, or is sold, terminated or exercised, or when a hedge no longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, any 
cumulative gain or loss existing in equity at that time remains in equity and is amortised to the income statement over the period to the hedged 
item’s maturity.

When hedged, the Group hedges the full notional value of notes or debentures. However, certain components of the fair value of derivatives are not 
permitted under IFRS 9 to be included in the hedge accounting above. Certain costs of hedging are permitted to be recognised in other comprehensive 
income. Any change in the fair value of a derivative that does not qualify for hedge accounting, or is ineffective in hedging the designated risk due to 
contractual differences between the hedged item and hedging instrument, is recognised immediately in the income statement.

The table below shows the carrying amounts of the Group’s notes and debentures by currency and the derivatives which hedge them: 

–  The carrying amount of the notes and debentures includes foreign exchange remeasurement to period-end rates and fair value adjustments when 

included in a fair value hedge. 

–  The breakdown of the hedging derivatives includes remeasurement of foreign currency notional values at period-end rates, fair value movements 

due to interest rate risk, foreign currency cash flows designated into cash flow hedges, costs of hedging recognised in other comprehensive income, 
ineffectiveness recognised in the income statement and accruals or prepayments. 

–  The hedged value of notes and debentures includes their carrying amounts adjusted for the offsetting derivative fair value movements due to foreign 

currency and interest rate risk remeasurement. 

Carrying 
amount of 
notes and 
debentures 

Foreign 
exchange 
notional at 
spot rates 

Recognised 
in cash flow 
hedging 
reserve

Recognised  
in cost of 
hedging 
reserve

Recognised in  
the income 
statement1

Interest  
rate risk

Accrued  
cash flows

Fair value of derivatives

A
4,740
2,599
3,449
575
11,363

B
 −
796
585
167
1,548

Carrying  
amount of  
notes and 
debentures 

Foreign 
exchange 
notional at  
spot rates 

A
6,270
3,387
4,486
626
14,769

B
 −
435
73
142
650

C
(16)
(115)
112
5
(14)

Interest  
rate risk

C
(318)
(544)
(418)
(21)
(1,301)

D
 −
(35)
(16)
(8)
(59)

E
 −
13
8
6
27

F
(7)
26
(4)
(3)
12

G
86
42
45
1
174

Fair value of derivatives

Recognised 
in cash flow 
hedging  
reserve

Recognised  
in cost of 
hedging  
reserve

Recognised in  
the income 
statement1

Accrued  
cash flows

D
 −
(81)
(33)
(28)
(142)

E
 −
25
27
25
77

F
11
(34)
7
(2)
(18)

G
77
53
49
(2)
177

Hedged value 
of notes and 
debentures2

A + B + C
4,724
3,280
4,146
747
12,897

Total

B to G
63
727
730
168
1,688

Hedged value  
of notes and 
debentures2

A + B + C
5,952
3,278
4,141
747
14,118

Total

B to G
(230)
(146)
(295)
114
(557)

2022  
US$M

USD
GBP
EUR
CAD
Total

2021  
US$M

USD
GBP
EUR
CAD
Total

1  Predominantly related to ineffectiveness.
2 

Includes US$3,018 million (2021: US$3,018 million) of fixed rate debt not swapped to floating rate that is not in a hedging relationship. 

The weighted average interest rate payable is USD LIBOR + 1.74 per cent (2021: USD LIBOR + 2.18 per cent). Refer to note 22 ‘Net finance costs’ for 
details of net finance costs for the year.

Interest Rate Benchmark Reform

IBOR reform impacts the Group’s cross currency and interest rate swaps, which reference 3-month US LIBOR, and the associated hedge accounting. 
At 30 June 2022, the notional value of hedging instruments that reference 3-month US LIBOR is US$ 15.6 billion (2021: US$16.8 billion). The SOFR 
benchmark rate is being widely adopted by market participants as the replacement for US LIBOR in new contracts. However, a number of US LIBOR 
settings, including 3-month US LIBOR, will continue to be published until 30 June 2023. Accordingly, absent of any agreement with counterparties to 
transition to an alternative risk-free rate before this date, the Group’s existing cross currency and interest rate swaps with maturity dates beyond 30 June 
2023 will only transition to ARR once US LIBOR publication ceases. As at 30 June 2022, the Group has not transitioned any of its existing cross currency 
and interest rate swaps to alternative risk-free rates, however it is expecting to commence active transition of the existing cross currency and interest rate 
swaps portfolio to alternative benchmark rates during FY2023.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

171

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review23  Financial risk management continued

The following table shows the notional value of the Group’s hedging instruments that are expected to expire before 30 June 2023.

Hedging instrument

Interest rate swaps
Cross-currency interest rate swaps

Notional value 
to mature before 
LIBOR expires 
FY2023 
US$M

748
404
923
2,075

Notional  
value  
US$M

10,719
3,187
1,673
15,579

Notional 
currency

USD
EUR
GBP
Total

In addition, the Group has other arrangements which reference 3-month US LIBOR benchmarks and extend beyond 2022. These include USD bank loans 
of US$1.6 billion (2021: US$2.3 billion). Refer to note 20 ‘Net debt’.

The Group has previously adopted amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 in relation to IBOR Reform. These amendments provide reliefs from applying 
specific hedge accounting requirements to hedging arrangements directly impacted by these reforms. In particular, where changes to the Group’s 
instruments arise solely as a result of IBOR reform and do not change the economic substance of the Group’s arrangements, the Group is able to 
maintain its existing hedge relationships and accounting. The Group has continued to apply these reliefs, resulting in no impact on the Group’s hedge 
accounting. Upon transition to alternative risk-free rates, the Group will seek to apply further reliefs in IFRS 9 and continue to apply hedge accounting to 
its hedging arrangements.

Movements in reserves relating to hedge accounting

The following table shows a reconciliation of the components of equity and an analysis of the movements in reserves for all hedges. For a description of 
these reserves, refer to note 17 ‘Other equity’.

2022  
US$M

At the beginning of the financial year
Add: Change in fair value of hedging 
instrument recognised in OCI
Less: Reclassified from reserves to interest 
expense – recognised through OCI
At the end of the financial year

Cash flow hedging reserve 

Cost of hedging reserve

Gross

142

(914)

831
59

Tax

(42)

274

(250)
(18)

Net

100

(640)

581
41

Gross

(77)

 −

50
(27)

Tax

23

 −

(15)
8

Cash flow hedging reserve 

Cost of hedging reserve

2021  
US$M

At the beginning of the financial year
Add: Change in fair value of hedging 
instrument recognised in OCI
Less: Reclassified from reserves to interest 
expense – recognised through OCI
At the end of the financial year

Gross

71

863

(792)
142

Tax

(21)

(259)

238
(42)

Net

50

604

(554)
100

Gross

(32)

 −

(45)
(77)

Changes in interest bearing liabilities and related derivatives resulting from financing activities

The movement in the year in the Group’s interest bearing liabilities and related derivatives are as follows:

2022  
US$M

At the beginning of the financial year

Proceeds from interest bearing liabilities
Settlements of debt related instruments
Repayment of interest bearing liabilities1

Change from Net financing cash flows
Other movements:

Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations
Interest rate impacts
Foreign exchange impacts 
Lease additions
Remeasurement of index-linked freight contracts
Other interest bearing liabilities/derivative related changes

At the end of the financial year

Bank 
loans 

2,260
1,150
 −
(941)
209

 −
 −
3
 −
 −
 −
2,472

Interest bearing liabilities 

Notes and 
debentures 

Lease 
liabilities

Bank 
overdraft and 
short-term 
borrowings

14,769
 −
 −
(1,232)
(1,232)

 −
(1,286)
(894)
 −
 −
6
11,363

3,896
 −
 −
(1,163)
(1,163)

(492)
 −
(126)
866
(369)
(36)
2,576

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

172

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Total

46

(640)

616
22

Total

27

604

(585)
46

Total

1,164
 −
(3,391)
(2,227)

Net

(54)

 −

35
(19)

Net

(23)

 −

(31)
(54)

Derivatives 
(assets)/
liabilities

Cross 
currency and 
interest rate 
swaps 

(557)
 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
1,277
898
 −
 −
70
1,688

Tax

9

 −

14
23

Other

58
14
 −
(55)
(41)

 −
 −
(2)
 −
 −
2
17

23  Financial risk management continued

2021  
US$M

At the beginning of the financial year

Proceeds from interest bearing liabilities
Settlements of debt related instruments
Repayment of interest bearing liabilities1

Change from Net financing cash flows
Other movements:

Loss on bond repurchase
Interest rate impacts
Foreign exchange impacts 
Lease additions
Remeasurement of index-linked freight contracts
Other interest bearing liabilities/derivative related changes

At the end of the financial year

Interest bearing liabilities 

Bank loans 

Notes and 
debentures 

Lease 
liabilities

Bank overdraft 
and short-term 
borrowings

Other

2,492
504
 −
(737)
(233)

 −
 −
(1)
 −
 −
2
2,260

21,045
 −
 −
(6,888)
(6,888)

579
(764)
798
 −
 −
(1)
14,769

3,443
 −
 −
(770)
(770)

 −
 −
115
1,223
(59)
(56)
3,896

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

68
64
 −
 −
64

 −
 −
(14)
 −
 −
(60)
58

Derivatives 
(assets)/
liabilities

Cross 
currency and 
interest rate 
swaps 

(433)
 −
167
 −
167

(184)
704
(796)
 −
 −
(15)
(557)

Total

568
167
(8,395)
(7,660)

1 

Includes US$33 million (2021: US$38 million) of Discontinued operations cash flows.

Employee matters

24  Key management personnel
Key management personnel compensation comprises:

Short-term employee benefits
Post-employment benefits
Share-based payments
Total

2022  
US$

2021  
US$

2020  
US$

13,979,139
634,363
11,165,439
25,778,941

14,081,625
744,951
11,601,866
26,428,442

12,564,637
1,172,727
13,514,588
27,251,952

Key Management Personnel (KMP) includes the roles which have the authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of 
BHP. These are Non-executive Directors, the CEO, the Chief Financial Officer, the President Minerals Australia, the President Minerals Americas and the 
Senior Executive Officer (i.e. President Petroleum until 31 May 2022). 

Transactions and outstanding loans/amounts with key management personnel

There were no purchases by key management personnel from the Group during FY2022 (2021: US$ nil; 2020: US$ nil). 

There were no amounts payable by key management personnel at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil; 2020: US$ nil).

There were no loans receivable from or payable to key management personnel at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil; 2020: US$ nil).

Transactions with personally related entities

A number of Directors of the Group hold or have held positions in other companies (personally related entities) where it is considered they control or 
significantly influence the financial or operating policies of those entities. There were no reportable transactions with those entities and no amounts were 
owed by the Group to personally related entities at 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil; 2020: US$ nil).

For more information on remuneration and transactions with key management personnel, refer to the Remuneration Report under Governance. 

25  Employee share ownership plans
Awards, in the form of the right to receive ordinary shares in BHP Group Limited have been granted under the following employee share ownership plans: 
Cash and Deferred Plan (CDP), Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP), Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP), Management Award Plan (MAP), Transitional and 
Commencement KMP awards and the all-employee share plan, Shareplus. Following unification of our dual listed company structure in January 2022, 
employees holding unvested BHP Group Plc awards received one BHP Group Limited award per BHP Group Plc award held at the time of unification. 
Vesting of awards will stay on the original timeframes. Employees holding BHP Group Plc acquired shares under Shareplus received one BHP Group 
Limited share for each BHP Group Plc share owned.

Some awards are eligible to receive a cash payment, or the equivalent value in shares, equal to the dividend amount that would have been earned on the 
underlying shares awarded to those participants (the Dividend Equivalent Payment, or DEP). The DEP is provided to the participants once the underlying 
shares are allocated or transferred to them. Awards under the plans do not confer any rights to participate in a share issue; however, there is discretion 
under each of the plans to adjust the awards in response to a variation in the share capital of BHP Group Limited.

On completion of the merger between BHP Petroleum and Woodside on 1 June 2022, adjustments were made to unvested awards held under the 
above mentioned employee share ownership plans to ensure participants continue to be appropriately treated. The number of ‘Uplift’ awards granted of 
1,574,034 shares was calculated based on the number of unvested awards held prior to the merger multiplied by 1.1205 being the USD value of the in 
specie dividend divided by the closing BHP Group Limited share price on 31 May 2022 (converted into USD on the same date) plus one.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

173

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review25  Employee share ownership plans continued
The table below provides a description of each of the plans.

Plan

Type

CDP and STIP
Short-term incentive

LTIP and MAP
Long-term incentive

The LTIP is a plan for Executive KMP and 
members of the Executive Leadership Team 
who are not Executive KMP, and awards are 
granted annually.

The MAP is a plan for BHP senior 
management who are not KMP. The number 
of share rights awarded is determined by a 
participant’s role and grade.

Transitional and 
Commencement 
KMP awards
Long-term incentive

Awards may be granted 
to new Executive KMP 
recruited into or within 
the Group to bridge 
the time-based gap 
between the vesting of 
awards either granted 
in their non-KMP roles 
or to replace awards 
foregone from a 
previous company.

Shareplus
All-employee share 
purchase plan
Employees may 
contribute up to 
US$5,000 to acquire 
shares in any plan 
year. On the third 
anniversary of 
the start of a plan 
year, the Group will 
match the number of 
acquired shares.

Overview 

Vesting 
conditions

The CDP was implemented 
in FY2020 as a replacement 
for the STIP, both of which are 
generally plans for Executive KMP 
and members of the Executive 
Leadership Team who are not 
Executive KMP.

Under the CDP, two thirds of the 
value of a participant’s short-term 
incentive amount is awarded 
as rights to receive BHP Group 
Limited shares at the end of the 
vesting period (and the remaining 
one third is delivered in cash). 
Two awards of deferred shares are 
granted, each of the equivalent 
value to the cash award, vesting in 
two and five years respectively. 

Under STIP, half of the value of a 
participant’s short-term incentive 
amount is awarded as rights 
to receive BHP Group Limited 
shares at the end of the two-year 
vesting period.
CDP: Service conditions only for 
the two-year award. Vesting of 
the five-year award is subject to 
service conditions and also to 
holistic review of performance at 
the end of the five-year vesting 
period, including a five-year view 
on HSEC performance, profitability, 
cash flow, balance sheet health, 
returns to shareholders, corporate 
governance and conduct.

STIP: Service conditions only.

LTIP: Service and performance conditions. 

BHP’s Total Shareholder Return¹ (TSR)
performance relative to the Peer Group 
TSR over a five-year performance period 
determines the vesting of 67 per cent of the 
awards, while performance relative to the 
Index TSR (being the index value where 
the comparator group is a market index) 
determines the vesting of 33 per cent of 
the awards. 

For awards granted from December 2017 
onwards, 25 per cent of the award will vest 
where BHP’s TSR is equal to the median 
TSR of the relevant comparator group(s), 
as measured over the performance period. 
Where TSR is below the median, awards 
will not vest. Vesting occurs on a sliding 
scale when BHP’s TSR measured over the 
performance period is between the median 
TSR of the relevant comparator group(s) up 
to a nominated level of TSR outperformance 
over the relevant comparator group(s), as 
determined by the Committee, above which 
100 per cent of the award will vest.

MAP: Service conditions only.
LTIP – 5 years 
MAP – 1 to 5 years
LTIP – Yes 
MAP – Varies

Service conditions only.

Service and 
performance conditions.

The Remuneration 
Committee has absolute 
discretion to determine 
if the performance 
condition has been 
met and whether any, 
all or part of the award 
will vest (or otherwise 
lapse), having regard to 
personal performance 
and the underlying 
financial performance 
of the Group during the 
performance period. 

To the extent the 
performance condition 
is not achieved, 
awards will lapse. 
There is no retesting 
of the performance 
condition. 
Vested awards may be 
subject to a holding lock.

2 years

Yes

3 years

No

CDP – 2 and 5 years 
STIP – 2 years
CDP – Yes 
STIP – Yes

Vesting 
period
Dividend 
Equivalent 
Payment
Exercise 
period

None 

None

None

None

1  For LTIP awards granted prior to unification and where the five-year performance period ends after unification, the TSR at the start of the performance period is based on the 
weighted average of the TSRs of BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc and the TSR at the end of the performance period is based on the TSR of BHP Group Limited.

174

BHP

Annual Report 2022

25  Employee share ownership plans continued

Employee share awards 

Number of 
awards at the 
beginning  
of the  
financial year

Number of 
awards issued 
during the 
year

Number of 
awards  
vested and 
exercised

Number of 
awards  
lapsed

Number of 
BHP Group 
Plc awards 
transferred to 
BHP Group 
Limited on 
unification1

Number of 
awards at the 
end of the 
financial year

Weighted 
average 
remaining 
contractual life 
(years)

Weighted 
average 
share price at 
exercise date

216,340
200,785
3,543,220
9,953,517

491,654
9,014
714,781
3,915,785

 −
125,989
1,114,524
4,615,318

77,000
4,539,194

9,279
3,091,639

 −
2,465,378

176,049
232,767

72,412
63,209

70,657
2,174

 −
 −
 −
2,321,453

 −
531,479

16,162
13,308

 −
 −
 −
161,642

 −
280,494

161,642
280,494

707,994
83,810
3,143,477
7,094,173

86,279
4,914,470

 −
 −

2.2
0.2
1.8
1.2

0.2
1.3

n/a
n/a

n/a
A$47.70
A$47.70
A$46.62

n/a
A$50.54

£22.18
£22.11

2022

BHP Group Limited
CDP awards
STIP awards
LTIP awards 
MAP awards2
Transitional and 
Commencement KMP awards
Shareplus
BHP Group Plc
MAP awards
Shareplus

1 

 On unification of the Group’s corporate structure on 31 January 2022 (refer note 16 ‘Share capital’ for details) 161,642 of unvested awards over BHP Group Plc shares lapsed 
and were replaced by equivalent awards over BHP Group Limited on the terms of the MAP awards. Under the rules of the Shareplus, on unification, holders of acquired BHP 
Group Plc shares, exchanged them for BHP Group Limited shares on the same terms of other BHP Group Plc shareholders. As participants were not eligible for matching 
shares in BHP Group Plc, BHP Group Limited made an equivalent offer of rights to match 280,494 unvested awards, which will vest based on their original timeline and will 
be satisfied with the delivery of BHP Group Limited shares. Given the unification had no impact on the vesting timelines or the terms and conditions of the MAP awards and 
Shareplus, the changes did not represent a modification that changed the fair value of the awards.

2  There were 2,761 number of awards vested and exercisable at the end of the financial year.

Fair value and assumptions in the calculation of fair value for awards issued

2022

BHP Group Limited
CDP awards
LTIP awards
MAP awards1

Shareplus 
BHP Group Plc
MAP awards

Shareplus

Weighted 
average fair 
value of awards 
granted during 
the year US$

27.46
13.66

22.10
22.80

20.85

14.53

Risk-free 
interest rate

Estimated life 
of awards

Share price at  
grant date

Estimated 
volatility of 
share price

Dividend yield

n/a 2 and 5 years
5 years

1.36%

n/a
0.12%

1-5 years
3 years

A$38.05
A$38.05
A$51.33/A$36.39/A$46.55/
A$50.58/A$42.52
A$45.66

n/a
30.0%

n/a
n/a

n/a
n/a
5.0% up to 30 June 2022 and 
7.5% per annum thereafter
5.51%

n/a

3 years

0.15%

3 years

£18.62

£20.68

n/a 5.0% up to 30 June 2022 and 
7.5% per annum thereafter
6.60%

n/a

1 

Includes MAP awards granted on 17 August 2021, 29 September 2021, 1 March 2022, 30 March 2022 and 17 June 2022.

Recognition and measurement

The fair value at grant date of equity-settled share awards is charged to the income statement over the period for which the benefits of employee services 
are expected to be derived. The fair values of awards granted were estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation methodology and Black-Scholes option 
pricing technique and consider the following factors: 

–  exercise price

–  expected life of the award

–  current market price of the underlying shares

–  expected volatility using an analysis of historic volatility over different rolling periods. For the LTIP, it is calculated for all sector comparators and the 

published MSCI World index

–  expected dividends

–  risk-free interest rate, which is an applicable government bond rate

–  market-based performance hurdles

–  non-vesting conditions

Where awards are forfeited because non-market-based vesting conditions are not satisfied, the expense previously recognised is proportionately reversed. 

The tax effect of awards granted is recognised in income tax expense, except to the extent that the total tax deductions are expected to exceed the 
cumulative remuneration expense. In this situation, the excess of the associated current or deferred tax is recognised in equity and forms part of the 
employee share awards reserve. The fair value of awards as presented in the tables above represents the fair value at grant date. 

In respect of employee share awards, the Group utilises the BHP Billiton Limited Employee Equity Trust. The trustee of this trust is an independent 
company, resident in Jersey. The trust uses funds provided by the Group to acquire ordinary shares to enable awards to be made or satisfied. 
The ordinary shares may be acquired by purchase in the market or by subscription at not less than nominal value. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

175

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review26  Employee benefits, restructuring and post-retirement employee benefits provisions

Employee benefits1
Restructuring2
Post-retirement employee benefits3
Total provisions 
Comprising:
Current
Non-current

2022

At the beginning of the financial year
Charge/(credit) for the year:

Underlying
Discounting
Net interest expense
Exchange variations
Released during the year

Remeasurement gains taken to retained earnings
Utilisation
Divestment and demerger of subsidiaries and operations
Transfers and other movements
At the end of the financial year

2022  
US$M

1,351
27
281
1,659

1,319
340

Employee 
benefits  
US$M

1,624

1,424
 −
 −
(131)
(58)
 −
(1,381)
(128)
1
1,351

Restructuring 
US$M

Post-retirement 
employee 
benefits3 
US$M

54

24
 −
 −
(1)
(2)
 −
(43)
(6)
1
27

534

78
30
(9)
(51)
(2)
(24)
(58)
(217)
 −
281

2021  
US$M

1,624
54
534
2,212

1,606
606

Total  
US$M

2,212

1,526
30
(9)
(183)
(62)
(24)
(1,482)
(351)
2
1,659

1  The expenditure associated with total employee benefits will occur in a pattern consistent with when employees choose to exercise their entitlement to benefits.
2  Total restructuring provisions include provisions for terminations and office closures.
3  The net liability recognised in the Consolidated Balance Sheet includes US$165 million present value of funded defined benefits pension obligation (2021: US$377 million) 

offset by fair value of defined benefit scheme assets US$(169) million (2021: US$(398) million), US$85 million present value of unfunded defined pension and post-retirement 
medical benefits obligation (2021: US$321 million) and US$200 million unfunded post-employment benefits obligation in Chile (2021: US$234 million). 

Recognition and measurement

Provisions are recognised by the Group when:

–  there is a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events

–  it is more likely than not that a permanent outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation

–  the amount can be reliably estimated and measured at the present value of management’s best estimate of the cash outflow required to settle the 

obligation at the reporting date

Provision

Employee 
benefits

Description
Liabilities for benefits accruing to employees up until the reporting date in respect of wages and salaries, annual leave and any 
accumulating sick leave are recognised in the period the related service is rendered. 

Liabilities recognised in respect of short-term employee benefits expected to be settled within 12 months are measured at the 
amounts expected to be paid when the liabilities are settled.

Liabilities for other long-term employee benefits, including long service leave are measured as the present value of estimated future 
payments for the services provided by employees up to the reporting date.

Liabilities that are not expected to be settled within 12 months are discounted at the reporting date using market yields of high-quality 
corporate bonds or government bonds for countries where there is no deep market for corporate bonds. The rates used reflect the 
terms to maturity and currency that match, as closely as possible, the estimated future cash outflows.

In relation to industry-based long service leave funds, the Group’s liability, including obligations for funding shortfalls, is determined 
after deducting the fair value of dedicated assets of such funds.

Restructuring

Liabilities for short and long-term employee benefits (other than unpaid wages and salaries) are disclosed within employee benefits. 
Liabilities for unpaid wages and salaries are recognised in other creditors.
Restructuring provisions are recognised when: 

–  the Group has developed a detailed formal plan identifying the business or part of the business concerned, the location and 

approximate number of employees affected, a detailed estimate of the associated costs, and an appropriate timeline

–  the restructuring has either commenced or been publicly announced and can no longer be withdrawn

Payments that are not expected to be settled within 12 months of the reporting date are measured at the present value of the 
estimated future cash payments expected to be made by the Group. 

176

BHP

Annual Report 2022

26  Employee benefits, restructuring and post-retirement employee benefits provisions continued
Post-retirement 
employee 
benefits 

Defined contribution pension schemes and multi-employer pension schemes

For defined contribution schemes or schemes operated on an industry-wide basis where it is not possible to identify assets 
attributable to the participation by the Group’s employees, the pension charge is calculated on the basis of contributions payable. 
The Group contributed US$324 million during the financial year (2021: US$301 million; 2020: US$243 million) to defined contribution 
plans and multi-employer defined contribution plans. These contributions are expensed as incurred.

Defined benefit pension and post-retirement medical schemes

The Group operates or participates in a number of defined benefit pension schemes throughout the world, all of which are closed to 
new entrants. The funding of the schemes complies with local regulations. The assets of the schemes are generally held separately 
from those of the Group and are administered by trustees or management boards. The Group also operates a number of unfunded 
post-retirement medical schemes in the United States, Canada and Europe. 

For defined benefit schemes, an asset or liability is recognised in the balance sheet based at the present value of defined benefit 
obligations less, where funded, the fair value of plan assets, except that any such asset cannot exceed the present value of 
expected refunds from and reductions in future contributions to the plan. Full actuarial valuations are prepared by local actuaries for 
all schemes, using discount rates based on market yields at the reporting date on high-quality corporate bonds or by reference to 
national government bonds if high-quality corporate bonds are not available. 

Where funded, scheme assets are invested in a diversified range of asset classes, predominantly comprising bonds and equities. 

Group and related party information

27  Discontinued operations
On 22 November 2021, the Group and Woodside signed a binding SSA for the merger of the Group’s oil and gas portfolio with Woodside. Woodside has 
subsequently acquired the entire share capital of BHP Petroleum International Pty Ltd (‘BHP Petroleum’) in exchange for new Woodside ordinary shares. 

While the merger had an economic effective date of 1 July 2021, the Group continued to control the Petroleum assets and carry on business in the 
normal course for 11 months until 1 June 2022 (Completion Date). As such, the Group recognises its share of revenue, expenses, net finance costs and 
associated income tax expense related to the Discontinued operation until the Completion Date. 

As consideration for the sale of BHP Petroleum, the Group received 914,768,948 newly issued Woodside ordinary shares at Completion Date. 
On the Completion Date, the Group paid a fully franked in specie dividend in the form of Woodside shares to eligible BHP shareholders. Eligible BHP 
shareholders received one Woodside share for every 5.5340 BHP shares they held on the Group’s register at the record date of 26 May 2022. 

As part of completion and in order to reflect the economic effective date, the Group made a net cash payment of US$0.7 billion to Woodside in addition to 
US$0.4 billion in cash that was left in the BHP Petroleum bank accounts to fund ongoing operations. The total cash transfer of US$1.1 billion reflects the 
net cash flows generated by BHP Petroleum between 1 July 2021 and Completion Date adjusted for dividends Woodside would have paid on the newly 
issued Woodside ordinary shares, had the Merger completed on 1 July 2021. The net cash completion payment to Woodside is subject to a customary 
post-completion review, which may result in an adjustment to the amount paid.

BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC), while being divested on 3 May 2022, is not considered to meet the criteria for classification as a Discontinued operation 
given its relative size to the Group and the Coal segment. For further information, refer to note 3 ‘Exceptional items’.

The contribution of Discontinued operations to the Group’s profit and cash flows is detailed below:

Income statement – Discontinued operations

Revenue
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Profit from operations

Financial expenses
Financial income
Net finance costs
Profit before taxation 

Income tax expense
Royalty-related taxation (net of income tax benefit)
Total taxation expense
Profit/(loss) after taxation from operating activities
Net gain on Petroleum merger with Woodside (after tax) 
Profit/(loss) after taxation

Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Basic earnings/(loss) per ordinary share (cents)
Diluted earnings/(loss) per ordinary share (cents)

2022  
US$M

6,404
170
(2,207)
(4)
4,363

(165)
6
(159)
4,204

(1,471)
(237)
(1,708)
2,496
8,159
10,655
 −
10,655

210.5
210.1

2021  
US$M

3,896
130
(3,629)
(6)
391

(88)
6
(82)
309

(545)
11
(534)
(225)
 −
(225)
 −
(225)

(4.5)
(4.5)

2020  
US$M

4,007
57
(3,322)
(4)
738

(70)
17
(53)
685

(492)
(85)
(577)
108
 −
108
 −
108

2.1
2.1

The total comprehensive income attributable to BHP shareholders from Discontinued operations was a gain of US$10,596 million (30 June 2021: loss of 
US$231 million; 30 June 2020: gain of US$118 million).

The conversion of options and share rights would decrease the loss per share for the year ended 30 June 2021, therefore its impact has been excluded 
from the diluted earnings per share calculation.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

177

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review27  Discontinued operations continued

Cash flows from Discontinued operations

Net operating cash flows
Net investing cash flows1
Net financing cash flows2
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from Discontinued operations
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside 
Cash and cash equivalents disposed
Total cash impact

2022  
US$M

2,889
(904)
(33)
1,952
(683)
(399)
870

2021  
US$M

1,351
(1,520)
(38)
(207)
 −
 −
(207)

2020  
US$M

1,021
(1,033)
(39)
(51)
 −
 −
(51)

1 

Includes purchases of property, plant and equipment and capitalised exploration of US$1,144 million related to drilling and development expenditure (30 June 2021: 
US$1,020 million; 30 June 2020: US$1,079 million), proceeds from sale of subsidiaries, operations and joint operations, net of cash of US$91 million (30 June 2021: 
investment of US$480 million; 30 June 2020: US$ nil), proceeds from sale of assets of US$151 million (30 June 2021: US$39 million; 30 June 2020: US$78 million) and other 
investing outflows of US$2 million (30 June 2021: outflow of US$59 million; 30 June 2020: outflow of US$32 million).

2  Represents net repayment of interest bearing liabilities of US$33 million (30 June 2021: US$38 million; 30 June 2020: US$39 million).

Exceptional items – Discontinued operations

Exceptional items are those gains or losses where their nature, including the expected frequency of the events giving rise to them, and impact is 
considered material to the Financial Statements. 

Items related to Discontinued operations included within the Group’s profits for the year ended 30 June 2022 are detailed below.

Year ended 30 June 2022

Exceptional items by category
Net gain on Petroleum merger with Woodside1 
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Gross  
US$M

Tax  
US$M

Net  
US$M

8,167
8,167
 −
8,167

(8)
(8)
 −
(8)

8,159
8,159
 −
8,159

1  The tax expense associated with the exceptional item reflects the tax impact of transaction costs and other restructuring related activities undertaken pre-merger. There are 
no further tax impacts arising on the net gain on merger of our Petroleum business with Woodside as generated tax losses were either offset with capital gains in other 
entities in the Group, or not recognised on the basis that it is not probable that future capital gains will be available against which the Group can utilise the tax losses. 

Net gain on disposal of Discontinued operations

Details of the net gain on Petroleum merger with Woodside is presented below: 

Assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables
Other financial assets
Inventories
Property, plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Investments accounted for using the equity method
Deferred tax assets
Other
Total assets
Liabilities
Trade and other payables
Interest bearing liabilities
Tax payables
Provisions 
Deferred income
Total liabilities
Net assets
Fair value of Woodside shares1
Net cash completion payment on merger of Petroleum with Woodside2
Foreign currency translation reserve transferred to the income statement
Other provisions and related indemnities recognised at completion
Transaction and other directly attributable costs
Income tax expense
Net gain on Petroleum merger with Woodside

2022  
US$M

399
1,560
91
295
12,055
66
240
1,470
18
16,194

913
243
300
4,518
48
6,022
10,172
19,566
(683)
54
(353)
(245)
(8)
8,159

1  Represents the consideration received being the fair value of 914,768,948 Woodside ordinary shares received using the closing ASX share price of A$29.76 on 31 May 2022 

(US$21.39 equivalent based on an exchange rate of AUD/USD 0.7187).

2  Reflects the net cash flows generated by BHP Petroleum between 1 July 2021 and Completion Date adjusted for dividends Woodside would have paid on the newly issued 

Woodside ordinary shares, had the Merger completed on 1 July 2021.

178

BHP

Annual Report 2022

27  Discontinued operations continued
The Exceptional items related to Discontinued operations included within the Group’s profit for the years ended 30 June 2021 and 30 June 2020 are 
outlined below:

Year ended 30 June 2021

Exceptional items by category
Impairment of Potash assets1
COVID-19 related costs
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests 
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Gross  
US$M

Tax  
US$M

Net  
US$M

 −
(47)
(47)
 −
(47)

(278)
8
(270)
 −
(270)

(278)
(39)
(317)
 −
(317)

1  The exceptional item reflects the impairment of tax losses originally expected to be recoverable against taxable profits from the Group’s Potash assets. The impairment is 

included in Discontinued operations as the entity with the losses transferred to Woodside and therefore the losses are no longer available to the Group. 

Year ended 30 June 2020

Exceptional items by category
COVID-19 related costs
Total
Attributable to non-controlling interests 
Attributable to BHP shareholders

Gross  
US$M

Tax  
US$M

Net  
US$M

(6)
(6)
 −
(6)

2
2
 −
2

(4)
(4)
 −
(4)

28  Subsidiaries
Significant subsidiaries of the Group are those with the most significant contribution to the Group’s net profit or net assets. The Group’s interest in the 
subsidiaries’ results are listed in the table below. 

Significant subsidiaries 

Coal
BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd1
Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd
Copper
BHP Olympic Dam Corporation Pty Ltd
Compañia Minera Cerro Colorado Limitada
Minera Escondida Ltda2
Minera Spence SA
Iron Ore
BHP Iron Ore (Jimblebar) Pty Ltd3
BHP Iron Ore Pty Ltd
BHP (Towage Service) Pty Ltd
Marketing
BHP Billiton Freight Singapore Pte Limited
BHP Billiton Marketing AG
BHP Billiton Marketing Asia Pte Ltd
Group and Unallocated
BHP Billiton Finance B.V.
BHP Billiton Finance Limited
BHP Billiton Finance (USA) Limited 
BHP Canada Inc.
BHP Group Operations Pty Ltd
BHP Nickel West Pty Ltd
WMC Finance (USA) Limited

Country of 
incorporation

Principal activity

Australia
Australia

Australia
Chile
Chile
Chile

Australia
Australia
Australia

Coal mining
Coal mining

Copper and uranium mining
Copper mining
Copper mining
Copper mining

Iron ore mining
Service company
Towing services

Singapore
Switzerland
Singapore

Freight services
Marketing and trading
Marketing support and other services

The Netherlands
Australia
Australia
Canada
Australia
Australia
Australia

Finance
Finance
Finance
Potash development
Administrative services
Nickel mining, smelting, refining and administrative services
Finance

Group’s interest

2022  
%

2021  
%

–
100

100
100
57.5
100

85
100
100

100
100
100

100
100
100
100
100
100
100

80 
100

100 
100 
57.5
100 

85 
100
100

100 
100 
100 

100 
100 
100
100 
100 
100
100

1  The divestment of BHP’s 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC) to Stanmore Resources Limited was completed on 3 May 2022. Refer to note 3 ‘Exceptional 

items’ for further information. 

2  As the Group has the ability to direct the relevant activities at Minera Escondida Ltda, it has control over the entity. The assessment of the most relevant activity in this 
contractual arrangement is subject to judgement. The Group establishes the mine plan and the operating budget and has the ability to appoint the key management 
personnel, demonstrating that the Group has the existing rights to direct the relevant activities of Minera Escondida Ltda.

3  The Group has an effective interest of 92.5 per cent in BHP Iron Ore (Jimblebar) Pty Ltd; however, by virtue of the shareholder agreement with ITOCHU Iron Ore Australia Pty 
Ltd and Mitsui & Co. Iron Ore Exploration & Mining Pty Ltd, the Group’s interest in the Jimblebar mining operation is 85 per cent, which is consistent with the other respective 
contractual arrangements at Western Australia Iron Ore.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

179

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
29  Investments accounted for using the equity method
Significant interests in equity accounted investments of the Group are those with the most significant contribution to the Group’s net profit or net assets. 
The Group’s ownership interest in equity accounted investments results are listed in the table below. 

Significant associates  
and joint ventures 
Cerrejón1
Compañía Minera Antamina S.A. 
(Antamina)
Samarco Mineração S.A. 
(Samarco)

Country of incorporation/ 
principal place of business

Associate or 
joint venture

Principal activity

Anguilla/Colombia/Ireland
Peru

Associate
Associate

Coal mining in Colombia
Copper and zinc mining

Reporting date 

31 December
31 December

Brazil

Joint venture

Iron ore mining

31 December

Ownership interest 

2022  
%

–
33.75

50.00

2021  
%

33.33
33.75

50.00

1  At 30 June 2021, the Group’s investment in Cerrejón was classified as ‘Assets held for sale’ and payables owed to Cerrejón was classified as ‘Liabilities directly associated with 

the assets held for sale’. During FY2022 the Group received dividends of US$238 million from Cerrejón and on 11 January 2022, BHP completed the sale of its 33.33 per cent 
interest in Cerrejón to Glencore. In accordance with the sale agreement, the final sale proceeds was adjusted for the dividends received to a final number of US$50 million. 

Voting in relation to relevant activities in Antamina, determined to be the approval of the operating and capital budgets, does not require unanimous 
consent of all participants to the arrangement, therefore joint control does not exist. Instead, because the Group has the power to participate in the 
financial and operating policies of the investee, this investment is accounted for as an associate.

Samarco is jointly owned by BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda (BHP Brasil) and Vale S.A. (Vale). As the Samarco entity has the rights to the assets and obligations 
to the liabilities relating to the joint arrangement and not its owners, this investment is accounted for as a joint venture.

The Group is restricted in its ability to make dividend payments from its investments in associates and joint ventures as any such payments require the 
approval of all investors in the associates and joint ventures. The ownership interest at the Group’s and the associates’ or joint ventures’ reporting dates 
are the same. When the annual financial reporting date is different to the Group’s, financial information is obtained as at 30 June in order to report on an 
annual basis consistent with the Group’s reporting date.

The movement for the year in the Group’s investments accounted for using the equity method is as follows:

Year ended 30 June 2022  
US$M

At the beginning of the financial year
Loss from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses1,2
Investment in equity accounted investments 
Dividends received from equity accounted investments3 
Divestment and demerger of equity accounted investments 
Other
At the end of the financial year

Investment in 
associates

Investment in 
joint ventures

Total equity 
accounted 
investments

1,742
653
52
(787)
(240)
 −
1,420

 −
(676)
 −
 −
 −
676
 −

1,742
(23)
52
(787)
(240)
676
1,420

1  US$(676) million represents US$(663) million movement in the Samarco dam failure provision including US$(747) million change in estimate and US$84 million exchange 

translation, US$68 million movement in provisions related to the Samarco Germano dam decommissioning provision including US$56 million change in estimate and US$12 million 
exchange translation and US$(81) million fair value change on forward exchange derivatives. Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information.
Includes share of operating losses of equity accounted investments from Discontinued operations of US$4 million (2021: US$6 million; 2020: US$4 million). Refer to note 27 
‘Discontinued operations’.
Includes dividends received from equity accounted investments from Discontinued operations of US$10 million (2021: US$10 million; 2020: US$12 million).

2 

3 

The following table summarises the financial information relating to each of the Group’s significant equity accounted investments. BHP Brasil’s 50 per cent 
portion of Samarco’s commitments, for which BHP Brasil has no funding obligation, is US$350 million (2021: US$350 million).

Associates

Joint ventures

2022  
US$M

Antamina

Individually 
immaterial1

Current assets
Non-current assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Net assets/(liabilities) – 100%
Net assets/(liabilities) – Group share 
Adjustments to net assets related to accounting policy adjustments
Investment in Samarco
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Samarco 
Additional share of Samarco losses
Unrecognised losses
Carrying amount of investments accounted for using the equity method
Revenue – 100%
Profit/(loss) from Continuing operations – 100% 
Share of profit/(loss) of equity accounted investments 
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Samarco 
Additional share of Samarco losses
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives
Unrecognised losses
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments and expenses
Comprehensive income – 100%
Share of comprehensive income/(loss) – Group share in equity 
accounted investments
Dividends received from equity accounted investments 

1,275
5,293
(847)
(1,851)
3,870
1,306
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
1,306
5,264
2,133
720
 −
 −
 −
 −
720
2,133

720
776

114

(63)

(63)
11

Samarco2
4993
5,717
(10,830)4
(7,873)
(12,487)
(6,244)
2685
5166
(1,041)7
5,3268
1,1759
 −
1,670
(528)10
(276)11
 −
290
(81)
(609)9
(676)
(528)

(676)
 −

180

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Individually 
immaterial 

Total

 −

1,420

 −

 −
 −

(19)

(19)
787

29  Investments accounted for using the equity method continued

2021  
US$M  
Restated

Current assets
Non-current assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Net assets/(liabilities) – 100%
Net assets/(liabilities) – Group share 
Adjustments to net assets related to accounting policy adjustments
Investment in Samarco
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Samarco 
Additional share of Samarco losses
Unrecognised losses
Carrying amount of investments accounted for using the equity method
Revenue – 100%
Profit/(loss) from Continuing operations – 100% 
Share of profit/(loss) of equity accounted investments 
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Cerrejón
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Samarco 
Additional share of Samarco losses
Fair value change on forward exchange derivatives
Unrecognised losses
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments 
and expenses
Comprehensive income/(loss) – 100%
Share of comprehensive income/(loss) – Group share in equity 
accounted investments
Dividends received from equity accounted investments 

2020 
US$M 
Restated

Revenue – 100%
Profit/(loss) from Continuing operations – 100% 
Share of profit/(loss) of equity accounted investments 
Impairment of the carrying value of the investment in Samarco 
Additional share of Samarco losses
Unrecognised losses
Profit/(loss) from equity accounted investments, related impairments 
and expenses
Comprehensive income/(loss) – 100%
Share of comprehensive income/(loss) – Group share in equity 
accounted investments
Dividends received from equity accounted investments 

Associates

Joint ventures

Antamina

Cerrejón

Individually 
immaterial1

1,499
4,885
(1,285)
(1,062)
4,037
1,362
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
1,362
4,822
1,847
623
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

623
1,847

623
714

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
844
(43)
(14)
(466)
 −
 −
 −
 −

(480)
(43)

(480)
13

380

(68)

(68)
10

Samarco2
5093
4,380
(9,222)4
(7,627)
(11,960)
(5,980)
2805
5166
(1,041)7
4,4428
1,7839
 −
814
(2,202)10
(1,076)11
 −
(111)7
85
136
(24)9

(990)
(2,202)

(990)
 −

Individually 
immaterial 

Total

 −

1,742

 −

 −
 −

(915)

(915)
737

Associates

Joint ventures

Antamina

Cerrejón

Individually 
immaterial

Samarco2

Individually 
immaterial 

Total

2,464
629
212
 −
 −
 −

212
629

212
105

1,091
(182)
(68)
 −
 −
 −

(68)
(182)

(68)
9

26
(3,617)10
(1,918)11
(95)7
93
1,4129

(508)
(3,617)

(508)
 −

(144)

(144)
12

 −

 −
 −

(508)

(508)
126

1  The unrecognised share of gain for the period was US$16 million (2021: unrecognised share of loss for the period was US$40 million), which decreased the cumulative 

losses to US$217 million (2021: increase to US$233 million).

2  Refer to note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’ for further information regarding the financial impact of the Samarco dam failure in November 2015 on BHP Brasil’s 

share of Samarco’s losses. 
Includes cash and cash equivalents of US$106 million (2021: US$134 million).
Includes current financial liabilities (excluding trade and other payables and provisions) of US$6,837 million (2021: US$6,567 million).

3 
4 
5  Relates mainly to dividends declared by Samarco that remain unpaid at balance date and which, in accordance with the Group’s accounting policy, are recognised when 

received not receivable.

6  Working capital funding provided to Samarco during the period is capitalised as part of the Group’s investments in joint ventures and disclosed as an impairment included 

7 

within the Samarco impairment expense line item.
In the year ended 30 June 2016 BHP Brasil adjusted its investment in Samarco to US$ nil (resulting from US$(655) million share of loss from Samarco and US$(525) million 
impairment). Additional cumulative impairment losses relating to working capital funding of US$(516) million have also been recognised.

8  BHP Brasil has recognised accumulated additional share of Samarco losses of US$(5,326) million resulting from US$(4,539) million provisions relating to the Samarco dam 

failure, including US$(787) million recognised as net finance costs.

9  Share of Samarco’s losses for which BHP Brasil does not have an obligation to fund.
10  Includes depreciation and amortisation of US$205 million (2021: US$154 million; 2020: US$84 million), interest income of US$19 million (2021: US$1 million; 2020: 

US$16 million), interest expense of US$628 million (2021: US$492 million; 2020: US$588 million) and income tax (expense)/benefit of US$(7) million (2021: US$(303) million; 
2020: US$(256) million).

11  Includes accounting policy adjustments mainly related to the removal of foreign exchange gains on excluded dividends payable.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

181

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review30  Interests in joint operations
Significant joint operations of the Group are those with the most significant contributions to the Group’s net profit or net assets. The Group’s interest in the 
joint operations results are listed in the table below. 

Significant joint operations 
Mt Goldsworthy1
Mt Newman1
Yandi1
Central Queensland Coal Associates
Atlantis2
Bass Strait2
Macedon2
Mad Dog2
North West Shelf2
Pyrenees2
ROD Integrated Development2
Shenzi2
Trinidad/Tobago2

Country of operation

Principal activity

Australia
Australia
Australia
Australia 
US
Australia
Australia
US
Australia
Australia
Algeria
US
Trinidad and Tobago

Iron ore mining
Iron ore mining
Iron ore mining 
Coal mining 
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production
Hydrocarbons production

Group’s interest

2022  
%

2021  
%

85
85
85
50
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

85
85
85
50
44
50
71.43
23.9
12.5–16.67
40–71.43
28.85
72
45–68.46

1  These contractual arrangements are controlled by the Group and do not meet the definition of joint operations. However, as they are formed by contractual arrangement and 

are not entities, the Group recognises its share of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses arising from these arrangements.

2  These joint operations formed part of the Group’s oil and gas portfolio that merged with Woodside on 1 June 2022. Refer to note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’ for details.

Assets held in joint operations subject to significant restrictions are as follows:

Current assets
Non-current assets
Total assets1

Group’s share

2022  
US$M

1,928
26,256
28,184

2021  
US$M

2,260
38,725
40,985

1  While the Group is unrestricted in its ability to sell a share of its interest in these joint operations, it does not have the right to sell individual assets that are used in these joint 

operations without the unanimous consent of the other participants. The assets in these joint operations are also restricted to the extent that they are only available to be used 
by the joint operation itself and not by other operations of the Group. 

31  Related party transactions
The Group’s related parties are predominantly subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, and key management personnel of the Group. 
Disclosures relating to key management personnel are set out in note 24 ‘Key management personnel’. Transactions between each parent company and 
its subsidiaries are eliminated on consolidation and are not disclosed in this note.

–  All transactions to/from related parties are made at arm’s length, i.e. at normal market prices and rates and on normal commercial terms.

–  Outstanding balances at year-end are unsecured and settlement occurs in cash. Loan amounts owing from related parties represent secured loans 

made to associates and joint ventures under co-funding arrangements. Such loans are made on an arm’s length basis. 

–  No guarantees are provided or received for any related party receivables or payables. 

–  No provision for expected credit losses has been recognised in relation to any outstanding balances and no expense has been recognised in respect of 

expected credit losses due from related parties.

–  There were no other related party transactions in the year ended 30 June 2022 (2021: US$ nil), other than those with post-employment benefit plans 
for the benefit of Group employees. These are shown in note 26 ‘Employee benefits, restructuring and post-retirement employee benefits provisions’.

–  Related party transactions with Samarco are described in note 4 ‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’.

Further disclosures related to related party transactions are as follows:

Transactions with related parties

Sales of goods/services 
Purchases of goods/services 
Interest income
Interest expense
Dividends received
Net loans made to/(repayments from) related parties

Outstanding balances with related parties

Trade amounts owing to related parties 
Loan amounts owing to related parties
Trade amounts owing from related parties
Loan amounts owing from related parties

182

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Joint ventures

Associates

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
 −
 −
 −
 −
 −

2022  
US$M

 −
1,852.132
0.398
0.005
787.208
(23.554)

2021  
US$M

 −
1,564.073
2.241
 −
737.250
(12.108)

Joint ventures

Associates

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

 −
 −
 −
 −

 −
 −
 −
 −

2022  
US$M

351.607
 −
6.855
 −

2021  
US$M

316.269
17.097
0.004
40.651

Unrecognised items and uncertain events

32  Contingent liabilities

Associates and joint ventures1 
Subsidiaries and joint operations1
Total

2022  
US$M

1,541
925
2,466

2021  
US$M

1,532
1,615
3,147

1   There are a number of matters, for which it is not possible at this time to provide a range of possible outcomes or a reliable estimate of potential future exposures, and for 

which no amounts have been included in the table above.

A contingent liability is a possible obligation arising from past events and whose existence will be confirmed only by occurrence or non-occurrence of one 
or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the Group. A contingent liability may also be a present obligation arising from past events 
but is not recognised on the basis that an outflow of economic resources to settle the obligation is not viewed as probable, or the amount of the obligation 
cannot be reliably measured. 

When the Group has a present obligation, an outflow of economic resources is assessed as probable and the Group can reliably measure the obligation, 
a provision is recognised.

The Group has entered into various counter-indemnities of bank and performance guarantees related to its own future performance, which are in the 
normal course of business. The likelihood of these guarantees being called upon is considered remote.

The Group presently has tax matters, litigation and other claims, for which the timing of resolution and potential economic outflow are uncertain. 
Obligations assessed as having probable future economic outflows capable of reliable measurement are provided at reporting date and matters 
assessed as having possible future economic outflows capable of reliable measurement are included in the total amount of contingent liabilities above. 
Individually significant matters, including narrative on potential future exposures incapable of reliable measurement, are disclosed below, to the extent that 
disclosure does not prejudice the Group.

Uncertain tax and 
royalty matters

Samarco 
contingent liabilities

Divestments 
and demergers

The Group is subject to a range of taxes and royalties across many jurisdictions, the application of which is uncertain 
in some regards. Changes in tax law, changes in interpretation of tax law, periodic challenges and disagreements with 
tax authorities, and legal proceedings result in uncertainty of the outcome of the application of taxes and royalties to the 
Group’s business. Areas of uncertainty at reporting date include the application of taxes and royalties to the Group’s  
cross-border operations and transactions.

To the extent uncertain tax and royalty matters give rise to a contingent liability, an estimate of the potential liability  
is included within the table above, where it is capable of reliable measurement.
The table above includes contingent liabilities related to the Group’s equity accounted investment in Samarco to the extent 
they are capable of reliable measurement. Details of contingent liabilities related to Samarco are disclosed in note 4 
‘Significant events – Samarco dam failure’.
Where the Group divests or demerges entities, it is generally agreed to provide certain indemnities to the acquiring or 
demerged entity. Such indemnities include those provided as part of the demerger of South 32 Ltd in May 2015, divestment 
of Group’s Onshore US assets in September 2018 and October 2018 divestment of BMC in May 2022 and the merger 
of the Group’s Petroleum business with Woodside in June 2022. No material claims have been made pursuant to these 
indemnities as at 30 June 2022.

33  Subsequent events
Other than the matters outlined elsewhere in the Financial Statements, no matters or circumstances have arisen since the end of the financial 
year that have significantly affected, or may significantly affect, the operations, results of operations or state of affairs of the Group in subsequent 
accounting periods. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

183

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
Other items

34  Auditor’s remuneration

Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for assurance services 
Audit of the Group’s Annual Report
Audit of the accounts of subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates
Audit-related assurance services required by legislation to be provided by the auditor
Other assurance and agreed-upon procedures under legislation or contractual arrangements
Total assurance services
Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for non-assurance services
Other services
Total other services
Total fees

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

2020  
US$M

9.816
0.605
1.933
7.938
20.292

 −
 −
20.292

10.642
1.234
1.770
1.867
15.513

 −
 −
15.513

11.196
1.262
1.815
2.003
16.276

0.400
0.400
16.676

All amounts were paid to EY or EY affiliated firms with fees determined, and predominantly billed, in US dollars.

Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for assurance services 

Audit of the Group’s Annual Report comprises fees for auditing the statutory financial report of the Group and includes audit work in relation to compliance 
with section 404 of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Audit-related assurance services required by legislation to be provided by the auditors mainly comprises review of half-year reports.

Other assurance services comprise assurance in respect of the Group’s sustainability reporting and economic contribution report, in addition to the 
audits of the financial reports prepared in connection with the merger of BHP’s oil and gas portfolio with Woodside and the unification of BHP’s dual listed 
corporate structure.

Fees payable to the Group’s auditors for other services 

No amounts were payable for other services in FY2022 or FY2021. Amounts for other services in FY2020 comprised tax compliance services 
(US$0.269 million) and tax advisory services (US$0.131 million).

35  BHP Group Limited
BHP Group Limited does not present unconsolidated parent company Financial Statements. Selected financial information of the BHP Group Limited 
parent company is as follows:

Income statement information for the financial year 
Profit after taxation for the year
Total comprehensive income
Balance sheet information as at the end of the financial year
Current assets
Total assets
Current liabilities
Total liabilities
Share capital1
Treasury shares
Reserves
Retained earnings
Total equity

2022  
US$M

22,871
22,868

4,778
43,565
3,176
3,517
4,350
(31)
168
35,561
40,048

2021  
US$M

3,106
3,108

7,126
49,957
2,819
3,097
823
(32)
236
45,833
46,860

1  The increase from FY2021 mainly relates to the Group’s unification transaction completed during the current period. Refer to note 16 ‘Share capital’.

Parent company guarantees

BHP Group Limited has guaranteed certain financing arrangements available to subsidiaries of US$6,980 million at 30 June 2022 (2021: 
US$7,879 million).

The Deed Poll Guarantee where BHP Group Limited had guaranteed certain current and future liabilities of BHP Group (UK) Ltd (formerly BHP Group 
Plc) was terminated during the year (guaranteed liabilities at 30 June 2021: US$10 million).

BHP Group Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary BHP Group (UK) Ltd have severally, fully and unconditionally guaranteed the payment of the principal 
and premium, if any, and interest, including certain additional amounts that may be payable in respect of the notes issued by 100 per cent owned finance 
subsidiary, BHP Billiton Finance (USA) Ltd. BHP Group Limited and BHP Group (UK) Ltd have guaranteed the payment of such amounts when they 
become due and payable, whether on an interest payment date, at the stated maturity of the notes, by declaration or acceleration, call for redemption or 
otherwise. The guaranteed liabilities at 30 June 2022 amounted to US$4,234 million (2021: US$5,466 million). In addition, BHP Group Limited and BHP 
Group (UK) Ltd have severally guaranteed a Group Revolving Credit Facility of US$5,500 million (2021: US$5,500 million), which remains undrawn.

184

BHP

Annual Report 2022

36  Deed of Cross Guarantee
BHP Group Limited together with certain wholly owned subsidiaries set out below have entered into a Deed of Cross Guarantee (Deed) dated 6 June 
2016 or have subsequently joined the deed by way of an Assumption Deed. The effect of the Deed is that BHP Group Limited has guaranteed to pay any 
outstanding liabilities upon the winding up of any wholly owned subsidiary that is party to the Deed. Wholly owned subsidiaries that are party to the Deed 
have also given a similar guarantee in the event that BHP Group Limited or another party to the Deed is wound up. 

The wholly owned subsidiaries that are identified below are relieved from the requirements to prepare and lodge audited financial statements. 

The following companies are parties to the Deed and members of the Closed Group as at 30 June 2022:

BHP (Towage Services) Pty Ltd1
BHP Direct Reduced Iron Pty Limited 
BHP Iron Ore Pty Ltd1
BHP Minerals Pty Ltd1
BHP WAIO Pty Ltd1
Pilbara Gas Pty Limited 
BHP Coal Pty Ltd1 
BHP MetCoal Holdings Pty Ltd1 
Broadmeadow Mine Services Pty Ltd 
Central Queensland Services Pty Ltd 
Hay Point Services Pty Limited 
BHP Yakabindie Nickel Pty Ltd1,2 

OS ACPM Pty Ltd1 
OS MCAP Pty Ltd
UMAL Consolidated Pty Ltd1
BHP Freight Pty Ltd 
BHP Group Operations Pty Ltd1
BHP Innovation Pty Ltd 
BHP Lonsdale Investments Pty Ltd 
BHP Minerals Holdings Proprietary Limited1
BHP Nickel West Pty Ltd1
BHP Olympic Dam Corporation Pty Ltd1
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Pty Ltd1

1  These companies are parties to the Deed and are relieved from the Corporations Act 2001 requirements for preparation, audit and lodgement of financial reports and 

Directors’ reports.

2  The company is eligible for relief from the Corporations Act 2001 requirements for preparation, audit and lodgement of financial reports and Directors’ reports as at 30 June 

2022 and was not eligible for relief as at 30 June 2021.

3  Dampier Coal (Queensland) Proprietary Limited was removed from the Deed on 10 May 2022, as it is no longer wholly owned by BHP Group Limited following the completion 

of the Group’s divestment of BMC.

A Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Retained Earnings and Consolidated Balance Sheet, comprising BHP Group Limited and the 
wholly owned subsidiaries that are party to the Deed for the years ended 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2021 are as follows:

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Retained Earnings

Revenue
Other income
Expenses excluding net finance costs
Net finance costs
Total taxation expense
Profit after taxation 
Total other comprehensive income
Total comprehensive income

Retained earnings at the beginning of the financial year
Net effect on retained earnings of entities added to/removed from the Deed
Profit after taxation for the year
Transfers to and from reserves
Dividends 
Retained earnings at the end of the financial year

2022  
US$M

38,159
6,077
(15,293)
(172)
(5,651)
23,120
(3)
23,117

50,277
(62)
23,120
(84)
(33,055)
40,196

2021  
US$M

37,568
4,751
(26,789)
(247)
(5,495)
9,788
1
9,789

48,666
 −
9,788
(52)
(8,125)
50,277

BHP

Annual Report 2022

185

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review36  Deed of Cross Guarantee continued

Consolidated Balance Sheet

ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables
Loans to related parties
Other financial assets
Inventories
Other 
Total current assets
Non-current assets
Trade and other receivables
Other financial assets
Inventories
Property, plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Investments in Group companies 
Other
Total non-current assets
Total assets
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Loans from related parties
Interest bearing liabilities
Other financial liabilities
Current tax payable
Provisions 
Deferred income
Total current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Loans from related parties
Interest bearing liabilities
Deferred tax liabilities
Provisions
Deferred income
Total non-current liabilities
Total liabilities
Net assets
EQUITY
Share capital – BHP Group Limited
Treasury shares
Reserves
Retained earnings
Total equity 

2022  
US$M

2021  
US$M

13
1,527
8,697
284
2,582
75
13,178

43
234
456
36,199
1,120
26,800
 −
64,852
78,030

3,919
9,966
213
26
1,783
1,611
8
17,526

 −
10,014
586
874
3,896
5
15,375
32,901
45,129

4,638
(31)
326
40,196
45,129

2
1,906
7,158
 −
2,101
96
11,263

60
 −
491
35,457
1,143
31,838
20
69,009
80,272

3,898
4,828
283
 −
1,777
1,459
8
12,253

4
11,472
690
998
3,236
8
16,408
28,661
51,611

1,111
(32)
255
50,277
51,611

37  New and amended accounting standards and interpretations and changes to accounting policies

New and amended accounting pronouncements adopted in the current year

The adoption of new and amended accounting pronouncements applicable from 1 July 2021 did not result in a significant impact on the Group’s Financial 
Statements. This includes the Interest Rate Benchmark (IBOR) Reform – Phase 2 (Amendments to IFRS 9/AASB 9 ‘Financial Instruments’, IAS 39/
AASB139 ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement’; IFRS 7/AASB 7 ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosures’; IFRS 4/AASB 4 ‘Insurance 
Contracts’ and IFRS 16/AASB 16 ‘Leases’) early adopted in the prior year.

New and amended accounting pronouncements on issue but not yet effective

From 1 July 2022, the Group will adopt an amendment to IAS 16/AASB 116 ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ that requires an entity to recognise the sales 
proceeds from selling items produced while preparing property, plant and equipment for its intended use, and the related cost, in profit or loss, instead of 
deducting the amounts received from the cost of the asset.

The amendment is applied retrospectively, but only to items of property, plant and equipment that became ready for its intended use on or after 
1 July 2020. 

The impact of the amendment on the Group is not expected to be significant and the Group has not identified any material amounts deducted from the 
cost of assets since 1 July 2020. 

A number of other accounting standards and interpretations have been issued and will be applicable in future periods. While these remain subject to 
ongoing assessment, no significant impacts have been identified to date. 

These pronouncements have not been applied in the preparation of these Financial Statements.

186

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2  Directors’ declaration

In accordance with a resolution of the Directors of BHP Group Limited, the Directors declare that:

(a) in the Directors’ opinion the Financial Statements and notes are in accordance with the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), including:

(i)  complying with the applicable Accounting Standards and the Australian Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth); and

(ii)   giving a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of BHP Group Limited and the Group as at 30 June 2022 and 

of their performance for the year ended 30 June 2022

(b)  the Financial Statements also comply with International Financial Reporting Standards, as disclosed in the Basis of preparation to the 

Financial Statements

(c)  to the best of the Directors’ knowledge, the management report (comprising the Operating and Financial Review and Directors’ Report) includes a fair 
review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as 
a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that the Group faces 

(d)  in the Directors’ opinion there are reasonable grounds to believe that BHP Group Limited will be able to pay its debts as and when they become due 

and payable

(e)  as at the date of this declaration, there are reasonable grounds to believe that BHP Group Limited and each of the Closed Group entities identified 
in note 36 to the Financial Statements will be able to meet any liabilities to which they are, or may become, subject because of the Deed of Cross 
Guarantee between BHP Group Limited and those group entities pursuant to ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785

(f)   the Directors have been given the declarations required by Section 295A of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) from the Chief Executive 

Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the financial year ended 30 June 2022

Signed in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors.

Ken MacKenzie 
Chair

Mike Henry 
Chief Executive Officer

16 August 2022

BHP

Annual Report 2022

187

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial Review 
 
 
3  Lead Auditor’s Independence Declaration under Section 307C of the 
Australian Corporations Act 2001

Auditor’s independence declaration to the directors of BHP Group Limited 
As lead auditor for the audit of the financial report of BHP Group Limited for the financial year ended 30 June 2022, I declare to the best of my 
knowledge and belief, there have been:

(a) no contraventions of the auditor independence requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 in relation to the audit; 

(b) no contraventions of any applicable code of professional conduct in relation to the audit; and

(c) no non-audit services provided that contravene any applicable code of professional conduct in relation to the audit.

This declaration is in respect of BHP Group Limited and the entities it controlled during the financial year.

Ernst & Young

Rodney Piltz 
Partner 
Melbourne 

16 August 2022

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

188

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4  Independent auditor’s report to the members  
of BHP Group Limited

Report on the audit of the financial report

Opinion

We have audited the financial report of BHP Group Limited (the Company) and its subsidiaries (collectively the Group), which comprises the 
consolidated balance sheet as at 30 June 2022, the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated 
statement of changes in equity and consolidated cash flow statement for the year then ended, notes to the financial statements, including a summary 
of significant accounting policies, and the directors’ declaration.

In our opinion, the accompanying financial report of the Group is in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001, including:

a.   Giving a true and fair view of the consolidated financial position of the Group as at 30 June 2022 and of its consolidated financial performance 

for the year ended on that date; and

b.   Complying with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Australian 

Accounting Standards and the Corporations Regulations 2001. 

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the 
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial report section of our report. We are independent of the Group in accordance with the auditor 
independence requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 and the ethical requirements of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board’s 
APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) (the Code) that are relevant to our audit of the financial 
report in Australia. We have also fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Code. 

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Our consideration of climate change related risks 

The Group continues to develop its assessment of the potential impacts of climate change, including considering divergent climate scenarios across 
a range of temperature outcomes, with two scenarios; the Central Energy View and the Lower Carbon View, currently being used as inputs to the 
Group’s operational planning cases as explained in the Climate change section within the financial report. 

The financial impacts of climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy (climate change) on the Group were considered in our audit 
where they have the potential to materially impact the basis of preparation, including the key judgements and estimates exercised by the Group 
in the preparation of the financial report, particularly in relation to the assessment of the carrying value of property, plant and equipment and the 
determination of closure and rehabilitation provisions. 

The key judgements and estimates disclosed in the financial report, incorporate assumptions that are directly and/or indirectly impacted by climate 
change, including Board approved climate related commitments and strategies, to the extent they can be reliably estimated, in accordance with 
International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the IASB and Australian Accounting Standards.

The key audit matters section of this report address how we have assessed the Group’s climate related assumptions to the extent they impact each 
key audit matter. 

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial report of the current 
year. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial report as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, but we do 
not provide a separate opinion on these matters. For each matter below, our description of how our audit addressed the matter is provided in 
that context.

We have fulfilled the responsibilities described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial report section of our report, including 
in relation to these matters. Accordingly, our audit included the performance of procedures designed to respond to our assessment of the risks of 
material misstatement of the financial report. The results of our audit procedures, including the procedures performed to address the matters below, 
provide the basis for our audit opinion on the accompanying financial report.

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

BHP

Annual Report 2022

189

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewAssessment of the carrying value of property, plant and equipment 

Why significant
Refer to Note 3 ‘Exceptional items’, Note 11 ‘Property, plant and 
equipment’ and Note 13 ‘Impairment of non-current assets’.

How our audit addressed the key audit matter
The primary audit procedures we performed, amongst others, included 
the following:

Accounting standards require an assessment of indicators of 
impairment and impairment reversal annually, or more frequently if 
indicators of impairment exist, for each cash generating unit (CGU).

–  We evaluated the design of, and tested the operating effectiveness 

of, the internal controls over the Group’s processes of assessment for 
indicators of impairment and impairment reversal.

–  We performed an analysis for indicators of impairment and impairment 
reversal, which included considering the performance of the assets 
and external market conditions. Our procedures involved assessing the 
key inputs such as commodity price forecasts, discount rates, reserve 
estimation, operating expenditure and asset performance.

–  We considered the impact of geo-political events and conflicts, 

regulatory and legislative changes, macro-economic disruptions and 
the COVID-19 pandemic as part of our evaluation of indicators of 
impairment and impairment reversal.

–  We assessed commodity price forecasts assumed by the Group against 

comparable market data.

–  We involved our valuation specialists to assist in evaluating, amongst 
other things, the discount rates applied and commodity price forecasts.

The Group uses internal and external experts to provide geological, 
metallurgical, mine planning, commodity price forecasts and technological 
information to support key assumptions in the assessment of indicators of 
impairment or impairment reversal.

With assistance from our mining reserves specialists, we examined the 
information provided by the Group’s experts, including assessment of 
the reserve estimation methodology against the relevant industry and 
regulatory guidance. We also assessed the qualifications, competence 
and objectivity of the internal and external experts.

With the assistance of our climate change and valuation specialists we 
have evaluated how climate related considerations and judgements 
such as those reflected through commodity price forecasts, carbon 
price assumptions and the incorporation of climate related strategies 
and commitments into the forecast cashflows have been reflected in 
the consideration of asset carrying values, including the assessment of 
indicators of impairment and indicators of impairment reversal.

We assessed the adequacy of the disclosures included in Notes 11 and 
13 of the financial report.

The Group’s assessment of indicators of impairment and impairment 
reversal included an evaluation of geo-political events and conflicts, 
regulatory and legislative changes, macro-economic disruptions, 
commodity price forecasts, reserves, operating expenditure, asset 
performance and ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the year, the Group determined that no indicators of impairment 
or impairment reversal existed for the Group’s CGUs, with the 
exception of Cerro Colorado. The Group recorded an impairment 
expense of US$515 million primarily in relation to Cerro Colorado as 
outlined in Note 13.

The assessment of the indicators of impairment and impairment 
reversal for CGUs was considered to be a key audit matter as it 
involved significant judgement. Assessing the existence of indicators 
of impairment or impairment reversal for a CGU is complex and 
subjective due to the use of forward-looking estimates, which are 
inherently difficult to determine with precision. There is also a level 
of judgement applied by the Group in determining the key inputs into 
these forward-looking estimates.

The key estimates in the Group’s determination of indicators of 
impairment or impairment reversal, which influence whether or not 
an estimate of the recoverable amount of a CGU is required were 
as follows:

–  Commodity prices: assumptions in relation to commodity price 

forecasts are inherently uncertain. There is a risk that the 
assumptions are not reasonable and may not appropriately 
reflect changes in supply and demand, including the impact of 
climate change.

–  Reserves: assessing the estimation of reserves is complex as there 
is significant estimation uncertainty in assessing the quantities of 
reserves, and the amount that will be economically recovered based 
on future production estimates over the asset life.

–  Discount rates: given the long life of the Group’s assets, CGU 

recoverable amounts are sensitive to the discount rate applied. 
Determining the appropriate discount rate to apply to a CGU 
is judgemental.

The Group has continued to advance its evaluation of the potential 
financial impacts of climate change incorporated into the assessment 
of indicators of impairment and impairment reversal, the results of 
which are disclosed in the Climate change section and Note 13 of the 
financial report. 

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

190

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Closure and rehabilitation provisions

Why significant
Refer to Note 15 ‘Closure and rehabilitation provisions’. 

The Group has closure and rehabilitation obligations to restore and 
rehabilitate environmental disturbances created by its operations and 
related sites.

These obligations arise from regulatory and legislative requirements 
across multiple jurisdictions. 

The key inputs used to determine the closure and rehabilitation 
provisions are:

–  Life of the operation or site;

How our audit addressed the key audit matter
The primary audit procedures we performed, amongst others, included 
the following:

–  We evaluated the design of, and tested the operating effectiveness 
of, internal controls related to the Group’s closure and rehabilitation 
provision estimates. 

–  We evaluated the Group’s legal and regulatory obligations for closure 
and rehabilitation, life of operation, future rehabilitation costs, discount 
rates and timing of future cashflows.

–  We tested that the future rehabilitation costs were consistent with the 

closure plans prepared by the Group’s internal experts.

–  Estimated cost of future closure and rehabilitation activities;

–  We tested the mathematical accuracy of the closure and rehabilitation 

–  Timing of the closure and rehabilitation activities;

provision calculations.

–  Discount rates; and

–  Current regulatory and legislative requirements.

As a result of these inputs and the evaluation of climate related 
risks and strategies, closure and rehabilitation provisions have a 
high degree of estimation uncertainty with a wide potential range of 
reasonable outcomes.

Closure and rehabilitation provisions were considered to be a 
key audit matter as the estimation of these provisions is complex, 
involves a high degree of judgement and often requires specialist 
expertise to estimate the costs required to satisfy closure and 
rehabilitation obligations.

The Group has continued to advance its evaluation of the potential 
financial impacts of climate change and incorporated the related 
estimates, to the extent they can be reliably measured, in the 
determination of the closure and rehabilitation provisions, the results of 
which are disclosed in Notes 1 and 15 of the financial report. 

–  With the assistance of our rehabilitation subject matter specialists, 
we evaluated a sample of closure and rehabilitation provisions for 
operating and closed asset sites within the Group, including:

–  Evaluation of the closure and rehabilitation plans with regard to 

applicable regulatory and legislative requirements;

–  Evaluation of the methodology used by the Group’s internal mine 

closure engineers against industry practice and our understanding of 
the business; and

–  Assessment of the reasonableness of the timing of cash flows 

and cost estimates against the closure and rehabilitation plan and 
industry practice.

–  The Group has used internal and external experts to support the 

estimation of the mine closure and rehabilitation provisions. With the 
assistance of our rehabilitation subject matter specialists, we assessed 
the qualifications, competence and objectivity of the internal and 
external experts and that the information provided by the Group’s 
internal and external experts has been appropriately reflected in the 
calculation of the closure and rehabilitation provisions.

–  We assessed the discount rates adopted to calculate the closure 

and rehabilitation provisions, including benchmarking to comparable 
market data.

–  With the assistance of our climate change and other subject matter 

specialists, we evaluated how the Group’s response to climate change 
had been considered in the determination of closure and rehabilitation 
provision estimates, such as physical risks created by changes to long-
term weather outlooks, estimates related to post closure monitoring 
and maintenance and the timing of closure activities impacted by mine 
operating lives.

–  We assessed the adequacy of the disclosures included in Note 15 of 

the financial report.

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

BHP

Annual Report 2022

191

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewSamarco dam failure provisions recognised, including the Germano dam decommissioning, and contingent liabilities disclosures

Why significant
Refer to Note 3 ‘Exceptional items’, Note 4 ‘Significant events – 
Samarco dam failure’ and Note 32 ‘Contingent liabilities’. 

How our audit addressed the key audit matter
The primary audit procedures we performed, amongst others, included 
the following:

There were a number of significant judgements and disclosures made 
by the Group in relation to the Samarco dam failure and the Germano 
dam decommissioning, including:

–  We assessed the design of, and tested the operating effectiveness 

of, the internal controls over the Samarco dam failure accounting and 
disclosure process. This included testing controls over: 

–  Determining the extent of the Group’s and BHP Billiton Brasil 

–  The determination of the provision for the remediation of the 

Ltda’s legal obligation to continue to fund the costs associated 
with the Samarco dam failure, and the quantification of the 
continued obligation required by the Governance Agreement and 
Framework Agreement; 

Samarco dam failure, including significant assumptions such as the 
cost estimate to remediate, the nature and extent of remediation 
activities and compensation for the impacted peoples; and

–  The Group’s assessment of the legal claims and determination of the 

–  Determining the costs of the decommissioning of the Germano 

associated provision and related contingent liability disclosures. 

dam complex; 

–  Determining the status, accounting treatment and quantification 
(if applicable) of the legal claims against BHP Group Limited, 
BHP Group (UK) Ltd, BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda and Samarco;

–  Determining the status of any potential settlements; and

–  Disclosures relating to the contingent liabilities from the various 

legal claims and other circumstances that represent exposures to 
the Group. 

We identified the Samarco dam failure provisions recognised, and 
contingent liabilities disclosures, as a key audit matter as auditing 
these estimates is complex. There is a high degree of estimation 
uncertainty, together with a wide range of reasonable outcomes. 
Significant judgement was required in relation to assessing the 
completeness and measurement of the estimated cash outflows 
related to the provisions and contingent liabilities, including the 
probability of the outflows. This is due to:

–  The significant size of the potential claims, combined with the multi-

jurisdictional legal and regulatory locations;

–  High degree of judgement and estimation around certain key 

assumptions in the provision, including:

–  Cost estimates of remediation and compensation requirements 

for the Samarco dam failure;

–  The number and compensation category of impacted people 

entitled to compensation; and

–  Nature and extent of remediation activities.

–  We assessed the key assumptions used to determine the provision 

recorded by the Group in relation to potential obligations by: 

–  Understanding the impact of any court decisions on the number and 

compensation category of impacted peoples;

–  Understanding the impact of any Brazilian court decisions on the 
infrastructure remediation program relating to the resettling of 
communities impacted by the dam failure;

–  Inquiring with the Group’s subject matter experts for the various 

remediation programs regarding the cost estimate to remediate the 
environment, residents’ wellbeing and infrastructure damaged by the 
dam failure; 

–  Evaluating the qualifications, competence and objectivity of the 
Group’s subject matter experts, and the independent external 
party that contribute to the determination of the cash flow 
estimates by considering their qualifications, scope of work and 
remuneration structure;

–  Comparing the nature and extent of remediation activities described 
in the Framework Agreement to the activities included in the cash 
flow forecasts;

–  Selecting a sample of cost estimates included in the provision and 
considering the underlying supporting documentation, such as 
court decisions;

–  Assessing the period in which a provision change was recorded by 
understanding when the event that caused the change occurred;

–  Assessing the Germano dam decommissioning provision, with the 
assistance of our rehabilitation subject matter specialists, as part 
of our audit procedures reported in the Closure and Rehabilitation 
Provisions key audit matter above;

–  Determining whether or not it is possible to provide a range 

of outcomes or a reliable estimate of any potential settlement 
outcomes; and

–  Evaluating the historical accuracy of prior year’s forecasted cash 
flows with respect to the Group’s current year actual cash flows.

–  We read the claims and assessed their status and considered whether 

they now represented liabilities through:

–  Inquiries with the Group’s external and internal legal advisors, 

senior management, Group finance, and members of the Executive 
Leadership Team, with respect to the ongoing proceedings;

–  Inspection of correspondence with external legal advisors; and

–  Independent confirmation letters received from external 

legal advisors.

–  We assessed the disclosures regarding the environmental and 

legal contingent liabilities as included in Note 32, and the relevant 
disclosures regarding the significant events relating to Samarco dam 
failure as included in Note 4 against the disclosure requirements of the 
relevant accounting standards.

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

192

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Information other than the financial report and 
auditor’s report thereon
The directors are responsible for the other information. The other 
information comprises the information included in the Company’s 
2022 annual report other than the financial report and our auditor’s 
report thereon. 

Our opinion on the financial report does not cover the other information 
and we do not and will not express any form of assurance conclusion 
thereon, with the exception of the Remuneration Report and our related 
assurance opinion. 

In connection with our audit of the financial report, our responsibility 
is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the 
other information is materially inconsistent with the financial report, 
or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be 
materially misstated. 

If, based on the work we have performed on the other information 
obtained prior to the date of this auditor’s report, we conclude that there 
is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to 
report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Responsibilities of the directors for the 
financial report
The directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of 
the financial report that gives a true and fair view in accordance with 
International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the IASB, 
Australian Accounting Standards and the Corporations Act 2001 and for 
such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable 
the preparation of the financial report that gives a true and fair view and 
is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial report, the directors are responsible for 
assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, 
as applicable, matters relating to going concern and using the going 
concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to 
liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or have no realistic 
alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the 
financial report
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the 
financial report as a whole is free from material misstatement, whether 
due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our 
opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not 
a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with the Australian 
Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it 
exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered 
material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be 
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the 
basis of this financial report.

As part of an audit in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards, 
we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional 
scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

–  Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial 

report, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit 
procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence 
that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 
The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from 
fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve 
collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations or the 
override of internal control.

–  Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit 
in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the 
circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on 
the effectiveness of the Group’s internal control. 

–  Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the 
reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures 
made by the directors.

–  Conclude on the appropriateness of the directors’ use of the going 
concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence 
obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events 
or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability 
to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material 
uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s 
report to the related disclosures in the financial report or, if such 
disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions 
are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our 
auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the 
Group to cease to continue as a going concern. 

–  Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the 

financial report, including the disclosures, and whether the financial 
report represents the underlying transactions and events in a manner 
that achieves fair presentation.

–  Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial 
information of the entities or business activities within the Group to 
express an opinion on the financial report. We are responsible for the 
direction, supervision and performance of the Group audit. We remain 
solely responsible for our audit opinion.

We communicate with the directors regarding, among other matters, 
the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, 
including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify 
during our audit.

We also provide the directors with a statement that we have complied 
with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to 
communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may 
reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where 
applicable, actions taken to eliminate threats or safeguards applied.

From the matters communicated to the directors, we determine those 
matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial report of 
the current year and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these 
matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public 
disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we 
determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because 
the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to 
outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication. 

Report on the audit of the Remuneration Report

Opinion on the Remuneration Report

We have audited the Remuneration Report included in the Directors’ 
Report for the year ended 30 June 2022.

In our opinion, the Remuneration Report of BHP Group Limited for 
the year ended 30 June 2022, complies with section 300A of the 
Corporations Act 2001.

Responsibilities

The directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation and 
presentation of the Remuneration Report in accordance with section 
300A of the Corporations Act 2001. Our responsibility is to express an 
opinion on the Remuneration Report, based on our audit conducted in 
accordance with Australian Auditing Standards.

Ernst & Young

Rodney Piltz 
Partner 
Melbourne 

16 August 2022

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited 
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

BHP

Annual Report 2022

193

GovernanceAdditional InformationFinancial  StatementsOperating and Financial ReviewAdditional information

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7
8 

Financial information summary
Information on mining operations
Financial information by commodity
Production
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
Major projects
People – performance data
Legal proceedings

195
196
206
208
209
226
226
227

9 
9.1 
9.2
9.3
9.4 
9.5 
9.6 
9.7 
9.8
10

Shareholder information
History and development
Markets
Organisational structure
Constitution
Share ownership
Dividends
American Depositary Receipts fees and charges
Government regulations
Glossary

229
229
229
230
230
231
233
234
234
236

194

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1  Financial information summary
We prepare our Consolidated Financial Statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as issued by the International 
Accounting Standards Board. We publish our Consolidated Financial Statements in US dollars. All Consolidated Income Statement, Consolidated Balance 
Sheet and Consolidated Cash Flow Statement information below has been derived from audited Financial Statements. For more information refer to the 
Financial Statements.

Some information in this section has been presented on a Continuing operations basis to exclude the contribution from Discontinued operations. 

Details of the contribution of Discontinued operations to the Group’s results are disclosed in Financial Statements note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’.

Year ended 30 June  
US$M

Consolidated Income Statement (Financial Statements 1.1)
Revenue1
Profit from operations1
Profit after taxation from Continuing operations1
Profit/(loss) after taxation from Discontinued operations1
Profit after taxation from Continuing and Discontinued operations attributable to 
BHP shareholders (Attributable profit)
Profit after taxation from Continuing operations attributable to BHP shareholders1
Dividends per ordinary share – paid during the period (US cents)
Dividends per ordinary share – determined in respect of the period (US cents)
In specie dividend on merger of Petroleum with Woodside (US cents)
Basic earnings per ordinary share (US cents)2
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (US cents)2
Basic earnings from Continuing operations per ordinary share (US cents)1,2
Diluted earnings from Continuing operations per ordinary share (US cents)1,2
Number of ordinary shares (million)2
– At period end
– Weighted average
– Diluted
Consolidated Balance Sheet (Financial Statements 1.3)3
Total assets
Net assets
Share capital (including share premium)
Total equity attributable to BHP shareholders
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement (Financial Statements 1.4)
Net operating cash flows4
Capital and exploration expenditure5
Other financial information (OFR 11)
Net debt6
Underlying attributable profit6
Underlying attributable profit – Continuing operations1,6
Underlying EBITDA1,6
Underlying EBIT1,6
Underlying basic earnings per share (US cents)6
Underlying basic earnings per share – Continuing operations (US cents)1,6
Underlying return on capital employed (per cent)6

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

65,098
34,106
22,400
10,655

30,900
20,245
350.0
325.0
386.4
610.6
609.3
400.0
399.2

5,062
5,061
5,071

95,166
48,766
4,638
44,957

32,174
7,545

333
23,815
21,319
40,634
34,436
470.6
421.2
48.7

56,921
25,515
13,676
(225)

11,304
11,529
156.0
301.0
 −
223.5
223.0
228.0
227.5

5,058
5,057
5,068

108,927
55,605
2,686
51,264

27,234
7,120

4,121
17,077
16,985
35,073
29,853
337.7
335.9
32.5

38,924
13,683
8,628
108

7,956
7,848
143.0
120.0
 −
157.3
157.0
155.2
154.8

5,058
5,057
5,069

105,733
52,175
2,686
47,865

15,706
7,640

12,044
9,060
8,948
19,870
15,130
179.2
176.9
16.9

38,446
13,629
8,528
657

8,306
7,656
220.0
235.0
 −
160.3
159.9
147.8
147.4

5,058
5,180
5,193

101,811
51,753
2,686
47,169

17,871
7,566

9,446
9,124
8,431
19,093
14,581
176.1
162.8
16.0

37,817
14,437
8,559
(3,736)

3,705
7,467
98.0
118.0
 −
69.6
69.4
140.3
139.9

5,324
5,323
5,337

112,943
60,599
2,761
55,521

18,461
6,753

11,605
8,933
10,393
19,829
15,003
167.8
195.2
14.2

1   Comparative periods have been adjusted for the effects of applying IFRS 5 ‘Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations’ and discloses them on the same 

basis as the current period figures. For more information refer to Financial Statements note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’.

2  For more information on earnings per share refer to Financial Statements note 7 ‘Earnings per share’.
3  The Consolidated Balance Sheet for comparative periods includes the associated assets and liabilities in relation to Petroleum (merger with Woodside in FY2022), BMC and 

Cerrejón (both disposed in FY2022) and Onshore US (disposed in FY2019) as IFRS 5 ‘Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations’ does not require the 
Consolidated Balance Sheet to be restated for comparative periods.

4  Net operating cash flows are after dividends received, net interest paid, proceeds and settlements of cash management related instruments, net taxation paid and includes 

Net operating cash flows from Discontinued operations.

5   Capital and exploration expenditure is presented on a cash basis and represents purchases of property, plant and equipment plus exploration expenditure from the 
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and includes purchases of property, plant and equipment plus exploration expenditure from Discontinued operations. For more 
information refer to Financial Statements note 27 ‘Discontinued operations’. Exploration expenditure is capitalised in accordance with our accounting policies, as set out in 
Financial Statements note 11 ‘Property, plant and equipment’.

6  We use non-IFRS financial information to reflect the underlying performance of the Group. Underlying attributable profit, Underlying basic earnings per share and Underlying 

return on capital employed includes Continuing and Discontinued operations. Refer to OFR 11 for a reconciliation of non-IFRS financial information to their respective 
IFRS measure. Refer to OFR 11.1 for the definition and method of calculation of non-IFRS financial information. Refer to Financial Statements note 20 ‘Net debt’ for the 
composition of Net debt. 

BHP

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GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review2  Information on mining operations

Minerals Australia

Copper mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.1 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

Olympic Dam
Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator
Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Key permit conditions

560 km northwest of Adelaide, South Australia
Public road

Copper cathode trucked to ports

Uranium oxide transported by road to ports

Gold bullion transported by road and plane
BHP 100% 

BHP
Mining lease granted by South Australian Government expires in 2036. Approximately 17,788 hectares

Right of extension for 50 years (subject to remaining mine life)
Production stage

Acquired in 2005 as part of Western Mining Corporation (WMC) acquisition

Copper production began in 1988

Nominal milling capacity raised to 9 Mtpa in 1999 

Optimisation project completed in 2002

New copper solvent extraction plant commissioned in 2004

Major smelter maintenance campaigns completed in 2017 and 2022
Underground 

Large poly-metallic deposit of iron oxide-copper-uranium-gold mineralisation
Electricity transmitted via (i) BHP’s 275 kV power line from Port Augusta and (ii) ElectraNet’s system upstream of Port Augusta

Energy purchased via Retail Agreement
Underground automated train and trucking network feeding crushing, storage and ore hoisting facilities 

2 grinding circuits 

Nominal milling capacity: 10.3 Mtpa 

Flash furnace produces copper anodes, which are then refined to produce copper cathodes 

Electrowon copper cathode and uranium oxide concentrate produced by leaching and solvent extracting flotation tailings

Gold cyanide leach circuit and gold room producing gold bullion
The Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 (Indenture Act) applies to Olympic Dam’s operations. It contains conditions from the 
South Australian Government, including relating to the protection and management of the environment; water; closure and rehabilitation 
considerations; local procurement and community plans/initiatives/project commitments; and payment of royalties. Olympic Dam also 
holds other relevant approvals and tenements granted by the South Australian Government, including under the SA Mining Act. 

Iron Ore mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our iron ore mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.1 and the production 
table and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

WAIO

Pilbara region, Western Australia 

Newman West (Mt Whaleback, Orebodies 29, 30, 31, 32 and 35)

Newman East (Orebodies 24, 25)

Mt Newman joint venture
Means of access

Private road 

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator
Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved
History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Ore transported by Mt Newman JV-owned rail to Port Hedland (427 km)
BHP Minerals 85% 

Mitsui-ITOCHU Iron 10%

ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia 5%
BHP
Mineral lease granted and held under the Iron Ore (Mount Newman) Agreement Act 1964 expires in 2030 with right to successive 
renewals of 21 years each. ML244SA – approximately 78,934 hectares
Production stage

Production began at Mt Whaleback in 1969

Production from Orebodies 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 35 complements production from Mt Whaleback 

Production from Orebodies 31 and 32 started in 2015 and 2017 respectively 

Mining at Orebody 18 ceased in 2020 after depletion 
Open-cut

Bedded ore types classified as per host Archaean or Proterozoic iron formation, which are Brockman and Marra Mamba; also present is 
iron-rich detrital material
Power for all mine operations in the Central and Eastern Pilbara is supplied by BHP’s natural gas-fired Yarnima power station 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Power consumed in port operations is supplied via a contract with Alinta
Newman Hub: primary crusher, ore handling plant, heavy media beneficiation plant, stockyard blending facility, single cell rotary car 
dumper, train load out (nominal capacity 75 Mtpa)

Key permit conditions

Orebody 25 Ore processing plant (nominal capacity 12 Mtpa) ceased operation mid FY2022 
State Agreement contains conditions set by the Western Australian Government, including requirements for future development 
proposals; environmental compliance and reporting obligations; closure and rehabilitation considerations; local procurement and 
community plans/initiatives/investment requirements; payment of rent, taxes and government royalties

Tenements granted by the Western Australian Government under the Mining Act. Key permit conditions include resource reporting, 
environmental compliance and reporting, rehabilitation considerations and offset payments and payment of lease rentals, and royalties

Registered Indigenous Land Use Agreements with conditions, including appropriate native title compensation and opportunity sharing; 
enshrine heritage protections and land access rights; and guarantee certain heritage, environment and consultation processes

196

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Mine & location

WAIO
Yandi joint venture
Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership

Pilbara region, Western Australia

Private road

Ore transported by Mt Newman JV-owned rail to Port Hedland (316 km)

Yandi JV’s railway spur links Yandi hub to Mt Newman JV main line
BHP Minerals 85% 

ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia 8%

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

Mitsui Iron Ore Corporation 7%
BHP
Mining lease granted pursuant to the Iron Ore (Marillana Creek) Agreement Act 1991 expires in 2033 with 1 renewal right to a further 21 
years to 2054

History and stage of 
property

M270SA – approximately 30,344 hectares
Production stage

Production began at the Yandi mine in 1992

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Key permit conditions

Capacity of Yandi hub expanded between 1994 and 2013 

Yandi has commenced production ramp down activity in FY2022 
Open-cut 

Channel Iron Deposits are Cainozoic fluvial sediments
Power for all mine operations in the Central and Eastern Pilbara is supplied by BHP’s natural gas-fired Yarnima power station 

Power consumed in port operations is supplied via a contract with Alinta
4 primary crushers, 3 ore handling plants, stockyard blending facility and 2 train load outs (nominal capacity 80 Mtpa)

Decommissioning has commenced on 2 ore handling plants, as part of planned ramp down activities 
State Agreement contains conditions set by the Western Australian Government, including requirements for future development 
proposals; environmental compliance and reporting obligations; closure and rehabilitation considerations; local procurement and 
community plans/initiatives/investment requirements; payment of rent, taxes and government royalties

Tenements granted by the Western Australian Government under the Mining Act. Key permit conditions include resource reporting, 
environmental compliance and reporting, rehabilitation considerations and offset payments and payment of lease rentals, and royalties

Registered Indigenous Land Use Agreements with conditions, including appropriate native title compensation and opportunity sharing; 
enshrine heritage protections and land access rights; and guarantee certain heritage, environment and consultation processes

Mine & location

WAIO

Pilbara region, Western Australia 

Jimblebar

Bill’s Hill, Eastern Syncline and Mt Helen (jointly called Western Ridge deposits)

Jimblebar operation*
Means of access

Private road 

Type and amount of 
ownership

Jimblebar ore is transported via overland conveyor (12.4 km) and by Mt Newman JV-owned rail to Port Hedland (428 km) 

The Western Ridge deposits are located close to Newman Operations and all production will be trucked and/or transported via overland 
conveyor
BHP Minerals 85% 

ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia 8% 

Mitsui & Co. Iron Ore Exploration & Mining 7%

*Jimblebar is an ‘incorporated’ venture, with the above companies holding A Class Shares with rights to certain parts of mining lease 
266SA held by BHP Iron Ore (Jimblebar) Pty Ltd (BHPIOJ) 

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

BHPIOJ holds 100% of the B Class Shares, which has rights to all other Jimblebar assets 
BHP
Mining lease granted pursuant to the Iron Ore (McCamey’s Monster) Agreement Authorisation Act 1972 expires in 2030 with rights to 
successive renewals of 21 years each

History and stage of 
property

M266SA – approximately 51,756 hectares
Production stage

Production began in March 1989

From 2004, production was transferred to Wheelarra JV as part of the Wheelarra sublease agreement 

This sublease agreement expired in March 2018

Ore was first produced from the newly commissioned Jimblebar hub in late 2013 

Jimblebar sells ore to the Newman JV proximate to the Jimblebar hub 

Production at Western Ridge commenced in FY2022 
Open-cut 

Bedded ore types classified as per host Archaean or Proterozoic banded iron formation, which are Brockman and Marra Mamba; also 
present is iron-rich detrital material
Power for all mine operations in the Central and Eastern Pilbara is supplied by BHP’s natural gas-fired Yarnima power station 

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Power consumed in port operations is supplied via a contract with Alinta
3 primary crushers, ore handling plant, train loadout, stockyard blending facility and supporting mining hub infrastructure (nominal 
capacity 71 Mtpa)

Key permit conditions

Production from the Western Ridge deposits will be processed through existing processing facility for Newman Operations
State Agreement contains conditions set by the Western Australian Government, including requirements for future development 
proposals; environmental compliance and reporting obligations; closure and rehabilitation considerations; local procurement and 
community plans/initiatives/investment requirements; payment of rent, taxes and government royalties

Tenements granted by the Western Australian Government under the Mining Act. Key permit conditions include resource reporting, 
environmental compliance and reporting, rehabilitation considerations and offset payments and payment of lease rentals, and royalties

Registered Indigenous Land Use Agreement with conditions, including appropriate native title compensation and opportunity sharing; 
enshrine heritage protections and land access rights; and guarantee certain heritage, environment and consultation processes

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Mine & location

WAIO

Pilbara region, Western Australia 

Yarrie 

Nimingarra

Mining Area C (includes South Flank)

Mt Goldsworthy joint venture
Means of access

Private road 

Yarrie and Nimingarra iron ore transported by Mt Goldsworthy JV-owned rail to Port Hedland (218 km)

Mining Area C iron ore transported by Mt Newman JV-owned rail to Port Hedland (360 km)

South Flank iron ore transported by overland conveyors (8–16 km) to the Mining Area C processing hub 

Mt Goldsworthy JV railway spur links Mining Area C and South Flank to Yandi railway spur
BHP Minerals 85% 

Mitsui Iron Ore Corporation 7%

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia 8%
BHP
1 mineral lease and 1 mining lease both granted pursuant to the Iron Ore (Goldsworthy – Nimingarra) Agreement Act 1972, expire 
2035, with rights to successive renewals of 21 years each. ML251SA and M263SA – approximately 15,623 hectares

A number of smaller mining leases granted under the Mining Act 1978 expire in 2026 with rights to successive renewals of 21 years. 
5 leases – approximately 2,999 hectares

3 mineral leases granted under the Iron Ore (Mount Goldsworthy) Agreement Act 1964, which expire 2028, with rights to successive 
renewals of 21 years each. ML235SA, ML249SA and ML281SA – approximately 91,124 hectares
Production stage

Operations commenced at Mt Goldsworthy in 1966 and at Shay Gap in 1973

History and stage of 
property

Original Goldsworthy mine closed in 1982 

Associated Shay Gap mine closed in 1993

Mining at Nimingarra mine ceased in 2007, then continued from adjacent Yarrie area 

Production commenced at Mining Area C mine in 2003

Yarrie mine operations were suspended in February 2014

First ore at South Flank commenced in May 2021 
Mining Area C, South Flank, Yarrie and Nimingarra are open-cut

Bedded ore types classified as per host Archaean or Proterozoic iron formation, which are Brockman, Marra Mamba and Nimingarra; 
also present is iron-rich detrital material
Power for all remaining mine operations in the Central and Eastern Pilbara is supplied by BHP’s natural gas-fired Yarnima power station 

Power consumed in port operations is supplied via a contract with Alinta
Mining Area C: 2 primary crushers, 2 ore handling plants, stockyard blending facility and train load out (nominal capacity 60 Mtpa)

South Flank: 2 primary crushers, 1 ore handling plant, stockyard and blending facility and train load out (nominal capacity 80 Mtpa)
State Agreements contain conditions set by the Western Australian Government, including requirements for future development 
proposals; environmental compliance and reporting obligations; closure and rehabilitation considerations; local procurement and 
community plans/initiatives/investment requirements; payment of rent, taxes and government royalties

Tenements granted by the Western Australian Government under the Mining Act. Key permit conditions include resource reporting, 
environmental compliance and reporting, rehabilitation considerations and offset payments and payment of lease rentals, and royalties

Registered Indigenous Land Use Agreements with conditions, including appropriate native title compensation and opportunity sharing; 
enshrine heritage protections and land access rights; and guarantee certain heritage, environment and consultation processes

Pilbara region, Western Australia

Private road

POSMAC JV sells ore to Mt Goldsworthy JV at Mining Area C

Ore is transported via Mt Goldsworthy JV-owned rail and Mt Newman JV-owned rail to Port Hedland 
BHP Minerals 65% 

ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia 8% 

Mitsui Iron Ore Corporation 7%

POS-Ore 20%
BHP
Sublease over part of Mt Goldsworthy Mining Area C mineral lease that expires on the earlier of termination of the mineral lease or the 
end of the POSMAC JV. ML281SA – approximately 56,335 hectares
Production stage

Production commenced in October 2003

POSMAC JV sells all ore to Mt Goldsworthy JV at Mining Area C
Open-cut 

Bedded ore types classified as per host Archaean or Proterozoic iron formation, which is Marra Mamba
Power for all mine operations in the Central and Eastern Pilbara is supplied by BHP’s natural gas-fired Yarnima power station 

Power consumed in port operations is supplied via a contract with Alinta
POSMAC sells all ore to Mt Goldsworthy JV, which is then processed at Mining Area C

Key permit conditions of POSMAC joint venture are captured within the Mount Goldsworthy joint venture key permit conditions outlined 
above

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Key permit conditions

Mine & location

WAIO
POSMAC joint venture
Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities
Key permit conditions

198

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Annual Report 2022

Coal mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.1 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance

Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia

Goonyella Riverside 

Broadmeadow 

Daunia 

Caval Ridge 

Peak Downs 

Saraji 

Blackwater and Saraji South
Central Queensland Coal Associates joint venture
Means of access

Public road

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Coal transported by rail to Hay Point, Gladstone, Dalrymple Bay and Abbot Point ports

Distances between the mines and port are between 160 km and 315 km
BHP 50% 

Mitsubishi Development 50%
BMA
Mining leases, including undeveloped tenements, have expiry dates ranging up to 2043, renewable for further periods as Queensland 
Government legislation allows. Approximately 125,100 hectares

Mining is permitted to continue under the legislation during the renewal application period

All required renewal applications were lodged and pending a decision from the Minister
Production stage

Goonyella mine commenced in 1971, merged with adjoining Riverside mine in 1989

Operates as Goonyella Riverside

Production commenced at:

Peak Downs in 1972

Saraji in 1974

Norwich Park in 1979

Blackwater in 1967

Broadmeadow (longwall operations) in 2005 

Daunia in 2013 and

Caval Ridge in 2014

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Key permit conditions

Production at Saraji South (formerly Norwich Park) ceased in May 2012; limited product is due to be sourced from Saraji South for 
processing at Saraji scheduled from the December 2022 quarter and will be included under the Saraji mine
All open-cut except Broadmeadow (longwall underground)

Bituminous coal is mined from the Permian Moranbah and Rangal Coal measures

Products range from premium quality, low volatile, high vitrinite, hard coking coal to medium volatile hard coking coal, to weak coking 
coal, some pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal and medium ash thermal coal as a secondary product
Queensland electricity grid connection is under long-term contracts and energy purchased via Retail Agreements
On-site beneficiation processing facilities

Combined nominal capacity: in excess of 67 Mtpa
Key permit conditions are contained in the various legislation set by the Queensland Government and include conditions relating to 
carrying out works in accordance with the environmental authority and approved development plans, payment of rents, reporting and 
payment of royalties. Mining leases granted under the Central Queensland Coal Associates Agreement Act 1968 place an extraction 
cap of 1,860 Mt

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Mine & location

New South Wales Energy 
Coal
Mt Arthur Coal
Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

Approximately 126 km northwest of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Public road

Export coal transported by third-party rail to Newcastle port
BHP 100% 

BHP
Current Development Consent expires in 2026 

Mt Arthur Coal Mine (MAC) continues to work on obtaining new State and Commonwealth approvals to continue open-cut mining at 
MAC beyond 30 June 2026

MAC holds 10 mining leases, 2 sub leases and 3 exploration licences 

MAC’s primary mining lease (ML 1487) was granted for a further 21-year term from June 2022

History and stage of 
property

Total mining leases approximately 8,750 hectares
Production stage

Production commenced in 2002 

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Key permit conditions

Approval to expand mining granted in 2010 with an additional area also granted by an approval modification in 2014

Domestic sales ceased during FY2020 with conveyor to Bayswater and Liddell Power Stations decommissioned

On 16 June 2022, BHP announced the decision to cease mining at the asset by the end of FY2030
Open-cut 

Produces a medium rank bituminous thermal coal 
NSW electricity grid connection under a deemed long-term contract and energy purchased via a Retail Agreement
Beneficiation facilities: coal handling, preparation, washing plants

Nominal capacity: in excess of 23 Mtpa
The project approval contains key conditions: (i) it requires MAC to be operated generally in accordance with the environmental 
assessment; and (ii) permits extraction of up to 36 Mtpa of run of mine coal from underground and open-cut operations, with open-cut 
extraction limited to 32 Mtpa

Nickel mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.1 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

Nickel West

450 km north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Mt Keith Mine

Mt Keith Satellite Mine (Yakabindie)

Mt Keith mine and concentrator
Means of access

Private road

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

Nickel concentrate transported by road to Leinster for drying and on-shipping
BHP 100% 

BHP
Mining leases granted by Western Australian Government

Key leases expire between 2029 and 2036

First renewal of 21 years is as a right. Further renewals at government discretion 

History and stage of 
property

Mt Keith mining leases approximately 9,240 hectares

Mt Keith satellite mining leases approximately 3,835 hectares
Production stage

Commissioned in 1995 by WMC

Acquired in 2005 as part of WMC acquisition

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Mt Keith Satellite Mine contains 2 open-pit mines: Six Mile Well in full production and Goliath currently being pre-stripped
Open-cut

Disseminated textured magmatic nickel-sulphide mineralisation associated with a metamorphosed ultramafic intrusion
On-site third-party gas-fired turbines with backup from diesel engine generation

Processing plants and other 
available facilities
Key permit conditions

Contracts expire in December 2038

Natural gas sourced and transported under separate long-term contracts
Concentration plant with a nominal capacity of 11 Mtpa of ore

Use of the land for the purposes set out by the Western Australian Government under granted mining tenements and broadly 
comprise of submission of detailed mining proposals; payment of royalties, annual rent to the State Government; rates to relevant 
local governments; compliance with environmental regulations and mine closure requirements and other reporting obligations. Existing 
mining operations are also subject to an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), which includes commitments for payments made to 
trust accounts; Indigenous employment and business opportunities; heritage and cultural protections

200

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Annual Report 2022

Mine & location

Nickel West

375 km north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Venus sub-level caving operation

B11 block caving operation

Camelot open-pit mine

Rocky’s Reward open-pit mine

Leinster mine complex and concentrator
Means of access

Public road

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

Nickel concentrate shipped by road and rail to Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter
BHP 100% 

BHP
Mining leases granted by Western Australian Government

Key leases expire between 2025 and 2040

Renewals of principal mineral lease in accordance with State Agreement ratified by the Nickel (Agnew) Agreement Act 1974

History and stage of 
property

Leinster mining leases approximately 6,325 hectares

Camelot mining leases approximately 2,353 hectares
Production stage

Production commenced in 1979

Acquired in 2005 as part of WMC acquisition

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities
Key permit conditions

Mine & location

Nickel West
Cliffs mine
Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source 

Processing plants and other 
available facilities
Key permit conditions

Leinster underground ceased operations in 2013 and recommenced operations in 2016 with Venus sub-level cave now in operation and 
B11 block cave developing its undercut and draw points

Rocky’s Reward open-pit mine ceased mining in 2021
Open-cut and underground

Steeply dipping disseminated and massive textured nickel-sulphide mineralisation associated with metamorphosed ultramafic lava 
flows and intrusions
On-site third-party gas-fired turbines with back up from diesel engine generation

Contracts expire in December 2038 

Natural gas sourced and transported under separate long-term contracts
Concentration plant with a nominal capacity: 3 Mtpa of ore

Use of the land for the purposes set out by the Western Australian Government in the Nickel (Agnew) Agreement Act 1974 and other 
Nickel West granted tenements broadly comprise of submission of detailed mining proposals; payment of royalties, annual rent to 
Western Australian Government; rates to relevant local governments; compliance with environmental regulations and mine closure 
requirements and other reporting obligations. Existing mining operations are also subject to an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), 
which includes commitments for payments made to trust accounts; Indigenous employment and business opportunities; heritage and 
cultural protections

450 km north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Private road

Nickel ore transported by road to Leinster or Mt Keith for further processing
BHP 100% 

BHP
Mining leases granted by Western Australian Government

Key leases expire between 2025 and 2028

First renewal of 21 years is as of right. Further renewals at government discretion

Mining leases approximately 2,675 hectares
Production stage

Production commenced in 2008

Acquired in 2005 as part of WMC acquisition
Underground

Steeply dipping massive textured nickel-sulphide mineralisation associated with metamorphosed ultramafic lava flows
Supplied from Mt Keith
Mine site

Use of the land for the purposes set out by the Western Australian Government under granted mining tenements and broadly comprise 
of submission of detailed mining proposals; payment of royalties, annual rent to the State Government; rates to relevant local 
government; compliance with environmental regulations and mine closure requirements and other reporting obligations. Existing mining 
operations are also subject to an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), which includes commitments for payments made to trust 
accounts; Indigenous employment and business opportunities; heritage and cultural protections

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Nickel smelters, refineries and processing plants
Smelter, refinery or 
processing plant & location

56 km south of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Nickel West
Kambalda nickel concentrator
Ownership

BHP 100% 
BHP
Mineral leases granted by Western Australian Government

Operator

Title, leases or options

Product

Power source

Nominal production 
capacity

Key permit conditions

Smelter, refinery or 
processing plant & location

Nickel West
Kalgoorlie nickel smelter
Ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options

Product

Power source

Nominal production 
capacity

Smelter, refinery or 
processing plant & location

Nickel West
Kwinana nickel refinery
Ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options

Product

Power source

Nominal production 
capacity

Key leases expire in 2028

Mining leases approximately 242 hectares
Concentrate containing approximately 13% nickel
On-site third-party gas-fired turbines supplemented by access to grid power

Contracts expire in December 2038

Natural gas sourced and transported under separate long-term contracts
1.6 Mtpa ore

Nickel sourced through ore tolling and concentrate purchase arrangements with third parties in Kambalda and outer regions
Use of the land for the purposes set out by the Western Australian Government under granted mining tenements and broadly comprise 
of submission of detailed mining proposals; payment of royalties, annual rent to the State Government; rates to relevant local 
government; compliance with environmental regulations and mine closure requirements and other reporting obligations

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

BHP 100% 
BHP
Freehold title over the property
Matte containing approximately 65% nickel
On-site third-party gas-fired turbines supplemented by access to grid power

Contracts expire in December 2038

Natural gas sourced and transported under separate long-term contracts
110 ktpa nickel metal in matte

30 km south of Perth, Western Australia

BHP 100% 
BHP
Freehold title over the property
London Metal Exchange grade nickel briquettes, nickel powder

Also intermediate products, including copper sulphide, cobalt-nickel-sulphide, ammonium-sulphate

Nickel sulphate containing approximately 22% nickel
Power is sourced from the local grid, which is supplied under a retail contract, supplemented by a Power Purchase Agreement with 
Merredin Solar Farm for 50% of its output
82.5 ktpa nickel metal in powder, briquettes, and nickel sulphate (with approval to increase up to 90 ktpa)

99 kt–100 kt nickel sulphate (approximately 22 kt–24 kt nickel)

202

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Minerals Americas

Copper mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.2 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

Escondida

Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Atacama Desert 

170 km southeast of Antofagasta, Chile
Private road available for public use

Copper cathode transported by privately owned rail to ports at Antofagasta and Mejillones

Copper concentrate transported by Escondida-owned pipelines to its Coloso port facilities
BHP 57.5% 

Rio Tinto 30%

JECO Corporation consortium comprising Mitsubishi, JX Nippon Mining and Metals 10%

JECO 2 Ltd 2.5% 
BHP
Mining concession from Chilean Government valid indefinitely (subject to payment of annual fees)

Mining concessions (exploitation): approximately 380,000 hectares 
Production stage

Original construction completed and production commenced in 1990

Start of operations of the third concentrator plant in 2015 

Inauguration of Escondida Water Supply desalination plant (CY2018) and its extension (CY2019) 
2 open-cut pits: Escondida and Escondida Norte

Escondida and Escondida Norte mineral deposits are adjacent but distinct supergene enriched porphyry copper deposits
Escondida-owned transmission lines connect to Chile’s northern power grid

Electricity sourced from external vendors and Tamakaya SpA (100% owned by BHP), which generates power from the Kelar gas-fired 
power plant

Renewable power agreements signed in FY2020 with supply commenced in FY2022 
Crushing facilities feed concentrator and leaching processes

3 concentrator plants produce copper concentrate from sulphide ore by flotation extraction process (by-products: gold and silver)

2 solvent extraction and electrowinning plants produce copper cathode

Nominal capacity: 422 ktpd (nominal milling capacity) and 350 ktpa copper cathode (nominal capacity of tank house)

2 x 168 km concentrate pipelines, 167 km water pipeline 

Port facilities at Coloso, Antofagasta

Key permit conditions

Desalinated water plant (total water capacity of 3,800 litres per second) 
Mining companies in Chile must comply with an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approved by the Environmental Assessment 
Service (SEA) in order to operate

Changes in the scope of the operation can trigger an Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) or a full EIA 

Mining companies must also pay a yearly mining concession 

Mine & location

Pampa Norte Spence

Atacama Desert 

Means of access

162 km northeast of Antofagasta, Chile 
Public road

Copper cathode transported by rail to ports at Mejillones and Antofagasta

Copper concentrate transported by rail or trucks to port in Mejillones

Molybdenum concentrate is transported by trucks

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

BHP 100% 
BHP
Mining concession from Chilean Government valid indefinitely (subject to payment of annual fees)

Mining concessions (exploitation): approximately 44,000 hectares 
Production stage

First copper produced in 2006

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Spence Growth Option project (i.e. new 95 ktpd copper concentrator and molybdenum plants) produced first copper in December 2020 
and first molybdenum in April 2022
Open-cut 

Enriched and oxidised porphyry copper deposit containing in situ copper oxide mineralisation that overlies a near-horizontal sequence 
of supergene sulphides, transitional sulphides, and finally primary (hypogene) sulphide mineralisation
Spence-owned transmission lines connect to Chile’s northern power grid

Processing plants and other 
available facilities

Electricity purchased from external vendors

Renewable power agreements signed in FY2020 with supply commenced in FY2022 
Crushing facilities feed concentrator and leaching processes

1 copper concentrator plant with 95 ktpd capacity (by-products: gold and silver), molybdenum plant and a 1,000 lps desalinated water 
plant under a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) agreement

Dynamic leach pads, solvent extraction and electrowinning plant 

Key permit conditions

Nominal capacity of tank house: 200 ktpa copper cathode
Mining companies in Chile must comply with an EIA approved by the SEA in order to operate

Changes in the scope of the operation can trigger a DIA or a full EIA 

Mining companies must also pay a yearly mining concession

BHP

Annual Report 2022

203

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review2  Information on mining operations continued

Mine & location

Pampa Norte 
Cerro Colorado

Means of access

Atacama Desert 

120 km east of Iquique, Chile
Public road

Ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options

Copper cathode trucked to port at Iquique
BHP 100% 
BHP
Mining concession from Chilean Government valid indefinitely (subject to payment of annual fees)

History

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Facilities, use & condition

Current environmental licence expires at the end of CY2023

Mining concessions (exploitation): approximately 34,000 hectares 
Production stage

Commercial production commenced in 1994

Expansions in 1996 and 1998
Open-cut 

Enriched and oxidised porphyry copper deposit containing in situ copper oxide mineralisation that overlies a near-horizontal sequence 
of supergene sulphides, transitional sulphides and finally primary (hypogene) sulphide mineralisation
Electricity purchased from external vendors
Crushing facilities, dynamic leach pads, solvent extraction plant, electrowinning plant

Key permit conditions

Nominal capacity of tank house: 130 ktpa copper cathode
Mining companies in Chile must comply with an EIA approved by the SEA in order to operate

Changes in the scope of the operation can trigger a DIA or a full EIA 

Mining companies must also pay a yearly mining concession

Mine & location

Antamina

Means of access

Andes mountain range 

270 km northeast of Lima, Peru
Public road

Copper and zinc concentrates transported by Antamina-owned pipeline to its Punta Lobitos port

Ownership

Molybdenum and lead/bismuth concentrates transported by truck
BHP 33.75% 

Glencore 33.75%

Teck 22.5%

Operator

Title, leases or options

Mitsubishi 10%
Compañía Minera Antamina S.A.
Mining rights from Peruvian Government held indefinitely, subject to payment of annual fees and supply of information on investment 
and production

History

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Facilities, use & condition

Key permit conditions

Mine & location

Resolution

Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Facilities, use & Processing 
plants and other available 
facilities
Key permit conditions

Total acreage: approximately 6,600 hectares
Production stage

Commercial production commenced in 2001 
Open-cut 

Zoned porphyry and skarn deposit with central copper dominated ores and an outer band of copper-zinc dominated ores
Long-term contracts with individual power producers
Primary crusher, concentrator, copper and zinc flotation circuits, bismuth/moly cleaning circuit

Nominal milling capacity 145 ktpd

304 km concentrate pipeline 

Port facilities at Huarmey 
In April 2022 Antamina submitted to Peruvian authorities an Environmental Impact Study Modification (MEIA), which would enable 
Antamina to extend its life from 2028 to 2036, maintaining annual production volumes within its current operational footprint

Superior, Arizona, Pinal County, US
Public road
BHP 45% 

Rio Tinto 55% (operator)
Resolution Copper Mining LLC
Private land, patented and unpatented mining claims 

Total acreage: approximately 46,000 acres
Exploration stage

The Resolution deposit is within the footprint and adjacent to the historical Magma Copper Mine. The Resolution Non-Operated Joint 
Venture (NOJV) was formed in 2004 with Rio Tinto as operator 
Underground

Porphyry copper and molybdenum deposit
115kV power lines to East and West Plant sites with supply contract with Salt River Project
Water treatment and reverse osmosis plant, two active underground shafts with associated support infrastructure including hoisting, 
ventilation and cooling, and a rail corridor connecting the site to the national rail network

The Resolution Copper Project is subject to a federal permitting process pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)and 
other U.S. legislation, including requirements for consultation, coordination and collaboration with Native American Tribes. The NEPA 
process is led by the U.S. Forest Service

The Resolution Copper Project is also required to obtain several state and local permits, including air quality and groundwater 
protection permits

204

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Iron Ore mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.2 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5. 

Mine & location

Samarco

Means of access

Southeast Brazil
Public road

Type and amount of 
ownership

Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Facilities, use & Processing 
plants and other available 
facilities

Key permit conditions

Conveyor belts used to transport iron ore to beneficiation plant

Three slurry pipelines owned by Samarco used to transport concentrate to its pellet plants on coast

Iron ore pellets exported via port facilities
BHP Brasil 50% 

Vale S.A. 50%
Samarco
Mining concessions granted by Brazilian Government subject to compliance with the mine plan

Samarco recommenced iron ore pellet production in December 2020, having met licensing requirements to restart operations at its 
Germano complex in Minas Gerais and its Ubu complex in Espírito Santo

Mining rights for approximately 1,605 hectares 
Production stage

Production began at Germano mine in 1977 and at Alegria complex in 1992

Second pellet plant built in 1997 

Third pellet plant, second concentrator and second pipeline built in 2008 

Fourth pellet plant, third concentrator and third pipeline built in 2014
Open-cut 

Itabirites (metamorphic quartz-hematite rock) and friable hematite ores
Samarco holds interests in 2 hydroelectric power plants, which supply part of its electricity 

Power supply contract with Cemig Geração e Transmissão expires in 2026
Samarco’s gradual restart of operations includes 1 concentrator and a new system of tailings disposal combining a confined pit and 
filtration plant for dry stacking of sandy tailings 

Beneficiation plants, pipelines, pellet plants and port facilities
Samarco has an operating licence (LOC – Corrective Operating License) obtained for the return of operations. For the continuity of 
operations, it has a long-term licensing plan that includes expansion of the mining area and new structures for the disposal of waste 
and tailings

Other mining operations
The following table contains additional details of our mining operations. This table should be read in conjunction with OFR 5.2 and the production table 
and reserves and resources tables in Additional information 4 and 5.

Mine & location

Jansen Stage 1 
(under construction)

Means of access

Type and amount of 
ownership
Operator

Title, leases or options and 
acreage involved

History and stage of 
property

Mine type & mineralisation 
style

Power source

Facilities, use & Processing 
plants and other available 
facilities
Key permit conditions

Province of Saskatchewan

Approximately 150 km east of Saskatoon, Canada
Public road

Muriate of Potash (MOP) to be transported by rail to the port at Westshore Terminal in Delta, British Columbia, Canada
BHP 100%

BHP
The total area of the Jansen lease is approximately 1,156 square km

All surface lands have been acquired
Development stage

Stage 1 is currently under construction
Underground 

The Lower Patience Lake (LPL) sub-member is the potash horizon targeted for Jansen. The LPL sub-member is composed of sylvite 
(KCl), halite (NaCl) with variable amounts of disseminated insolubles and clay seams
Permanent power supply to be constructed
Mill, buildings, and other facilities and infrastructure are planned to be constructed

Construction of production and service shafts was completed during FY2022

An Environmental Assessment is required to be submitted to the regulatory authority in order to determine the potential environmental 
and social impacts of a project during construction, operation and closure 

Depending on the activity, permits from municipal, provincial and federal agencies may also be required

BHP

Annual Report 2022

205

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review3  Financial information by commodity
Management believes the following financial information presented by commodity provides a meaningful indication of the underlying financial performance 
of the assets, including equity accounted investments, of each reportable segment. Information relating to assets that are accounted for as equity 
accounted investments is shown to reflect BHP’s share, unless otherwise noted, to provide insight into the drivers of these assets. 

For the purposes of this financial information, segments are reported on a statutory basis in accordance with IFRS 8/AASB 8 ‘Operating Segments’. The tables 
for each commodity include an ‘adjustment for equity accounted investments’ to reconcile the equity accounted results to the statutory segment results. 

For a reconciliation of non-IFRS financial information to respective IFRS measures and an explanation as to the use of Underlying EBITDA 
in assessing our performance refer to OFR 11. 

For the definition and method of calculation of non-IFRS financial information refer to OFR 11.1. 

For more information as to the statutory determination of our reportable segments refer to Financial Statements note 1 ‘Segment reporting’.

3.1  Copper
Detailed below is financial information for our Copper assets for FY2022 and FY2021.

Year ended 
30 June 2022 
US$M
Escondida1
Pampa Norte2
Antamina3
Olympic Dam
Other3,4
Total Copper from 
Group production
Third-party products
Total Copper
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments5
Total Copper statutory result

Year ended 
30 June 2021 
US$M
Escondida1
Pampa Norte2
Antamina3
Olympic Dam
Other3,4
Total Copper from 
Group production
Third-party products
Total Copper
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments5
Total Copper statutory result

Revenue

Underlying 
EBITDA

9,500
2,670
1,777
1,776
 −

15,723
2,903
18,626

(1,777)
16,849

6,198
1,363
1,289
409
(157)

9,102
36
9,138

(573)
8,565

Revenue

Underlying 
EBITDA

9,470
1,801
1,627
2,211
 −

15,109
2,244
17,353

(1,627)
15,726

6,483
954
1,158
598
(230)

8,963
64
9,027

(538)
8,489

D&A

907
893
146
421
16

2,383
 −
2,383

(148)
2,235

D&A

969
390
142
313
10

1,824
 −
1,824

(144)
1,680

Underlying 
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

5,291
470
1,143
(12)
(173)

6,719
36
6,755

(425)
6,330

11,703
4,543
1,306
9,877
(9)

27,420
 −
27,420

 −
27,420

860
673
323
966
29

2,851
 −
2,851

(323)
2,528

96

(11)
85

92

(7)
85

Underlying  
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

5,514
564
1,016
285
(240)

7,139
64
7,203

(394)
6,809

11,926
4,510
1,362
9,045
85

26,928
 −
26,928

 −
26,928

666
678
237
830
7

2,418
 −
2,418

(238)
2,180

62

(9)
53

58

(5)
53

1  Escondida is consolidated under IFRS 10 and reported on a 100 per cent basis.
2 
3  Antamina, SolGold and Resolution are equity accounted investments and their financial information presented above with the exception of net operating assets reflects BHP 

Includes Spence and Cerro Colorado.

Group’s share.

4  Predominantly comprises divisional activities, greenfield exploration and business development. Includes Resolution and SolGold.
5  Total Copper statutory result revenue excludes US$1,777 million (FY2021: US$1,627 million) revenue related to Antamina. Total Copper statutory result Underlying EBITDA 

includes US$148 million (FY2021: US$144 million) D&A and US$425 million (FY2021: US$394 million) net finance costs and taxation expense related to Antamina, 
Resolution and SolGold that are also included in Underlying EBIT. Total Copper Capital expenditure excludes US$323 million (FY2021: US$237 million) related to Antamina 
and US$ nil (FY2021: US$1 million) related to SolGold. Exploration gross excludes US$11 million (FY2021: US$9 million) related to SolGold of which US$7 million (FY2021: 
US$5 million) was expensed.

3.2 Iron Ore
Detailed below is financial information for our Iron Ore assets for FY2022 and FY2021.

Year ended 
30 June 2022 
US$M

Western Australia Iron Ore
Samarco2
Other3
Total Iron Ore from 
Group production
Third-party products4
Total Iron Ore
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments
Total Iron Ore statutory result

206

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Revenue

30,632
 −
116

30,748
19
30,767

 −
30,767

Underlying 
EBITDA

21,788
 −
(81)

21,707
 −
21,707

 −
21,707

D&A

2,119
 −
117

2,236
 −
2,236

 −
2,236

Underlying 
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration
gross1

Exploration  
to profit

19,669
 −
(198)

19,471
 −
19,471

 −
19,471

20,376
(3,433)
(120)

16,823
 −
16,823

 −
16,823

1,847
 −
1

1,848
 −
1,848

 −
1,848

95

 −
95

54

 −
54

Year ended 
30 June 2021 
US$M

Western Australia Iron Ore
Samarco2
Other3
Total Iron Ore from 
Group production
Third-party products4
Total Iron Ore
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments
Total Iron Ore statutory result

Revenue

34,337
 −
120

34,457
18
34,475

 −
34,475

Underlying 
EBITDA

26,270
 −
7

26,277
1
26,278

 −
26,278

D&A

1,959
 −
25

1,984
 −
1,984

 −
1,984

Underlying  
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration
gross1

Exploration  
to profit

24,311
 −
(18)

24,293
1
24,294

 −
24,294

21,289
(2,794)
168

18,663
 −
18,663

 −
18,663

2,186
 −
2

2,188
 −
2,188

 −
2,188

100

 −
100

55

 −
55

Includes US$41 million of capitalised exploration (FY2021: US$45 million).

1 
2  Samarco is an equity accounted investment and its financial information presented above, with the exception of net operating assets, reflects BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda’s share. 

All financial impacts following the Samarco dam failure have been reported as exceptional items in both reporting periods.

3  Predominantly comprises divisional activities, towage services, business development and ceased operations.
4 

Includes inter-segment and external sales of contracted gas purchases.

3.3 Coal
Detailed below is financial information for our Coal assets for FY2022 and FY2021.

Year ended 
30 June 2022 
US$M

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
New South Wales Energy Coal1
Colombia2
Other3,4
Total Coal from 
Group production
Third-party products
Total Coal
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments5,6
Total Coal statutory result

Year ended 
30 June 2021 
US$M

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
New South Wales Energy Coal1
Colombia2
Other3,4
Total Coal from 
Group production
Third-party products
Total Coal
Adjustment for equity 
accounted investments5,6
Total Coal statutory result

Revenue

Underlying 
EBITDA

10,254
3,122
 −
2,260

15,636
 −
15,636

(87)
15,549

6,335
1,868
 −
1,363

9,566
 −
9,566

(62)
9,504

Revenue

Underlying 
EBITDA

3,537
927
281
778

5,523
 −
5,523

(369)
5,154

567
(87)
74
(96)

458
 −
458

(170)
288

D&A

627
91
 −
80

798
 −
798

(27)
771

D&A

597
144
86
152

979
 −
979

(114)
865

Underlying 
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

5,708
1,777
 −
1,283

8,768
 −
8,768

(35)
8,733

7,802
(121)
 −
(31)

7,650
 −
7,650

 −
7,650

491
73
 −
57

621
 −
621

 −
621

17

 −
17

6

 −
6

Underlying  
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

(30)
(231)
(12)
(248)

(521)
 −
(521)

(56)
(577)

7,240
(289)
 −
561

7,512
 −
7,512

 −
7,512

440
50
21
90

601
 −
601

(22)
579

20

 −
20

7

 −
7

1  Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group is an equity accounted investment and its financial information presented above with the exception of net operating assets reflects BHP 

Group’s share.

2  On 11 January 2022, BHP completed the sale of its 33.33 per cent interest in Cerrejón to Glencore. The transaction was first announced on 28 June 2021 for a total cash 

consideration of US$294 million with an effective economic date of 31 December 2020. During the year ended 30 June 2022, the Group received dividends of US$238 million 
from Cerrejón, reducing completion proceeds, net of expected transaction costs at completion date. For more information refer to Financial Statements note 29 ‘Investments 
accounted for using the equity method’.

3  On 3 May 2022, BHP completed the sale of its 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) to Stanmore SMC Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned entity of Stanmore 

Resources Limited (Stanmore Resources) resulting in a net after tax gain on disposal of US$840 million that has been recognised as an exceptional item. For more 
information refer to Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’. The Group’s share of BMC revenue, Underlying EBITDA, D&A, Underlying EBIT, Net operating assets 
and Capital expenditure have been presented within ‘Other’. 

4  Predominantly comprises BMC, divisional activities and ceased operations.
5  Total Coal statutory result revenue excludes US$ nil (FY2021: US$281 million) revenue related to Cerrejón. Total Coal statutory result Underlying EBITDA includes US$ nil 
(FY2021: US$86 million) D&A and US$ nil (FY2021: US$2 million) net finance costs and taxation benefit related to Cerrejón, that are also included in Underlying EBIT. 
Total Coal statutory result Capital expenditure excludes US$ nil (FY2021: US$21 million) related to Cerrejón.

6  Total Coal statutory result revenue excludes US$87 million (FY2021: US$88 million) revenue related to Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group. Total Coal statutory result 

excludes US$62 million (FY2021: US$82 million) Underlying EBITDA, US$27 million (FY2021: US$28 million) D&A and US$35 million (FY2021: US$54 million) Underlying 
EBIT related to Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group until future profits exceed accumulated losses. Total Coal Capital expenditure excludes US$ nil (FY2021: US$1 million) 
related to Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

207

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review3  Financial information by commodity continued 

3.4 Other assets
Detailed below is financial information for our Other assets for FY2022 and FY2021.

Year ended 
30 June 2022 
US$M

Potash
Nickel West

Year ended 
30 June 2021 
US$M

Potash
Nickel West

Revenue

 −
1,926

Underlying 
EBITDA

(147)
420

Revenue

 −
1,545

Underlying 
EBITDA

(167)
259

D&A

2
93

D&A

2
110

Underlying 
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

(149)
327

3,570
721

376
362

 −
42

 −
37

Underlying  
EBIT

Net operating 
assets

Capital 
expenditure

Exploration 
gross

Exploration  
to profit

(169)
149

3,073
300

268
286

 −
17

 −
17

4  Production
The table below details our mineral and derivative product production for all operations for the three years ended 30 June 2022, 2021 and 2020. 
Unless otherwise stated, the production numbers represent our share of production and include BHP’s share of production from which profit is derived 
from our equity accounted investments. Production information for equity accounted investments is included to provide insight into the operational 
performance of these entities. For discussion of minerals pricing during the past three years refer to OFR 10.

BHP interest  
%

BHP share of production1

Year ended 30 June

2022

2021

2020

Copper2

Payable metal in concentrate (‘000 tonnes)
Escondida, Chile3
Pampa Norte, Chile5
Antamina, Peru4
Total copper concentrate
Copper cathode (‘000 tonnes)
Escondida, Chile3
Pampa Norte, Chile5
Olympic Dam, Australia
Total copper cathode
Total copper concentrate and cathode
Lead
Payable metal in concentrate (‘000 tonnes)
Antamina, Peru4
Total lead
Zinc
Payable metal in concentrate (‘000 tonnes)
Antamina, Peru4
Total zinc
Gold
Payable metal in concentrate (‘000 ounces)
Escondida, Chile3
Pampa Norte, Chile5
Olympic Dam, Australia (refined gold)
Total gold
Silver
Payable metal in concentrate (‘000 ounces)
Escondida, Chile3
Antamina, Peru4
Pampa Norte, Chile5
Olympic Dam, Australia (refined silver)
Total silver
Uranium 
Payable metal in concentrate (tonnes)
Olympic Dam, Australia
Total uranium 
Molybdenum
Payable metal in concentrate (tonnes)
Antamina, Peru4
Pampa Norte, Chile5
Total molybdenum

208

BHP

Annual Report 2022

57.5
100
33.75

57.5
100
100

33.75

33.75

57.5
100
100

57.5
33.75
100
100

100

33.75
100

802.6 
111.2
149.9 
1,063.7 

201.4 
170.0 
138.4
509.8
1,573.5

1.1 
1.1

123.2 
123.2

167.0 
28.9
119.5
315.4

5,334
5,078
1,011
743
12,166

2,375
2,375

798
71
869

871.7 
27.4
144.0 
1,043.1 

196.5 
190.8 
205.3
592.6
1,635.7

2.5 
2.5

145.1 
145.1

167.0 
4.7
146.0
317.7

5,759
5,965
214
810
12,748

3,267
3,267

863

863

925.9 
0
124.5
1,050.4

259.4
242.7
171.6
673.7
1,724.1

1.7
1.7

88.5
88.5

177.4

146.0
323.4

6,413
4,116

984
11,513

3,678
3,678

1,666

1,666

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Iron ore 
Western Australia Iron Ore
Production (‘000 tonnes)6
Newman, Australia 
Area C Joint Venture, Australia
Yandi Joint Venture, Australia
Jimblebar, Australia7
Wheelarra, Australia
Total Western Australia Iron Ore
Samarco, Brazil4
Total iron ore

Coal 
Metallurgical coal
Production (‘000 tonnes)8
Blackwater, Australia
Goonyella Riverside, Australia
Peak Downs, Australia
Saraji, Australia
Daunia, Australia 
Caval Ridge, Australia
Total BHP Mitsubishi Alliance 
South Walker Creek, Australia9
Poitrel, Australia9
Total BHP Mitsui Coal11
Total metallurgical coal
Energy coal
Production (‘000 tonnes)
New South Wales Energy Coal, Australia
Cerrejón, Colombia4
Total energy coal

Nickel
Saleable production (‘000 tonnes)
Nickel West, Australia10
Total nickel

BHP interest  
%

BHP Group share of production1

Year ended 30 June

2022

2021

2020

85
85
85
85
85

50

50
50
50
50
50
50

 80
80

100
33.3

100

57,041 
94,431 
38,922 
58,782 
0 
249,176 
4,071
253,247 

5,834
8,360
4,944
4,614
1,491
3,899
29,142
4,941
2,981
7,922
37,064

13,701
4,236
17,937

63,221 
52,386 
68,596 
67,393 
0 
251,596 
1,938
253,534 

6,224
9,448
5,892
4,489
1,928
3,903
31,884
4,887
3,854
8,741 
40,625

14,326
4,964
19,290

65,641 
51,499 
69,262 
61,754 
3 
248,159 
–
248,159

5,545
8,765
5,783
4,963
2,170
4,349
31,575
5,415 
4,128 
9,543
41,118

16,052
7,115
23,167

76.8
76.8

89.0
89.0

80.1
80.1

1  BHP share of production includes the Group’s share of production for which profit is derived from our equity accounted investments, unless otherwise stated.
2  Metal production is reported on the basis of payable metal.
3  Shown on 100 per cent basis. BHP interest in saleable production is 57.5 per cent.
4  For statutory financial reporting purposes, this is an equity accounted investment. We have included production numbers from our equity accounted investments as the 
level of production and operating performance from these operations impacts Underlying EBITDA of the Group. Our use of Underlying EBITDA is explained in OFR 4.3. 
BHP completed the sale of its 33.3 per cent interest in Cerrejón on 11 January 2022. Production for Cerrejón reported until 31 December 2021.
Includes Cerro Colorado and Spence.
Iron ore production is reported on a wet tonnes basis.

5 
6 
7  Shown on 100 per cent basis. BHP interest in saleable production is 85 per cent.
8  Metallurgical coal production is reported on the basis of saleable product. Production figures include some thermal coal.
9  Shown on 100 per cent basis. BHP interest in saleable production is 80 per cent.
10  Nickel contained in matte and refined nickel metal, including briquette, powder, nickel sulphate and by-product streams.
11  BHP completed the sale of its 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) on 3 May 2022. Production reported until 30 April 2022. 

5  Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
Resources are the estimated quantities of material that can potentially be commercially recovered from BHP’s properties. Reserves are a subset of 
resources that can be demonstrated to be able to be economically and legally extracted. In order to estimate reserves, assumptions are required about 
a range of technical and economic factors, including quantities, qualities, production techniques, recovery efficiency, production and transport costs, 
commodity supply and demand, commodity prices and exchange rates. 

The statement of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves presented in this Annual Report has been produced in accordance with the Australian Securities 
Exchange (ASX) Listing Rules Chapter 5, December 2019 and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore 
Reserves, December 2012 (JORC Code). 

Predicted sales prices, based on supply and demand forecast and current and long-term historical average price trends, have been used. The Ore Reserves 
tabulated are held within existing, permitted mining tenements. Mineral leases are of sufficient duration (or convey a legal right to renew for sufficient 
duration) to enable all reserves on the leased properties to be mined in accordance with current production schedules. Ore Reserves may include areas 
where some additional approvals remain outstanding, however it is anticipated such approvals will be obtained within the timeframe required by the current 
life-of-mine schedule.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

209

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5  Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves continued

Declaration tables
–  All Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 

presented are reported in 100 per cent terms 
(unless otherwise stated) and represent 
estimates as at 30 June 2022. 

–  Tonnes are reported as dry metric tonnes 

(unless otherwise stated). All tonnes and grade/
quality information have been rounded, so small 
differences may be present in the totals. 

–  The Measured and Indicated Mineral 

Resources are inclusive of those Mineral 
Resources modified to produce the 
Ore Reserves. 

Competent Persons
This statement is based on and fairly represents 
information and supporting documentation 
compiled by Competent Persons (as defined in 
the JORC Code). All Competent Persons have, at 
the time of reporting, sufficient experience relevant 
to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit 
under consideration and to the activity they are 
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person. 

Each Competent Person listed is an employee 
of BHP or a company in which BHP has a 
controlling interest (unless otherwise stated) 
and declares they have no issues that could be 
perceived by investors as a material conflict of 
interest in preparing the reported information. 
All Competent Persons are a Member or Fellow 
of the Australasian Institute of Mining and 
Metallurgy (AusIMM) or the Australian Institute of 
Geoscientists (AIG) or a Recognised Professional 
Organisation. Each Competent Person consents 
to the inclusion in this Annual Report of the 
matters based on his or her information in the 
form and context in which it appears.

Other reporting jurisdictions 
The information contained in this document 
is expected to differ from that reported to 
the United States Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC) in our annual report on 
Form 20-F for the year ended 30 June 2022. 
Historically, reserve reporting requirements for 
SEC filings in the United States, such as those 
on Form 20-F, were set forth in SEC Industry 
Guide 7, with economic assumptions based 
on current economic conditions that may differ 
to the JORC Code’s reasonable investment 
assumptions. On 31 October 2018, the SEC 
amended the property disclosure requirements 
for SEC-registered mining companies, such as 
BHP, requiring such companies to comply with 
the new rules for their first fiscal year beginning 
on or after 1 January 2021. These amendments 
replaced the previous requirements that were 
included in Industry Guide 7.

Mineral resources and mineral reserves reporting 
requirements for SEC filings in the United States 
are set forth in S-K 1300. S-K 1300 requires 
resources estimates to be reported exclusive of 
reserves estimates and both reported only for 
the portion attributable to our interest in such 
resources or reserves. In addition, specific 
disclosure requirements pertaining to economic 
assumptions and interpretation of reasonable 
prospects of economic extraction are expected 
to result in further differences between the 
resources and reserves estimates presented in 
this document and those to be reported in in our 
annual report on Form 20-F. 

210

BHP

Annual Report 2022

A key difference in the estimation of our resources 
and reserves pursuant to the ASX Listing 
Rules and S-K 1300 are the economic inputs, 
commodity prices and costs. Estimates we report 
in accordance with the ASX Listing Rules and 
JORC Code (2012) are based on cost forecasts 
and internally generated projected long-term 
commodity prices. S-K 1300 requires mineral 
resources and mineral reserves estimates to be 
based on a reasonable and justifiable commodity 
price selected by a qualified person. Since S-K 
1300 requires the disclosure of the prices used in 
the estimation of mineral resources and mineral 
reserves, due to commercial sensitivity regarding 
the disclosure of BHP’s internally generated 
projected long-term commodity prices used in 
the estimation of our Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves reported in accordance with the 
ASX Listing Rules and JORC Code (2012), 
the estimates reported in accordance with S-K 
1300 are expected to be based on the historical 
commodity prices over a timeframe relevant 
for the commodity (generally three years). 
In addition, the estimates reported in accordance 
with S-K 1300 are expected to be based on the 
historical average costs over a timeframe of 
three years for production stage properties or, for 
development stage properties, costs determined 
from first principles.

Our resources and reserves estimates to be 
reported in our annual report on Form 20-F 
are therefore not directly comparable to those 
presented in this document and should be 
considered in relation to the differing reporting 
and disclosure requirements of the jurisdiction 
under which they are presented. 

Assurance and verification
BHP has internal controls over our Mineral 
Resources and Ore Reserves estimation efforts 
that are designed to produce reasonable and 
reliable estimates aligned with industry practice 
and our regulatory reporting requirements. 
The governance for our estimation efforts is 
located at both the asset and the BHP Group 
level within our Resource Centre of Excellence, 
an internal assurance team independent of our 
Competent Persons and BHP employees who are 
responsible for the estimations. The assets provide 
first-line assurance on estimates through peer 
review and validation processes. The Resource 
Centre of Excellence is responsible for assurance 
over the processes implemented by the assets 
as they relate to Mineral Resources and Ore 
Reserves estimations and the compiling of the 
estimates to be reported in accordance with the 
ASX Listing Rules and JORC Code (2012).

Our internal controls utilise management 
systems, including, but not limited to, formal 
quality assurance and quality control processes, 
standardised procedures, workflow processes, 
data security covering record keeping, chain 
of custody and data storage, supervision and 
management approval, reconciliations, internal 
and external reviews and audits. 

Our internal requirements and standards provide 
the basis for the governance over the estimation 
and reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore 
Reserves and provide technical guidance to all 
reporting assets. These internal requirements 
and standards are periodically reviewed and 
updated for alignment with industry practice and 
reporting regulations.

Our internal controls for exploration data, as they 
relate to Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 
estimations, are managed by our operating 
assets with assurance provided by the Resource 
Centre of Excellence. These include procedures 
and standards defining minimum requirements 
of critical aspects to support exploration and 
resource development programs, spatial quality 
control checks on measurement points (e.g. 
collar, downhole survey), quality control checks 
on samples including laboratory data quality 
checks, geological database audits and back-up 
routines and technical peer review across the data 
gathering, integration and estimation processes.

Our internal controls for Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves estimations include, but are not 
limited to:

–  source data review from database extracts, 

using exploratory data statistical analysis prior 
to use in the estimation of mineral resources. 
Identification of data to exclude, outliers and 
visual checks against estimation domains

–  peer reviews of the estimation inputs 

based on statistical studies and estimation 
parameters as applied in industry standard 
estimation software

–  visual and statistical validation of the 

estimates against source data and where 
available reconciliation to previous models, 
operational models and production data

–  peer review of the classification applied, 
considering quantitative measures and 
qualitative considerations

–  peer review of assumptions applied that 

convert resources to reserves

–  independent audits or reviews for new or 

materially changed Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves

Operating assets manage internal risk 
registers relating to uncertainties in the Mineral 
Resources and Ore Reserves estimates to direct 
future work programs or estimation updates. 
These may include but are not limited to:

–  areas of uncertainty in the estimates 

impacting local interpretations

–  bulk density assumptions, based on sample 

test work or operational results

–  metallurgical recovery assumptions, based on 

test work or plant performance

–  changes in commodity prices, costs and 

exchange rate assumptions

–  geotechnical and hydrogeological 

considerations impacting on underground or 
open-cut mining assumptions

–  ore loss and dilution, mining selectivity and 

production rate assumptions

–  cut-off value changes to meet 

product specifications

–  changes in environmental, permitting and 
social license to operate assumptions

Further to assurance activities by the assets 
specifically relating to the estimation of 
resources and reserves, the Resource Centre 
of Excellence with subject matter experts 
have developed standards and guidelines 
across BHP for reviewing and documenting the 
information supporting our Mineral Resources 
and Ore Reserves estimates, describing the 

methods used and verifying the reliability of such 
estimates. These activities are supported by the 
following controls: 

–  The reporting of Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves estimates are required to 
follow BHP’s standard procedures for 
public reporting in accordance with current 
regulatory requirements. 

–  Annual risk reviews are conducted with 

Competent Persons and BHP employees 
on all Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 
to be reported, including year on year 
change impact assessment, reconciliation 
performance metrics for the operating mines 
and control assessment for the estimation 
inputs. The information and supporting 
documentation are prepared by the 
Competent Persons relating to the estimates 
and evaluated for compliance with BHP’s 
internal controls. Based on these reviews, 
recommendations of endorsement are 
provided to our senior management for the 
use and reporting of the Mineral Resources 
and Ore Reserves.

–  Periodic internal technical ‘deep dive’ 

assessments of Mineral Resources and Ore 
Reserves are conducted on a frequency that 
is informed by asset materiality and outcomes 
of the annual risk reviews. 

–  Management and closure reviews of 

actions assigned to Competent Persons 
and BHP employees resulting from the 
annual risk reviews and technical ‘deep dive’ 
assessments are conducted.

–  Assurance is undertaken over the reporting 
documentation provided by Competent 
Persons for public release and management 
and verification of inputs into BHP Resources 
and Reserves reporting database. 

The Resource Centre of Excellence also provides 
an annual update on assurance activities and 
changes relating to our resources and reserves 
estimation efforts to the Risk and Audit Committee 
(RAC) in connection with the RAC’s responsibility 
over the effectiveness of systems of internal 
control and risk management of BHP.

Inherent risks in the estimation 
of Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves 
Estimated annual cash flows from our future 
operations, estimated production schedules, 
estimated capital expenditure and operating 
costs, estimated site closure costs, estimated 
royalty and tax costs, valuation assumptions and 
interpretations of geologic data obtained from 
drill holes and other exploration techniques, all of 
which may not necessarily be indicative of future 
results. The assumptions and interpretations 
used to estimate our Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves may change from period to 
period, and, because additional geological data 
generated during the course of our operations 
may not be consistent with the data on which 
we based our Mineral Resources and Ore 
Reserves, such estimates may change from 
period to period or may need to be revised. 
No assurance can be given that our Mineral 
Resources and Ore Reserves presented in this 
Report will be recovered at the grade, quality or 
quantities presented or at all.

There are numerous uncertainties inherent 
in the estimation of Mineral Resources and 
Ore Reserves. Areas of uncertainty that may 
materially impact our Mineral Resources 
and Ore Reserves estimates may include, 
but are not limited to: (i) changes to long-
term commodity prices and costs, external 
market factors, foreign exchange rates and 
other economic assumptions; (ii) changes in 
geological interpretations of mineral deposits 
and geological modelling, including estimation 
input parameters and techniques; (iii) changes to 
metallurgical or process recovery assumptions 
which adversely affect the volume, grade or 
qualities of our commodities produced (for 
example, processing that results in higher 
deleterious elements that result in penalties) or 
other changes to mining method assumptions; 
(iv) changes to input assumptions used to derive 
the potentially mineable shapes applicable to 
the assumed underground or open-pit mining 
methods used to constrain the estimates; 
(v) changes to life of mine or production rate 
assumptions; (vi) changes to dilution and 
mining recovery assumptions; (vii) changes to 

cut-off grades applied to the estimates; (viii) 
changes to geotechnical (including seismicity), 
structures, rock mass strength, stress regime, 
hydrogeological, hydrothermal or geothermal 
factors; (ix) changes to infrastructure supporting 
the operations of or access to the applicable 
mine site; (x) changes to mineral, surface, water 
or other natural resources rights; (xi) changes 
to royalty, taxes, environmental, permitting and 
social license assumptions in the jurisdictions in 
which we operate; and (xii) changes in capital or 
operating costs.

Estimates of Mineral Resources are subject to 
further exploration and evaluation of development 
and operating costs, grades, recoveries and other 
material factors, and, therefore, are subject to 
uncertainty. Mineral resources do not meet the 
threshold for Ore Reserve modifying factors, such 
as engineering, legal or economic feasibility, that 
would allow for the conversion to Ore Reserves. 
Accordingly, no assurance can be given that our 
Mineral Resources not included in Ore Reserves 
will become recoverable Proved and Probable 
Ore Reserves.

Competent Persons

Copper 
Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

Iron ore 
Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

Coal 
Coal Resources

Coal Reserves

Escondida, Pampa Escondida, Pinta Verde and Chimborazo: R Maureira 
(MAusIMM) employed by Minera Escondida Limitada 
Cerro Colorado: H Matias (MAusIMM) 
Spence: R Ferrer (MAusIMM) 
Olympic Dam: D Clarke (MAusIMM) 
Antamina: L Canchis (FAusIMM) employed by Compañía Minera Antamina S.A.
Escondida: F Barrera (MAusIMM) employed by Minera Escondida Limitada 
Cerro Colorado: H Martinez (MAusIMM) 
Spence: C Araya (MAusIMM)  
Olympic Dam: D Tucker (MAusIMM) 
Antamina: F Angeles (PEGBC) employed by Compañía Minera Antamina S.A.

WAIO: F Muller (MAusIMM) 
Samarco: L Bonfioli (MAusIMM) employed by Samarco Mineração S.A.
WAIO: P K Chhajer (MAusIMM), A Greaves (MAusIMM), A McLean (MAusIMM),     
C Burke (MAusIMM), A Balueva (MAusIMM)

Goonyella Complex, Red Hill, Goonyella Riverside, Broadmeadow, Nebo West, 
Wards Well, Bee Creek, Poitrel and South Walker Creek: R Saha (MAusIMM) 
Peak Downs, Norwich Park and Saraji South: C Williams (MAusIMM) 
Caval Ridge, Blackwater and Togara South: M Godfrey (MAIG) 
Daunia: B Wesley (MAusIMM) 
Saraji Complex, Saraji and Saraji East: S Cutler (MAusIMM) 
Mt Arthur Coal: J James (MAusIMM) 
Cerrejón: D Lawrence (MAusIMM) employed by DJL Geological Consulting Limited 
Goonyella Riverside, Goonyella Complex and Broadmeadow: V Grajdan 
(MAusIMM) and G Sobey (MAusIMM) 
Peak Downs: P Gupta (MAusIMM) 
Caval Ridge: R Sharma (MAusIMM) 
Saraji: N Mohtaj (MAusIMM) 
Blackwater: R Campbell (MAusIMM) 
Daunia: I Ferdowsi (MAusIMM) 
Saraji South and Norwich Park: G Bustos (MAusIMM) 
South Walker Creek and Poitrel: R Saha (MAusIMM) 
Mt Arthur Coal: D Perkins (MAusIMM) 
Cerrejón: D Lawrence (MAusIMM) employed by DJL Geological Consulting Limited 

Potash
Mineral Resources
Ore Reserves
Nickel
Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

Annual Report 
compilation

Jansen: B Németh (MAusIMM), O Turkekul (APEGS)
Jansen: J Sondergaard (MAusIMM)

Leinster and Honeymoon Well: R Finch (MAusIMM), M Hope (MAusIMM) 
Mt Keith, Cliffs, Yakabindie, Venus and Jericho: R Finch (MAusIMM) 
West Jordan: M Hope (MAusIMM)
Leinster, Cliffs and Venus: C Barclay (MAusIMM) 
Mt Keith and Yakabindie: C Barclay (MAusIMM), B Mullen (MAusIMM)
F Bodycoat (MAusIMM)

BHP

Annual Report 2022

211

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewMeasured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

90
64
5,080

68
48
78
–
18
–
92
15
700

294
109
–
–
Mt
3,300

800
Mt
205
83
–
–

0.59
0.51
0.59

0.61
0.59
0.45
–
0.65
–
0.56
0.59
0.46

0.53
0.60
–
–
%Cu
0.58

1.55
%Cu
0.83
0.82
–
–

–
–
–

0.42
0.11
–
–
0.37
–
0.10
–
–

–
–
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.19

0.46
%Zn
0.14
1.71
–
–

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
90
160

–
–
–
–
g/tAu
0.32

0.61
g/tAg
7
17
–
–

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

0.07
–
–
–
g/tAg
1

3
ppmMo
280
80
–
–

30
51
3,750

113
97
105
–
1.6
–
8.1
0.5
746

1,150
64
23
138
Mt
3,220

750
Mt
399
213
–
–

0.54
0.47
0.51

0.62
0.58
0.41
–
0.65
–
0.40
0.48
0.44

0.55
0.53
0.50
0.50
%Cu
0.56

1.42
%Cu
0.82
0.99
–
–

–
–
–

0.44
0.12
–
–
0.42
–
0.09
–
–

–
–
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.19

0.43
%Zn
0.14
1.80
–
–

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
50
130

–
–
–
–
g/tAu
0.24

0.53
g/tAg
8
17
–
–

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

0.10
–
–
–
g/tAg
1

3
ppmMo
260
80
–
–

Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

0.2

0.42

0.09

897

0.39

80

2,340

10,100

6.0

25

5.6

22

29

–

–

–

1,690

5,450

3,070

15

37

82

Mt

180

Mt

607

239

256

158

0.69

0.48

0.53

0.58

0.64

0.42

0.36

–

–

–

0.44

0.54

0.45

0.59

%Cu

0.58

1.40

%Cu

0.82

1.05

1.25

1.16

0.39

0.13

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.20

0.39

%Zn

0.14

1.50

0.22

1.41

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

g/tAu

0.23

0.61

8

16

12

15

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

1

3

240

70

160

60

18,900

126

140

187

167

212

20

–

100

16

1,690

188

60

220

Mt

9,590

1,730

Mt

1,210

535

256

158

0.58

0.49

0.54

0.62

0.59

0.43

0.36

0.65

–

0.55

0.59

0.43

0.46

0.57

0.47

0.53

%Cu

0.57

1.48

%Cu

0.82

0.99

1.25

1.16

0.43

0.12

0.37

0.10

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.19

0.44

%Zn

0.14

1.65

0.22

1.41

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

90

120

g/tAu

0.26

0.58

8

17

12

15

0.04

6,890

0.06

BHP 

interest 

%

57.5

100

100

57.5

57.5

57.5

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

1

3

33.75

250

80

160

60

19,400

141

152

187

155

212

29

0.7

111

21

1,610

2,390

7,440

188

60

223

Mt

1,070

Mt

1,250

554

242

168

0.60

0.49

0.55

0.63

0.61

0.43

0.37

0.66

0.26

0.58

0.64

0.43

0.45

0.57

0.47

0.54

%Cu

0.62

1.67

%Cu

0.83

0.96

1.31

1.20

0.44

0.11

0.40

0.12

0.10

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.21

0.49

%Zn

0.13

1.67

0.22

1.41

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

100

120

g/tAu

0.28

0.64

8

16

12

17

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

1

3

0.05

230

70

110

50

kg/tU3O8

g/tAg

kg/tU3O8

g/tAg

kg/tU3O8

g/tAg

100

10,100

g/tAg

ppmMo

g/tAg

ppmMo

g/tAg

ppmMo

≥ 0.20%SCu
≥ 0.30%TCu
≥ 0.25%TCu or ≥0.30%TCu depending on processing

≥ 0.20%SCu
−
≥ 0.30%TCu and greater than variable cut-off (V_COG) of the 
concentrator. Sulphide ore is processed in the concentrator 
plants as a result of an optimised mine plan with consideration 
of technical and economical parameters in order to maximise 
net present value. 
≥ 0.25%TCu and lower than V_COG and with >30% of copper 
carried by more leachable copper minerals. Sulphide Leach 
ore is processed by dump leaching as an alternative to the 
concentrator process.
≥ 0.25%TCu

≥ 0.30%TCu
−
≥ 0.30%TCu
≥ 0.20%TCu or ≥ 0.30%TCu depending on processing
≥ 0.20%TCu 

≥ 0.30%TCu 
≥ 0.30%TCu
≥ 0.30%TCu
Variable between 0.10%Cu and 0.30%Cu
Variable between 0.60%Cu and 1.0%Cu
–

–
–
−
–
Variable between 1.0%Cu and 1.7%Cu
≥ 0.6%Cu

Copper

Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1

Copper operations
Escondida2

Cerro Colorado3

Spence4

Ore type

Oxide
Mixed
Sulphide

Oxide
Supergene Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide
Hypogene Sulphide
Oxide
Low-grade Oxide
Supergene Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide
Hypogene Sulphide

Copper projects
Pampa Escondida5
Pinta Verde

Sulphide
Oxide
Sulphide
Chimborazo
Sulphide
Copper uranium gold operation
Olympic Dam6

OC Sulphide

Copper zinc operation
Antamina7

UG Sulphide

Sulphide Cu only
Sulphide Cu-Zn
UG Suphide Cu only
UG Sulphide Cu-Zn

1  Cut-off criteria:

Deposit

Escondida

Ore type

Oxide
Mixed
Sulphide

≥ 0.25%TCu

≥ 0.20%TCu
≥ 0.20%TCu
≥ 0.20%TCu 
≥ 0.20%TCu
≥ 0.20%TCu

Sulphide Leach

−

Cerro Colorado

Spence

Pampa Escondida
Pinta Verde
Chimborazo
Olympic Dam

Oxide & Supergene 
Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide
Hypogene Sulphide
Oxide
Supergene Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide & 
Hypogene Sulphide
Sulphide
Oxide & Sulphide
Sulphide
OC Sulphide
UG Sulphide
Low-grade

212

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit1

Copper operations

Escondida2

Cerro Colorado3

Ore type

Oxide

Mixed

Sulphide

Oxide

Spence4

Oxide

Copper projects

Pampa Escondida5

Sulphide

Pinta Verde

Chimborazo

Oxide

Sulphide

Sulphide

Supergene Sulphide

Transitional Sulphide

Hypogene Sulphide

Low-grade Oxide

Supergene Sulphide

Transitional Sulphide

Hypogene Sulphide

Copper zinc operation

Antamina7

UG Sulphide

Sulphide Cu only

Sulphide Cu-Zn

UG Suphide Cu only

UG Sulphide Cu-Zn

5,080

90

64

68

48

78

18

–

–

92

15

700

294

109

–

–

Mt

800

Mt

205

83

–

–

0.59

0.51

0.59

0.61

0.59

0.45

0.65

–

–

0.56

0.59

0.46

0.53

0.60

–

–

%Cu

0.58

1.55

%Cu

0.83

0.82

–

–

0.42

0.11

0.37

0.10

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.19

0.46

%Zn

0.14

1.71

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

90

160

g/tAu

0.32

0.61

g/tAg

7

17

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

1

3

–

–

ppmMo

280

80

30

51

3,750

113

97

105

1.6

–

–

8.1

0.5

746

64

23

138

Mt

750

Mt

399

213

–

–

3,220

0.54

0.47

0.51

0.62

0.58

0.41

0.65

–

–

0.40

0.48

0.44

0.55

0.53

0.50

0.50

%Cu

0.56

1.42

%Cu

0.82

0.99

–

–

0.44

0.12

0.42

0.09

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.19

0.43

%Zn

0.14

1.80

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

50

130

g/tAu

0.24

0.53

g/tAg

8

17

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

1

3

–

–

ppmMo

260

80

0.07

1,150

0.10

Copper uranium gold operation

Olympic Dam6

OC Sulphide

3,300

kg/tU3O8

g/tAg

kg/tU3O8

g/tAg

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

6.0
25
10,100

5.6
22
29
1,690
–
–
0.2
–
897

5,450
15
37
82
Mt
3,070

180
Mt
607
239
256
158

0.69
0.48
0.53

0.58
0.64
0.42
0.36
–
–
0.42
–
0.39

0.44
0.54
0.45
0.59
%Cu
0.58

1.40
%Cu
0.82
1.05
1.25
1.16

–
–
–

0.39
0.13
–
–
–
–
0.09
–
–

–
–
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.20

0.39
%Zn
0.14
1.50
0.22
1.41

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
80

–
–
–
–
g/tAu
0.23

0.61
g/tAg
8
16
12
15

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

0.04
–
–
–
g/tAg
1

3
ppmMo
240
70
160
60

126
140
18,900

187
167
212
1,690
20
–
100
16
2,340

6,890
188
60
220
Mt
9,590

1,730
Mt
1,210
535
256
158

0.58
0.49
0.54

0.62
0.59
0.43
0.36
0.65
–
0.55
0.59
0.43

0.46
0.57
0.47
0.53
%Cu
0.57

1.48
%Cu
0.82
0.99
1.25
1.16

–
–
–

0.43
0.12
–
–
0.37
–
0.10
–
–

–
–
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.19

0.44
%Zn
0.14
1.65
0.22
1.41

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
90
120

–
–
–
–
g/tAu
0.26

0.58
g/tAg
8
17
12
15

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

0.06
–
–
–
g/tAg
1

3
ppmMo
250
80
160
60

BHP 
interest 
%

57.5

100

100

57.5
57.5

57.5

100

33.75

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

Mt %TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

g/tAu

141
152
19,400

187
155
212
1,610
29
0.7
111
21
2,390

7,440
188
60
223
Mt
10,100

1,070
Mt
1,250
554
242
168

0.60
0.49
0.55

0.63
0.61
0.43
0.37
0.66
0.26
0.58
0.64
0.43

0.45
0.57
0.47
0.54
%Cu
0.62

1.67
%Cu
0.83
0.96
1.31
1.20

–
–
–

0.44
0.11
–
–
0.40
0.12
0.10
–
–

–
–
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.21

0.49
%Zn
0.13
1.67
0.22
1.41

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100
120

–
–
–
–
g/tAu
0.28

0.64
g/tAg
8
16
12
17

–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

0.05
–
–
–
g/tAg
1

3
ppmMo
230
70
110
50

Deposit

Antamina

Ore type

Sulphide Cu only

Sulphide Cu-Zn

UG Sulphide Cu only

UG Sulphide Cu-Zn

Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

Net value per concentrator hour (US$/h) incorporating 
all material revenue and cost factors and includes 
metallurgical recovery (see footnote 10 for averages). 
Mineralisation at the US$0/hr limit is approximately 
equivalent 0.16%Cu, 2.0g/tAg, 130ppmMo with 6,815t/hr 
mill throughput.
Net value per concentrator hour (US$/h) incorporating 
all material revenue and cost factors and includes 
metallurgical recovery (see footnote 10 for averages). 
Mineralisation at the US$0/hr limit is approximately 
equivalent to 0.07%Cu, 0.74%Zn, 2.9g/tAg with 6,384t/hr  
mill throughput.
Net smelter return (NSR) value incorporating all material 
revenue and includes metallurgical recovery. Only sub-
level stoping mining method at US$53.8/t break-even 
cut-off was applied, equivalent to 0.84%Cu, 9.2g/tAg and 
130ppmMo. Predicted metallurgical recoveries of 93% for 
Cu, 82% for Ag and 59% for Mo.
NSR value incorporating all material revenue and includes 
metallurgical recovery. Only sub-level stoping mining 
method at US$53.8/t break-even cut-off was applied, 
equivalent to 0.78%Cu, 1.06%Zn and 12.3g/tAg. Predicted 
metallurgical recoveries of 82% for Cu, 83% for Zn and 
86% for Ag.

Net value per concentrator hour (US$/h) incorporating all 
material revenue and cost factors and includes metallurgical 
recovery (see footnote 10 for averages). Mineralisation at the 
US$6,000/hr limit is approximately equivalent to 0.16%Cu, 
2.0g/tAg, 160ppmMo with 6,815t/hr mill throughput.

Net value per concentrator hour (US$/h) incorporating all 
material revenue and cost factors and includes metallurgical 
recovery (see footnote 10 for averages). Mineralisation at the 
US$6,000/hr limit is approximately equivalent to 0.07%Cu, 
0.80%Zn, 2.9g/tAg with 6,384t/hr mill throughput.

−

−

2  Escondida – The decrease in Oxide and Mixed ore types was due to depletion partially offset by an update in the resource estimate supported by additional drilling. 
3  Cerro Colorado – The increase in Supergene Sulphide ore type was mainly due to an updated resource estimate supported by additional drilling and a reduction in cut-off 

grade. The increase in Hypogene Sulphide ore type was mainly due to an updated resource estimate supported by additional drilling. 

4  Spence – Low-grade Oxide included with Oxide ore type. The decrease in Oxide, Supergene Sulphide and Transitional ore types was mainly due to depletion.
5   Pampa Escondida – The decrease in Mineral Resources is due to an update in economic assumptions.
6   Olympic Dam – The increase in UG Sulphide ore type and an associated decrease in OC Sulphide ore type was due to a reduction in UG Sulphide ore type cut-off grade. 
7   Antamina – The increase in UG Sulphide Cu-only with an associated decrease in UG Sulphide Cu-Zn ore types was due to an update in the geological interpretation 

supported by additional drilling.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

213

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewOre type

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Total Reserves

Copper continued

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1,8,9,10

Copper operations
Escondida12

Cerro Colorado11,13

Spence11,14

Oxide
Sulphide
Sulphide Leach
Oxide
Supergene Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide
Oxide 
Supergene Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide
Hypogene Sulphide

Copper uranium gold operation
Olympic Dam15

UG Sulphide
Low-grade

Copper zinc operation
Antamina16

Sulphide Cu only
Sulphide Cu-Zn

129
3,160
1,420
1.7
0.8
6.0
17
91
15
704
Mt

298
–
Mt
120
48

0.58
0.70
0.42
0.36
0.51
0.50
0.67
0.56
0.59
0.46
%Cu

1.95
–
%Cu
0.93
0.88

–
–
–
0.26
0.07
–
0.38
0.10
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.58
–
%Zn
0.15
1.91

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
90
160
g/tAu

0.71
–
g/tAg
7
14

g/tAg

5
−
ppmMo
360
90

53
1,750
233
0.5
0.2
0.2
0.4
8.0
0.5
702
Mt

287
42
Mt
79
63

0.52
0.57
0.40
0.31
0.44
0.45
0.59
0.40
0.48
0.44
%Cu

1.69
0.81
%Cu
0.98
0.97

–
–
–
0.20
0.12
–
0.38
0.09
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.53
0.27
%Zn
0.17
2.01

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
50
130
g/tAu

0.62
0.33
g/tAg
8
15

g/tAg

4
2
ppmMo
350
80

182

4,910

1,650

1,410

2.2

1.0

6.2

17

99

16

Mt

585

42

Mt

199

111

0.56

0.65

0.42

0.35

0.50

0.50

0.67

0.55

0.59

0.45

%Cu

1.82

0.81

%Cu

0.95

0.93

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.25

0.08

0.38

0.10

0.56

0.27

%Zn

0.16

1.97

kg/tU3O8

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

90

150

g/tAu

0.67

0.33

g/tAg

8

14

g/tAg

5

2

ppmMo

360

80

Reserve 

BHP 

life  

interest  

(years)

%

57

57.5

1.5

100

40

100

57

100

5.9

33.75

199

5,150

1,620

1,360

7.0

6.8

11

26

112

20

Mt

413

31

Mt

222

135

As at 30 June 2021

Total Reserves

0.56

0.64

0.41

0.46

0.53

0.50

0.67

0.58

0.64

0.45

%Cu

2.04

0.83

%Cu

0.95

0.84

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.32

0.12

0.41

0.10

0.61

0.27

%Zn

0.15

2.08

kg/tU3O8

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

100

150

g/tAu

0.70

0.34

g/tAg

7

13

Reserve 

life  

(years)

58

2.3

38

40

6.7

g/tAg

5

2

ppmMo

350

70

8  Approximate drill hole spacings used to classify the reserves were:

Deposit

Escondida

Cerro Colorado
Spence

Proved Reserves

Oxide: 30m × 30m
Sulphide: 50m × 50m
Sulphide Leach: 60m × 60m
40m to 50m
Oxide: 50m × 50m
Supergene Sulphide, Transitional Sulphide & Hypogene 
Sulphide: 70m × 70m

Probable Reserves

Oxide: 45m × 45m
Sulphide: 90m × 90m
Sulphide Leach: 115m × 115m
100m

100m × 100m for all ore types

35m to 70m
40m to 80m

Olympic Dam
Antamina

20m to 35m
25m to 45m

9  Ore delivered to process plant.
10  Metallurgical recoveries for the operations were:

Deposit

Escondida

Cerro Colorado

Spence

Olympic Dam
Antamina

Metallurgical recovery

Oxide: 54%
Sulphide: 85%
Sulphide Leach: 42%
Oxide: 72%
Supergene Sulphide: 78%
Oxide: 80%
Supergene Sulphide: 81%
Cu 94%, U3O8 68%, Au 70%, Ag 63%
Sulphide Cu only: Cu 93%, Zn 0%, Ag 82%, Mo 59%
Sulphide Cu-Zn: Cu 82%, Zn 83%, Ag 86%, Mo 0%

11  Metallurgical recoveries based on testwork:

Deposit

Metallurgical recovery

Cerro Colorado
Spence

Transitional Sulphide: 65%
Transitional Sulphide and Hypogene Sulphide: Cu 87%, 
Mo variable depending on mineralogy

12  Escondida – The decrease in Oxide and Sulphide ore types was mainly due to depletion. Oxide and Sulphide Leach ore types contribute 12 years and 29 years respectively 

to the reported reserve life. 

13  Cerro Colorado – The decrease in Ore Reserves was mainly due to depletion. Reserve life is constrained by mining permit expiry in 2023. 
14  Spence – The decrease in Oxide and Transitional Sulphide ore types was mainly due to depletion. The increase in Hypogene Sulphide ore type was mainly due to an update 

in the resource estimate supported by additional drilling, resulting with an increase in reserve life.

15  Olympic Dam – The increase in UG Sulphide and Low-grade ore types and reserve life were due to a reduction in cut-off grade supported by mine planning studies.
16  Antamina – The decrease in Ore Reserves and reduction in reserve life was mainly due to depletion. 

214

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit1,8,9,10

Copper operations

Escondida12

Cerro Colorado11,13

Oxide

Spence11,14

Oxide 

Ore type

Oxide

Sulphide

Sulphide Leach

Supergene Sulphide

Transitional Sulphide

Supergene Sulphide

Transitional Sulphide

Hypogene Sulphide

Copper uranium gold operation

Olympic Dam15

UG Sulphide

Low-grade

Copper zinc operation

Antamina16

Sulphide Cu only

Sulphide Cu-Zn

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Total Reserves

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

129

3,160

1,420

1.7

0.8

6.0

17

91

15

704

Mt

298

–

Mt

120

48

0.58

0.70

0.42

0.36

0.51

0.50

0.67

0.56

0.59

0.46

%Cu

1.95

–

%Cu

0.93

0.88

0.26

0.07

0.38

0.10

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

%Zn

0.15

1.91

kg/tU3O8

0.58

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

90

160

g/tAu

0.71

–

7

14

g/tAg

5

−

360

90

g/tAg

ppmMo

53

1,750

233

0.5

0.2

0.2

0.4

8.0

0.5

702

Mt

287

42

Mt

79

63

0.52

0.57

0.40

0.31

0.44

0.45

0.59

0.40

0.48

0.44

%Cu

1.69

0.81

%Cu

0.98

0.97

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.20

0.12

0.38

0.09

0.53

0.27

%Zn

0.17

2.01

kg/tU3O8

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

50

130

g/tAu

0.62

0.33

g/tAg

8

15

g/tAg

4

2

ppmMo

350

80

182
4,910
1,650
2.2
1.0
6.2
17
99
16
1,410
Mt

585
42
Mt
199
111

0.56
0.65
0.42
0.35
0.50
0.50
0.67
0.55
0.59
0.45
%Cu

1.82
0.81
%Cu
0.95
0.93

–
–
–
0.25
0.08
–
0.38
0.10
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.56
0.27
%Zn
0.16
1.97

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
90
150
g/tAu

0.67
0.33
g/tAg
8
14

g/tAg

5
2
ppmMo
360
80

Reserve 
life  
(years)

BHP 
interest  
%

57

57.5

1.5

100

40

100

57

100

5.9

33.75

As at 30 June 2021

Total Reserves

Mt

%TCu

%SCu

ppmMo

Reserve 
life  
(years)

199
5,150
1,620
7.0
6.8
11
26
112
20
1,360
Mt

413
31
Mt
222
135

0.56
0.64
0.41
0.46
0.53
0.50
0.67
0.58
0.64
0.45
%Cu

2.04
0.83
%Cu
0.95
0.84

–
–
–
0.32
0.12
–
0.41
0.10
–
–
kg/tU3O8
0.61
0.27
%Zn
0.15
2.08

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100
150
g/tAu

0.70
0.34
g/tAg
7
13

g/tAg

5
2
ppmMo
350
70

58

2.3

38

40

6.7

BHP

Annual Report 2022

215

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewIron ore

Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1,2

Iron ore operations
Australia
WAIO3,4,5,6

Brazil
Samarco7

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit

Iron ore operation
Australia
WAIO1,3,4,8,9,10,11,12,13

Ore type

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

BKM
CID
DID
MM
NIM

ROM

2,860
350
–
1,660
10
Mt
3,150

60.7
55.8
–
61.6
59.0
%Fe
39.3

0.13
0.05
–
0.07
0.08
%Pc
0.05

4.6
6.3
–
3.2
10.1

2.6
2.3
–
1.7
1.2

5.3
11.1
–
6.3
3.9

5,050
350
200
1,930
120
Mt
1,880

59.7
56.3
61.7
59.9
61.6
%Fe
37.6

0.14
0.06
0.05
0.06
0.06
%Pc
0.05

5.2
6.4
3.8
4.6
8.0

2.5
2.3
3.6
2.2
1.1

6.1
10.3
3.6
7.0
1.7

12,350

880

60

4,590

70

Mt

600

58.8

54.7

60.1

59.2

60.4

%Fe

37.2

0.14

0.06

0.06

0.07

0.05

%Pc

0.06

5.8

6.8

4.8

5.1

10.0

2.7

3.0

4.3

2.4

1.2

6.7

11.1

4.2

7.2

1.7

20,260

1,570

260

8,180

200

Mt

5,630

59.3

55.3

61.3

59.8

61.1

%Fe

38.5

0.14

0.06

0.06

0.07

0.06

%Pc

0.05

5.5

6.6

4.0

4.6

8.8

2.6

2.7

3.7

2.2

1.2

6.3

10.9

3.7

7.0

1.8

20,440

1,630

210

8,280

200

Mt

59.4

55.3

61.6

60.1

61.1

%Fe

38.3

0.14

0.06

0.06

0.07

0.06

%Pc

0.05

50

5,900

5.4

6.6

3.9

4.3

8.8

2.6

2.6

3.6

2.2

1.2

6.3

10.9

3.6

6.9

1.8

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

BHP 

interest 

%

88

Ore type

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P

%SiO2

%Al2O3

%LOI

(years)

%

Mt

%Fe

%P

%SiO2

%Al2O3

%LOI

(years)

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Total Reserves

Reserve 

BHP 

life 

interest  

As at 30 June 2021

Total Reserves

BKM
BKM Bene
CID
MM

1,260
–
50
750

62.4
–
56.9
62.4

0.13
–
0.05
0.06

3.2
–
5.4
2.7

2.3
–
1.6
1.5

4.6
–
11.1
6.0

1,420
–
10
1,140

61.8
–
57.7
61.2

0.13
–
0.05
0.06

3.8
–
5.0
3.4

2.3
–
1.4
1.8

4.9
–
10.6
6.6

2,680

–

60

1,900

62.1

–

57.0

61.7

0.13

–

0.05

0.06

3.6

–

5.4

3.2

2.3

–

1.6

1.7

4.7

–

11.0

6.4

16

88

2,480

30

60

1,880

62.4

59.4

57.2

61.6

0.13

0.13

0.05

0.06

3.4

7.5

5.6

3.2

2.2

3.4

1.7

1.7

4.7

2.0

10.5

6.4

Reserve 

life 

15

1   The Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves qualities listed refer to in situ mass percentage on a dry weight basis. Wet tonnes are reported for WAIO deposits and Samarco, 
including moisture contents for WAIO: BKM – Brockman 3%, CID – Channel Iron Deposits 8%, DID – Detrital Iron Deposits 4%, MM – Marra Mamba 4%, NIM – Nimingarra 
3.5% and Samarco: ROM – 6.5%.

2   A single cut-off grade was applied in WAIO per deposit ranging from 50-58%Fe with an additional threshold of <6%Al203 applied to the DID ore type. For Samarco the cut-off 

grade was 22%Fe. 

3   WAIO – Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are reported on a Pilbara basis by ore type to align with our production of blended lump products which comprises BKM and 

MM ore types and blended fines products including CID. This also reflects our single logistics chain and associated management system.

4   WAIO – BHP interest is reported as Pilbara Ore Reserves tonnes weighted average across all joint ventures which can vary from year to year. BHP ownership varies between 

85% and 100%.

5   WAIO – The increase in DID ore type was due to updated resource estimates supported by additional drilling.
6   WAIO – Mineral Resources are restricted to areas which have been identified for inclusion based on a risk assessment, including heritage sites. 
7   Samarco – The decrease in Mineral Resources is due to changes in geotechnical parameters partially offset by economic assumptions.  
8   Approximate drill hole spacings used to classify the reserves were: 

Deposit

WAIO

Proved Reserves

50m × 50m

Probable Reserves

150m × 50m

9   WAIO – Recovery was 100% for all ore types (tonnage basis). 
10  WAIO – Iron ore is marketed for WAIO as Lump (direct blast furnace feed) and Fines (sinter plant feed).
11  WAIO – Cut-off grades used to estimate Ore Reserves range from 50–62%Fe for all material types. Ore delivered to process facility. 
12  WAIO – Ore Reserves are all located on State Agreement mining leases that guarantee the right to mine. Across WAIO, State Government approvals (including 

environmental and heritage clearances) are required before commencing mining operations in a particular area. Included in the Ore Reserves are select areas where one 
or more approvals remain outstanding, but where, based on the technical investigations carried out as part of the mine planning process and company knowledge and 
experience of the approvals process, it is expected that such approvals will be obtained as part of the normal course of business and within the time frame required by the 
current mine schedule.

13  WAIO – The increase in BKM ore type and reserve life was due to an updated resource estimate and updated geotechnical parameters partially offset by depletion. 

BKM Bene ore type is included in the BKM ore type. 

216

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit1,2

Iron ore operations

Australia

WAIO3,4,5,6

Brazil

Samarco7

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit

Iron ore operation

Australia

Ore type

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

BHP 
interest 
%

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3 %LOI

BKM

CID

DID

MM

NIM

ROM

2,860

350

–

1,660

10

Mt

3,150

60.7

55.8

–

61.6

59.0

%Fe

39.3

0.13

0.05

–

0.07

0.08

%Pc

0.05

4.6

6.3

–

3.2

10.1

2.6

2.3

–

1.7

1.2

5.3

11.1

–

6.3

3.9

5,050

350

200

1,930

120

Mt

1,880

59.7

56.3

61.7

59.9

61.6

%Fe

37.6

0.14

0.06

0.05

0.06

0.06

%Pc

0.05

5.2

6.4

3.8

4.6

8.0

2.5

2.3

3.6

2.2

1.1

6.1

10.3

3.6

7.0

1.7

12,350
880
60
4,590
70
Mt
600

58.8
54.7
60.1
59.2
60.4
%Fe
37.2

0.14
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.05
%Pc
0.06

5.8
6.8
4.8
5.1
10.0

2.7
3.0
4.3
2.4
1.2

6.7
11.1
4.2
7.2
1.7

20,260
1,570
260
8,180
200
Mt
5,630

59.3
55.3
61.3
59.8
61.1
%Fe
38.5

0.14
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.06
%Pc
0.05

5.5
6.6
4.0
4.6
8.8

2.6
2.7
3.7
2.2
1.2

6.3
10.9
3.7
7.0
1.8

88

50

20,440
1,630
210
8,280
200
Mt
5,900

59.4
55.3
61.6
60.1
61.1
%Fe
38.3

0.14
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.06
%Pc
0.05

5.4
6.6
3.9
4.3
8.8

2.6
2.6
3.6
2.2
1.2

6.3
10.9
3.6
6.9
1.8

Ore type

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P %SiO2 %Al2O3

%LOI

Mt

%Fe

%P

%SiO2

%Al2O3

%LOI

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Total Reserves

WAIO1,3,4,8,9,10,11,12,13

BKM

BKM Bene

CID

MM

1,260

62.4

0.13

–

50

750

–

56.9

62.4

–

0.05

0.06

3.2

–

5.4

2.7

2.3

–

1.6

1.5

4.6

–

11.1

6.0

1,420

61.8

0.13

–

10

1,140

–

57.7

61.2

–

0.05

0.06

3.8

–

5.0

3.4

2.3

–

1.4

1.8

4.9

–

10.6

6.6

2,680
–
60
1,900

62.1
–
57.0
61.7

0.13
–
0.05
0.06

3.6
–
5.4
3.2

2.3
–
1.6
1.7

4.7
–
11.0
6.4

Reserve 
life 
(years)

BHP 
interest  
%

16

88

As at 30 June 2021

Total Reserves

Mt

%Fe

%P

%SiO2

%Al2O3

%LOI

2,480
30
60
1,880

62.4
59.4
57.2
61.6

0.13
0.13
0.05
0.06

3.4
7.5
5.6
3.2

2.2
3.4
1.7
1.7

4.7
2.0
10.5
6.4

Reserve 
life 
(years)

15

BHP

Annual Report 2022

217

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewMetallurgical coal

Coal Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1,2

Mining  
method

Coal  
type

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

BHP 

interest  

%

Metallurgical coal operations
Queensland coal
CQCA JV
Goonyella Riverside 
Broadmeadow3
Goonyella Complex3

Peak Downs
Caval Ridge
Saraji4

Norwich Park5

Saraji South5

Blackwater

Daunia6

BHP Mitsui Coal7
South Walker Creek

OC
UG
Poitrel
OC
Metallurgical coal projects
Queensland coal
CQCA JV
Red Hill3

Saraji East4

BHP Mitsui Coal7
Nebo West
Bee Creek
Wards Well

OC
UG
OC
UG
OC
OC
OC
OC
UG
OC
UG
OC
UG
OC
UG
OC
OC

OC
UG
OC
UG

OC
OC
UG
UG

OC

UG
OC

OC
UG
OC

Met
Met
Met
Met
Met
Met
Met
Met/Th 
Met/Th
Met
Met
Met
Met
Met/Th
Met/Th
Met/PCI
Met/Th

Met/PCI
Met/PCI
Met

Met
Met
Met
Met

Anth
Met/Th 
Met/PCI 
Met

–
–
623
1,423
1,012
304
–
1,131
81
–
–
281
–
322
–
–
92

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
8.7
9.8
10.2
12.3
–
10.4
9.5
–
–
9.4
–
5.2
–
–
12.9

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
21.9
20.8
19.4
22.0
–
16.9
15.7
–
–
17.2
–
29.6
–
–
20.2

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
0.51
0.53
0.60
0.56
–
0.62
0.56
–
–
0.66
–
0.42
–
–
0.42

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

50

662

424

147

463

200

779

222

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

9

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

12.4

9.3

11.4

11.9

12.2

13.1

6.6

7.2

–

30.2

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

24.8

18.9

20.2

18.8

15.7

16.3

0.59

0.51

0.75

0.49

0.67

0.60

22.1

20.0

19.4

20.7

16.4

16.2

0.52

0.52

0.63

0.54

0.65

0.59

84

10.5

16.8

0.74

491

17.1

0.69

29.8

29.1

0.43

0.36

29.7

29.1

0.43

0.36

17.1

0.35

15.1

19.8

0.42

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

795

2,508

1,944

666

2,100

445

1,628

222

–

120

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

9.0

9.7

10.5

12.1

11.0

11.7

9.7

6.0

7.2

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

50

50

50

50

–

50

50

50

–

–

–

–

–

–

820

1,002

1,968

681

932

–

–

–

–

–

–

465

42

222

137

–

391

298

150

1,642

25

1,686

1,637

51

71

23

–

1,313

10.5

12.1

10.8

9.1

9.8

–

–

–

–

–

–

9.8

9.7

6.0

7.2

8.1

–

10.0

10.0

8.0

12.4

9.9

10.2

8.4

10.0

9.3

8.9

–

22.8

21.9

–

–

–

–

–

–

19.4

20.7

17.6

17.6

17.2

29.7

29.1

20.8

–

14.0

13.7

24.0

19.8

19.8

15.7

13.7

7.2

15.2

20.8

–

0.53

0.53

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.64

0.54

0.66

0.70

0.69

0.43

0.36

0.36

–

0.32

0.31

0.36

0.49

0.52

0.66

0.59

0.67

0.41

0.52

–

–
–
122
423
508
216
–
506
164
–
–
126
–
528
–
–
19

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
9.3
10.3
10.4
11.9
–
11.0
11.0
–
–
9.7
–
5.5
–
–
18.8

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
22.0
19.4
19.1
20.1
–
16.0
16.3
–
–
17.2
–
29.7
–
–
18.9

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
0.53
0.54
0.63
0.56
–
0.68
0.59
–
–
0.72
–
0.44
–
–
0.43

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

Coal Reserves

≥ 0.5m seam thickness
≥ 2.0m seam thickness
≥ 0.5m seam thickness
≥ 0.3m seam thickness

≥ 0.5m seam thickness

≥ 2.0m seam thickness
≥ 0.5m seam thickness

≥ 0.3m seam thickness
≥ 2.0m seam thickness
≥ 0.3m seam thickness

1  Tonnages are reported on an in situ moisture basis. Coal qualities are for a potential product on an air-dried basis.
2  Cut-off criteria: 

Deposit

Mining method

Coal Resources

Goonyella Complex OC
UG
OC
OC

Peak Downs
Caval Ridge
Saraji

Saraji South

Blackwater

Daunia

≥ 0.5m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <35% raw ash
≥ 2.0m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <35% raw ash
≥ 0.5m seam thickness and <35% raw ash
≥ 0.3m seam thickness, core yield ≥30% and <35% raw ash

≥ 0.5m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <35% raw ash

≥ 2.0m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <35% raw ash
≥ 0.5m seam thickness, core yield ≥50%

≥ 0.3m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <40% raw ash
≥ 2.0m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <40% raw ash
≥ 0.3m seam thickness, core yield ≥50% and <35% raw ash

3  Goonyella Complex – Includes Broadmeadow, Goonyella Riverside and Red Hill Coal Resources. The decrease in OC Coal Resources was due to an updated resource 

estimate and depletion. The decrease in UG Coal Resources was due to changes in the mine plan.

4  Saraji Coal Resources – Includes Saraji East Coal Resources. The increase in UG Coal Resources and associated decrease in OC Coal Resources was due to a change  

in mining method assumptions. Change in coal type from Met to Met/Th. 

5  Saraji South – Norwich Park has been renamed to Saraji South and remained on care and maintenance. 
6  Daunia – The decrease in Coal Resources was due to an update in the resource estimate. Change in coal type from Met/PCI to Met/Th.
7  Divestment of BHP Mitsui Coal completed 3 May 2022.

218

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coal Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Queensland coal

CQCA JV

Goonyella Riverside 

Broadmeadow3

Goonyella Complex3

Peak Downs

Caval Ridge

Saraji4

Norwich Park5

Saraji South5

Blackwater

Daunia6

BHP Mitsui Coal7

South Walker Creek

Poitrel

Metallurgical coal projects

Queensland coal

CQCA JV

Red Hill3

Saraji East4

BHP Mitsui Coal7

Nebo West

Bee Creek

Wards Well

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

OC

OC

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

OC

OC

UG

OC

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

OC

UG

UG

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met/Th 

Met/Th

Met/Th

Met/Th

Met/PCI

Met/Th

Met/PCI

Met/PCI

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met

Anth

Met/Th 

Met/PCI 

Met

623

1,423

1,012

304

1,131

81

281

322

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

8.7

9.8

10.2

12.3

10.4

9.5

9.4

5.2

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

21.9

20.8

19.4

22.0

16.9

15.7

0.51

0.53

0.60

0.56

0.62

0.56

17.2

0.66

29.6

0.42

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

122

423

508

216

506

164

126

528

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

9.3

10.3

10.4

11.9

11.0

11.0

9.7

5.5

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

22.0

19.4

19.1

20.1

16.0

16.3

0.53

0.54

0.63

0.56

0.68

0.59

17.2

0.72

29.7

0.44

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

92

12.9

20.2

0.42

19

18.8

18.9

0.43

Commodity  

deposit1,2

Mining  

method

Coal  

type

Metallurgical coal operations

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

BHP 
interest  
%

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

–
–
50
662
424
147
–
463
200
–
–
84
–
779
222
–
9

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
12.4
9.3
11.4
11.9
–
12.2
13.1
–
–
10.5
–
6.6
7.2
–
30.2

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
24.8
18.9
20.2
18.8
–
15.7
16.3
–
–
16.8
–
29.8
29.1
–
17.1

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
0.59
0.51
0.75
0.49
–
0.67
0.60
–
–
0.74
–
0.43
0.36
–
0.35

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
795
2,508
1,944
666
–
2,100
445
–
–
491
–
1,628
222
–
120

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
9.0
9.7
10.5
12.1
–
11.0
11.7
–
–
9.7
–
6.0
7.2
–
15.1

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
22.1
20.0
19.4
20.7
–
16.4
16.2
–
–
17.1
–
29.7
29.1
–
19.8

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
0.52
0.52
0.63
0.54
–
0.65
0.59
–
–
0.69
–
0.43
0.36
–
0.42

–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–

50

50
50
50

–

50

50

50

–

–

–

–
–
–

820
1,002
–
–
1,968
681
932
–
–
465
42
–
–
1,642
222
137
–

391
298
150

25
1,686
1,637
51

71
23
1,313
–

9.1
9.8
–
–
10.5
12.1
10.8
–
–
9.8
9.7
–
–
6.0
7.2
8.1
–

10.0
10.0
8.0

12.4
9.9
10.2
8.4

10.0
9.3
8.9
–

22.8
21.9
–
–
19.4
20.7
17.6
–
–
17.6
17.2
–
–
29.7
29.1
20.8
–

14.0
13.7
24.0

19.8
19.8
15.7
13.7

7.2
15.2
20.8
–

0.53
0.53
–
–
0.64
0.54
0.66
–
–
0.70
0.69
–
–
0.43
0.36
0.36
–

0.32
0.31
0.36

0.49
0.52
0.66
0.59

0.67
0.41
0.52
–

BHP

Annual Report 2022

219

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewMetallurgical coal continued

Coal Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1,2,8,9,10,11

Mining  
method

Coal  
type

Proved 
Reserves

Probable 
Reserves

Total 
Reserves

Proved Marketable Reserves

Probable Marketable Reserves

Total Marketable Reserves

Total Marketable Reserves

Mt

Mt

Mt

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Reserve  

life  

(years)

BHP  

interest  

%

As at 30 June 2021

Metallurgical coal operations
Queensland coal
CQCA JV
Goonyella Riverside
Broadmeadow12
Goonyella Complex12

OC
UG
OC
UG
OC
OC
OC
OC
OC
OC
OC
OC

Peak Downs13,14
Caval Ridge15
Saraji13
Norwich Park16
Saraji South16
Blackwater13
Daunia13,17

BHP Mitsui Coal7
South Walker Creek
Poitrel

OC
OC

Met
Met
Met
Met
Met/Th
Met
Met/Th 
Met
Met
Met/Th
Met/PCI
Met/Th

Met/PCI
Met

–
–
425
38
749
209
442
–
151
147
–
73

–
–

–
–
54
–
296
109
54
–
32
225
–
13

–
–

–
–
479
38
1,045
318
496
–
183
372
–
86

–
–

–
–
314
29
444
121
284
–
106
128
–
60

–
–

–
–
8.8
9.0
10.6
10.5
10.5
–
9.5
8.8
–
8.1

–
–

–
–
22.4
22.9
21.8
22.3
17.9
–
17.5
26.5
–
20.4

–
–

–
–
0.52
0.53
0.58
0.57
0.63
–
0.66
0.43
–
0.34

–
–

–
–
40
–
168
67
24
–
22
191
–
11

–
–

–
–
9.7
–
10.6
10.5
10.6
–
10.7
9.1
–
9.0

–
–

–
–
23.2
–
22.1
22.4
19.2
–
17.3
26.2
–
20.1

–
–

–
–
0.54
–
0.69
0.57
0.88
–
0.72
0.42
–
0.31

–
–

–

–

355

29

612

188

308

–

128

319

–

71

–

–

–

–

8.9

9.0

10.6

10.5

10.5

–

9.7

9.0

–

8.2

–

–

–

–

22.5

22.9

21.9

22.3

18.0

17.5

26.3

20.4

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.52

0.53

0.61

0.57

0.65

0.67

0.42

0.34

–

–

–

–

–

25

44

29

30

–

87

24

17

–

–

–

50

50

50

50

–

50

50

50

–

–

405

108

–

–

623

196

318

165

–

331

73

–

98

39

9.2

9.3

–

–

10.6

11.0

10.5

10.3

–

9.0

8.2

–

9.2

8.1

25.3

23.5

–

–

21.8

22.3

18.0

16.7

26.3

20.2

–

–

13.5

23.1

Reserve  

life  

(years)

31

–

38

27

31

65

–

25

16

15

8.5

0.53

0.55

–

–

0.61

0.57

0.65

0.70

0.42

0.34

–

–

0.29

0.31

8  Geophysically logged, laboratory analysed, cored drillholes with a coal sample linear recovery greater than 95% were used to classify Coal Reserves. Drillhole spacings 

vary between seams and geological domains, as determined by geostatistical analysis where possible. The range of maximum drillhole spacings used to classify the Coal 
Reserves were: 

Deposit

Goonyella Complex
Peak Downs
Caval Ridge
Saraji
Saraji South
Blackwater
Daunia

9  Product recoveries for the operations were:

Deposit

Goonyella Complex
Peak Downs
Caval Ridge
Saraji
Blackwater
Daunia

Proved Reserves

900m to 1,300m 
250m to 1,500m 
500m to 1,050m 
450m to 2,200m  
500m to 2,650m 
450m to 1,000m  
550m to 950m  

Product recovery

74% 
59%
59%
62%
86%
83%

Probable Reserves

1,750m to 2,400m
500m to 2,500m
500m to 2,100m
800m to 4,000m
1,000m to 3,600m
900m to 1,850m
1,000m to 1,800m

10  Total Coal Reserves were at 4% moisture content when mined. Total Marketable Reserves were at a product specification moisture content (9.5-10% Goonyella Complex; 
9.5% Peak Downs; 10.5% Caval Ridge; 10.1% Saraji; 10-11% Saraji South; 7.5-11.5% Blackwater; 10-10.5% Daunia) and at an air-dried quality basis for sale after the 
beneficiation of the Total Coal Reserves. 

11  Coal delivered to handling plant.
12  Goonyella Complex – Includes Goonyella Riverside and Broadmeadow Coal Reserves which use the same infrastructure and reserve life applies to both. The decrease in 

Coal Reserves and reserve life was mainly due to changes in the mine plan and changes in modifying factors.

13  Percentage of secondary thermal products for Reserves with coal type Met/Th are: Peak Downs 6%; Saraji 1%; Blackwater 2%; Daunia 3%. Contributions may vary year  

on year based on market demand.

14  Peak Downs – The increase in reserve life was due to a reduction in the nominated production rate.
15  Caval Ridge – The increase in reserve life was due to a reduction in the nominated production rate.
16  Saraji South – Norwich Park has been renamed to Saraji South and remained on care and maintenance. The decrease of Coal Reserves and reserve life was mainly due  

to changes in modifying factors. 

17  Daunia – The increase in reserve life was due to a reduction in the nominated production rate.  

220

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coal Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit1,2,8,9,10,11

Mining  

method

Coal  

type

Metallurgical coal operations

Queensland coal

CQCA JV

Goonyella Riverside

Broadmeadow12

Goonyella Complex12

Peak Downs13,14

Caval Ridge15

Saraji13

Norwich Park16

Saraji South16

Blackwater13

Daunia13,17

BHP Mitsui Coal7

South Walker Creek

Poitrel

OC

UG

OC

UG

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

OC

Proved 

Reserves

Probable 

Reserves

Total 

Reserves

Proved Marketable Reserves

Probable Marketable Reserves

Total Marketable Reserves

Mt

Mt

Mt

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Reserve  
life  
(years)

BHP  
interest  
%

Total Marketable Reserves

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S

Reserve  
life  
(years)

As at 30 June 2021

Met

Met

Met

Met

Met/Th

Met

Met/Th 

Met

Met

Met/Th

Met/PCI

Met/Th

Met/PCI

Met

–

–

425

38

749

209

442

–

151

147

–

73

–

–

–

–

54

–

296

109

54

–

32

225

–

13

–

–

–

–

479

38

1,045

318

496

–

183

372

–

86

–

–

–

–

314

29

444

121

284

–

106

128

–

60

–

–

–

–

8.8

9.0

10.6

10.5

10.5

–

9.5

8.8

–

8.1

–

–

–

–

22.4

22.9

21.8

22.3

17.9

17.5

26.5

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.52

0.53

0.58

0.57

0.63

0.66

0.43

–

–

–

–

168

–

–

40

–

67

24

–

22

191

–

11

–

–

9.7

23.2

0.54

–

–

–

10.6

10.5

10.6

–

10.7

9.1

–

9.0

–

–

22.1

22.4

19.2

17.3

26.2

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.69

0.57

0.88

0.72

0.42

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

20.4

0.34

20.1

0.31

–
–
355
29
612
188
308
–
128
319
–
71

–
–

–
–
8.9
9.0
10.6
10.5
10.5
–
9.7
9.0
–
8.2

–
–

–
–
22.5
22.9
21.9
22.3
18.0
–
17.5
26.3
–
20.4

–
–

–
–
0.52
0.53
0.61
0.57
0.65
–
0.67
0.42
–
0.34

–
–

–

25

44
29
30
–
87
24
17

–
–

–

50

50
50
50
–
50
50
50

–
–

405
108
–
–
623
196
318
165
–
331
73
–

98
39

9.2
9.3
–
–
10.6
11.0
10.5
10.3
–
9.0
8.2
–

9.2
8.1

25.3
23.5
–
–
21.8
22.3
18.0
16.7
–
26.3
20.2
–

13.5
23.1

0.53
0.55
–
–
0.61
0.57
0.65
0.70
–
0.42
0.34
–

0.29
0.31

31

–

38
27
31
65
–
25
16

15
8.5

BHP

Annual Report 2022

221

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewEnergy coal

Coal Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1,2

Mining 
method

Coal  
type

Energy coal operations
Australia
Mt Arthur Coal3
Colombia
Cerrejón4
Energy coal project
Australia

OC

OC

Th

Th

Togara South

UG

Th

Coal Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit

Mining 
method

Coal  
type

Energy coal operations
Australia
Mt Arthur Coal1,5,6,7,8,9
Colombia
Cerrejón4

OC

OC

Th

Th

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

BHP 

interest 

%

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

104

19.0

29.6

0.66

6,170

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

51

–

19.7

29.3

0.54

6,060

8.6

23.1

28.8

0.49

5,720

164

19.4

29.5

0.62

6,110

100

3,380

20.3

30.0

0.62

6,120

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

4,771

4.0

34.8

0.52

6,530

1,420

13.7

29.0

0.31

6,550

201

16.1

28.5

0.32

6,270

1,620

14.0

29.0

0.31

6,510

100

1,620

14.0

29.0

0.31

6,510

Proved 
Reserves

Probable 
Reserves

Total 
Reserves

Proved Marketable Reserves

Probable Marketable Reserves 

Total Marketable Reserves

Total Marketable Reserves

As at 30 June 2021

Mt

95

–

Mt

49

–

Mt

Mt %Ash %VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt %Ash %VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

(years)

%

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

144

69

15.8

30.5

0.53

5,880

36

15.8

30.4

0.53

5,880

104

15.8

30.4

0.53

5,880

15.9

30.6

0.50

5,870

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

9.9

32.4

0.61

6,210

Reserve  

BHP 

life  

interest  

8

–

100

–

211

335

Reserve  

life  

(years)

16

13

1  Cut-off criteria:

Deposit

Mt Arthur Coal
Togara South

Coal Resources

Coal Reserves

≥ 0.3m seam thickness and ≤35% raw ash 
≥ 2.0m seam thickness and ≤25% raw ash 

≥ 0.3m seam thickness, ≤32%ash, ≥40% coal plant yield
−

2  Qualities are reported on an air-dried in situ basis. Tonnages are reported as in situ.  
3  Mt Arthur Coal – The decrease in Coal Resources was due to an updated economic assessment.  
4  Cerrejón – Divestment of Cerrejon was completed on 11 January 2022.  
5  Mt Arthur Coal – Approximate drill hole spacings used to classify the reserves were: 

Deposit

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Mt Arthur Coal

200m to 800m (geophysical logged, ≥95% core recovery) 400m to 1,550m (geophysical logged, ≥95% core recovery)

6  Mt Arthur Coal – Overall product recovery for the operation was 74%. 
7  Mt Arthur Coal – Moisture content when mined is 8.7%. Moisture content for Marketable Reserves is 9.5%. 
8  Mt Arthur Coal – Coal is delivered to handling plant where it may be washed through a coal handling and preparation plant or sold as raw product.  
9  Mt Arthur Coal – The decrease in Marketable Coal Reserves and reserve life was mainly due to an updated mine plan.  

222

BHP

Annual Report 2022

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coal Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit1,2

Mining 

method

Coal  

type

Energy coal operations

Australia

Mt Arthur Coal3

Colombia

Cerrejón4

Energy coal project

Australia

OC

OC

Th

Th

Coal Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  

deposit

Mining 

method

Coal  

type

Energy coal operations

Australia

Colombia

Cerrejón4

Th

Th

OC

–

–

Mt

95

–

–

–

Mt

49

–

51

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Measured Resources

Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

BHP 
interest 
%

As at 30 June 2021

Total Resources

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

104

19.0

29.6

0.66

6,170

19.7

29.3

0.54

6,060

8.6

23.1

28.8

0.49

5,720

164

19.4

29.5

0.62

6,110

100

3,380

20.3

30.0

0.62

6,120

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

4,771

4.0

34.8

0.52

6,530

Togara South

UG

Th

1,420

13.7

29.0

0.31

6,550

201

16.1

28.5

0.32

6,270

1,620

14.0

29.0

0.31

6,510

100

1,620

14.0

29.0

0.31

6,510

Proved 

Reserves

Probable 

Reserves

Total 

Reserves

Proved Marketable Reserves

Probable Marketable Reserves 

Total Marketable Reserves

Mt

Mt %Ash %VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt %Ash %VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

Reserve  
life  
(years)

BHP 
interest  
%

Total Marketable Reserves

Mt

%Ash

%VM

%S KCal/kg CV

As at 30 June 2021

Mt Arthur Coal1,5,6,7,8,9

OC

144

69

15.8

30.5

0.53

5,880

36

15.8

30.4

0.53

5,880

104

15.8

30.4

0.53

5,880

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

8

–

100

–

211

335

15.9

30.6

0.50

5,870

9.9

32.4

0.61

6,210

Reserve  
life  
(years)

16

13

BHP

Annual Report 2022

223

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewOther assets

Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

As at 30 June 2021

Commodity 

deposit

Potash
Jansen1,2,3,4,5,6

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity 

deposit

Potash
Jansen1,4,5,6,7,8

Measured Resources

Indicated 
Resources

Inferred Resources

Total Resources

Total Resources

Ore 
type

Mt

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

2

O
K
Mt %

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

Mt

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

BHP 
interest  
%

Mt

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

Mt

LPL

5,230 25.6 7.7 0.08

−

−

−

−

1,280 25.6 7.7 0.08

6,510 25.6 7.7 0.08

100

6,510 25.6 7.7 0.08

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

Total Reserves

Total Reserves

Ore 
type

2

O
K
Mt %

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

O
K
Mt %

2

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

Reserve  
life  
(years)

BHP 
interest  
%

Mt

2

O
K
%

.
l
o
s
n
I
%

O
g
M
%

Reserve 
life 
(years)

Mt

As at 30 June 2021

LPL

–

–

–

–

1,070 24.9 7.5 0.10

1,070 24.9 7.5 0.10

94

100

–

–

–

–

–

1   Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are stated for the Lower Patience Lake (LPL) potash unit.   
2  Mineral Resources are reported using a seam thickness of 3.96m from the top of 406 clay seam.  
3  Measured Resources grade has been assigned to Inferred Resources.   
4   %K2O grade is equivalent to %KCl content using a mineralogical conversion factor of 1.583. 
5   %MgO is used as a measure of carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H2O) content where per cent carnallite equivalent = %MgO × 6.8918. 
6   Tonnages are reported on an in situ moisture content basis, estimated to be 0.3%. 
7   Ore Reserves are based on an expected metallurgical recovery of 92%.
8   Ore Reserves previously announced 17 August 2021.

OC Disseminated Sulphide
OC Massive Sulphide
UG Disseminated Sulphide
UG Massive Sulphide
Oxide
SP
SP Oxidised
OC Disseminated Sulphide
SP
UG Disseminated Sulphide
UG Massive Sulphide
OC Disseminated Sulphide
SP
UG Disseminated Sulphide
UG Massive Sulphide

OC Disseminated Sulphide
UG Disseminated Sulphide
UG Massive Sulphide
OC Disseminated Sulphide
OC Disseminated Sulphide

Mineral Resources

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity  
deposit1

Ore type

Nickel West operations
Leinster2

Mt Keith

Cliffs3

Yakabindie4

Venus5

Nickel West Projects
Honeymoon Well

Jericho
West Jordan

Ore Reserves

As at 30 June 2022

Commodity 
deposit1,6,7,8

Nickel West Operations
Leinster9,10

Mt Keith

Cliffs11
Yakabindie12

Venus13

OC
UG
SP
OC
SP
UG
OC
SP
UG

224

BHP

Annual Report 2022

As at 30 June 
2021

Measured 
Resources

Indicated 
Resources

Inferred  
Resources

Total Resources

Mt

%Ni

Mt

%Ni

Mt

%Ni

Mt

%Ni

BHP 
interest 
%

Total Resources

Mt

%Ni

4.1
0.25
15
0.53
–
–
–
133
3.6
–
0.66
125
4.6
1.4
0.12

–
9.1
0.35
–
–

0.72
4.4
1.9
5.0
–
–
–
0.54
0.49
–
3.6
0.58
0.60
1.3
5.8

–
0.72
6.0
–
–

77
1.0
9.9
1.9
–
–
–
67
–
6.1
1.0
106
–
6.9
0.58

138
18
0.92
–
–

0.58
4.9
1.4
5.4
–
–
–
0.52
–
0.87
3.6
0.63
–
1.3
6.5

0.62
0.75
6.4
–
–

52
0.37
3.4
1.0
5.2
–
1.9
24
–
1.7
0.46
170
–
1.7
0.36

6.5
3.8
0.17
31
43

0.64
4.7
1.3
4.1
1.8
–
1.7
0.52
–
1.0
3.6
0.61
–
0.63
6.2

0.66
0.74
6.6
0.59
0.52

133
1.6
28
3.4
5.2
–
1.9
224
3.6
7.8
2.1
401
4.6
10
1.1

144
31
1.4
31
43

0.60
4.8
1.6
5.0
1.8
–
1.7
0.53
0.49
0.90
3.6
0.61
0.60
1.2
6.3

0.62
0.74
6.3
0.59
0.52

100

100

100

100

100

100

100
100

133
1.6
28
4.2
5.2
1.5
1.9
224
3.6
7.9
2.3
414
2.1
7.7
1.2

144
31
1.4
31
43

0.60
4.8
1.6
4.6
1.8
0.76
1.7
0.53
0.49
0.89
3.6
0.61
0.59
1.7
6.3

0.62
0.74
6.3
0.59
0.52

Ore type

Mt

%Ni

Mt

%Ni

Proved Reserves

Probable 
Reserves

Total Reserves Reserve 
life 
(years)

%Ni

Mt

As at 30 June 2021

BHP 
interest 
%

Total Reserves

Mt

%Ni

Reserve 
life 
(years)

1.9
–
–
65
2.6
–
103
4.6
–

0.63
–
–
0.57
0.52
–
0.54
0.60
–

1.5
4.6
–
19
1.0
0.51
43
–
7.6

0.63
1.7
–
0.55
0.45
2.1
0.60
–
1.4

3.4
4.6
–
84
3.6
0.51
146
4.6
7.6

0.63
1.7
–
0.57
0.49
2.1
0.56
0.60
1.4

7.0

100

15

100

3.0
18

100
100

11

100

3.4
5.0
1.5
84
3.6
1.0
172
2.1
8.6

0.63
1.6
0.76
0.57
0.49
1.9
0.56
0.59
1.5

9.0

15

3.0
16

12

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ore type

Mineral Resources

Ore Reserves

1  Cut-off criteria:

Deposit

Leinster

Mt Keith

Cliffs

Yakabindie

Venus

Honeymoon 
Well

Jericho

OC
OC Disseminated 
Sulphide
OC Massive 
Sulphide
UG
UG Disseminated 
Sulphide

UG Massive 
Sulphide
Oxide
SP, SP oxidised
OC Disseminated 
Sulphide

OC
SP
UG Disseminated 
Sulphide
UG Massive 
Sulphide
UG
OC Disseminated 
Sulphide
OC
SP
UG Disseminated 
Sulphide

UG Massive 
Sulphide
UG
OC Disseminated 
Sulphide
UG Disseminated 
Sulphide
UG Massive 
Sulphide
OC Disseminated 
Sulphide

−
≥ 0.40%Ni

≥ 0.54%Ni
−

Stratigraphic

−

−
Variable between 
stratigraphic for block 
cave and ≥1.0% Ni
Stratigraphic

≥ 1.2%Ni
−
Variable between 
0.35%Ni and 
0.40%Ni
−
−
≥ 0.40%Ni

≥ 0.73%Ni 
−

−

−
−
−

≥ 0.35%Ni
–
−

6  Approximate drill hole spacings used to classify the reserves were:

OC
UG

Deposit

Leinster

Mt Keith
Cliffs
Yakabindie
Venus

Proved Reserves

Probable Reserves

25m × 25m
25m × 25m
40m × 60m
25m × 25m (and development)
40m × 60m
25m x 25m

40m × 40m
50m × 50m
80m × 80m
50m × 50m
80m × 60m
50m x 50m

7  Ore delivered to the process plant. 
8  Metallurgical recoveries for the operations were: 

OC
UG

Deposit

Leinster

Mt Keith
Cliffs
Yakabindie
Venus

Metallurgical recovery

78%
88%
63%
82%
63%
88%

9  Leinster – Ore Reserves includes operations and projects. 
10  Leinster – The decrease in UG and SP ore types was due to depletion. OC and UG 
ore types contribute 6 years and 7 years respectively to the reported reserve life.

Stratigraphic

−

11  Cliffs – The decrease in UG ore type was due to depletion and an update in 

−
≥ 0.35%Ni

−
–
Variable between 
stratigraphic for sub- 
level cave ring design 
and ≥ 0.4% Ni
Stratigraphic

−
≥ 0.35%Ni

≥ 0.40%Ni

Stratigraphic

≥ 0.40%Ni

economic assumptions. 

12  Yakabindie – The decrease in the OC ore type was due to depletion and changes 
in reserve modifying factors. The increase in SP ore type was due to movement of 
extracted ore onto stockpiles. Increase in reserve life was due to a decrease in the 
nominated production rate.

13  Venus – The decrease in UG ore type and reserve life was due to updated 

modifying factors and depletion. 

≥ 1.2%Ni
−

≥ 0.35%Ni 
–
−

−

≥ 0.9%Ni
−

−

−

−

−

West Jordan OC Disseminated 

≥ 0.40%Ni

Sulphide

2  Leinster – The decrease in UG Massive Sulphide ore type was due to 

depletion partially offset by an update in the resource estimate supported by 
additional drilling. 

3  Cliffs – The decrease in the UG Massive Sulphide ore type was due to depletion 
offset by an update in the resource estimate supported by additional drilling. 

4  Yakabindie – The increase in SP was due to movement of extracted ore 

onto stockpiles. 

5  Venus – The increase in UG Disseminated Sulphide ore type was due to an update 
in the definition of the resource boundary to align with the mining parameters. 

BHP

Annual Report 2022

225

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
6  Major projects

The Jansen Stage 1 project was tracking to plan at the end of FY2022. We are working to bring forward Jansen Stage 1 first production to 2026 and 
assessing options to accelerate Jansen Stage 2. Approximately US$740 million in capital expenditure is planned for work at Jansen Stage 1 in FY2023, 
which is expected to continue to focus on civil and mechanical construction on the surface and underground, as well as equipment procurement and 
port construction.

Commodity

Project and  
ownership

Project scope/ 
capacity1

Projects completed during FY2022 
Potash

Jansen Potash Project  
(Canada) 
100%

Projects in execution at 30 June 2022
Potash

Jansen Stage 1 
(Canada) 
100%

Investment to finish the excavation and lining 
of the production and service shafts, and to 
continue the installation of essential surface 
infrastructure and utilities

Design, engineering and construction of 
an underground potash mine and surface 
infrastructure, with capacity to produce 
4.35 Mtpa

Capital expenditure1 
US$M

Date of initial  
production

Progress/ 
comments

Budget

Target

2,972

CY2027

Completed in  
June 2022

5,723

CY2027

Approved in  
August 2021.  
The project is  
8% complete

1  Unless noted otherwise, references to capacity are on a 100 per cent basis, references to capital expenditure from subsidiaries are reported on a 100 per cent basis and 

references to capital expenditure from joint operations reflects BHP’s share.

Capital and exploration expenditure (continuing operations) of US$6.1 billion in the 2022 financial year was lower than guidance of US$6.5 billion primarily 
due to favourable exchange rate movements. This included maintenance expenditure of US$2.8 billion and exploration of US$256 million. 

Capital and exploration expenditure of approximately US$7.6 billion and US$9.0 billion are expected for the 2023 and 2024 financial years, including 
a US$0.4 billion exploration program planned in the 2023 financial year. In the medium term, capital and exploration expenditure of approximately 
US$10 billion per annum on average is expected. Guidance is subject to exchange rate movements.

7  People – performance data1,2,3

Table 1 – Workforce data and diversity by region FY2022

Region 

Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America
Total

Number and % of employees

Average number and 
% of contractors2

1,544 
29,368 
61 
467 
7,770 
39,210 

3.9
74.9
0.2
1.2
19.8
100 

2,188 
20,052 
10 
928 
17,083 
40,261 

5.4 
49.8 
<1.0
2.3 
42.4 
100 

Table 2 – Employees by category and diversity for FY2022

Employees by gender number and %

Male %

Female

Female %

40.1 
69.3 
47.5 
55.5 
68.1 
67.7 

925 
9,027 
32 
208 
2,482 
12,674 

59.9 
30.7 
52.5 
44.5 
31.9 
32.3 

South 
America

7,448

322

Male

619 
20,341 
29 
259 
5,288 
26,536 

27,489
1,224
587
27
41
29,368 

Gender

Region

Employment category

Total % of Total

Male

Female

Full time
Part time
Fixed term full time 
Fixed term part time
Casual
Total

36,965
1,233
943
28
41
39,210

94.3
3.1
2.4
0.1
0.1
100

25,622
581
311
6
16
26,536 

11,343
652
632
22
25
12,674 

Asia

1,513
3
28

1,544 

Table 3 – Employees by category and diversity for FY2022

Australia

Europe North America

56
4
1

459
2
5
1

61 

467 

7,770 

Gender

Gender %

Age group %

Category

Senior leaders
Managers
Supervising and professional
Operators and general support
Total

Total

259
1,228
16,208
21,515
39,210

Male

168
781
10,131
15,456
26,536

Female

91
447
6,077
6,059
12,674

Male %

Female %

Under 30

30-39

40-49

64.9
63.6
62.5
71.8
67.7

35.1
36.4
37.5
28.2
32.3

0.0
0.2
10.1
18
14.0

12.4
28.3
40.4
29.7
34.0

53.6
48.5
31.2
26.3
29.2

50+

34.0
23.0
18.3
26.0
22.8

1  Based on a ‘point in time’ snapshot of employees as at 30 June including employees on extended absence, which was 948 in FY2022. There is no significant seasonal 

variation in employment numbers.

2  Contractor data is collected from internal surveys and the organisation systems and averages for a 10-month period.
3  Employees who left BHP via the merger of our Petroleum business with Woodside Energy Group Ltd (Woodside), which completed on 1 June 2022 (approximately 

1,000 employees), or the sale of our 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC) to Stanmore Resources, which completed on 3 May 2022 (approximately 
500 employees), are excluded.

226

BHP

Annual Report 2022

8  Legal proceedings

The Group is involved from time to time in legal 
proceedings and governmental investigations 
of a character normally incidental to our 
business, including claims and pending actions 
against it seeking damages, or clarification 
or prosecution of legal rights and regulatory 
inquiries regarding business practices. 
Insurance or other indemnification protection 
may offset the financial impact on the Group of a 
successful claim.

This section summarises the significant legal 
proceedings and investigations and associated 
matters in which the Group is currently involved 
or has finalised since our last Annual Report. 
The timing of many of the legal proceedings 
and investigations continue to be delayed or 
uncertain as a result of court closures or delays 
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Legal proceedings relating to the failure of 
the Fundão tailings dam at the Samarco iron 
ore operations in Minas Gerais and Espírito 
Santo (Samarco dam failure) 

The Group is engaged in numerous legal 
proceedings relating to the Samarco dam 
failure. While there has been progress in 
priority areas, such as individual compensation 
and indemnification for the damage caused 
by the dam failure, it is not possible at this 
time to provide a range of possible outcomes 
for all proceedings or a reliable estimate of 
potential future exposures. There are numerous 
additional lawsuits against Samarco relating to 
the dam failure to which the Group is not party. 
Currently, there are approximately 54 ongoing 
public civil claims and 36 that are suspended. 
The most significant of these proceedings are 
summarised below.

R$20 billion public civil claim commenced by 
the Federal Government of Brazil, states of 
Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais and other 
authorities (R$20 billion Public Civil claim)

On 30 November 2015, the Federal Government 
of Brazil, states of Espírito Santo and Minas 
Gerais and other public authorities collectively 
filed a public civil claim before the 12th Federal 
Court of Belo Horizonte against Samarco 
and its shareholders, BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda. 
(BHP Brasil) and Vale S.A. (Vale), seeking the 
establishment of a fund of up to R$20 billion 
(approximately US$4 billion) in aggregate for 
clean-up costs and damages. 

On 2 March 2016, Samarco, BHP Brasil and 
Vale, entered into a Framework Agreement 
with the states of Espírito Santo and Minas 
Gerais and other public authorities to establish 
a foundation (Fundação Renova) to develop 
and execute environmental and socioeconomic 
programs (Programs) to remediate and provide 
compensation for damage caused by the 
Samarco dam failure.

The term of the Framework Agreement is 
15 years, renewable for periods of one year 
successively until all obligations under the 
Framework Agreement have been performed. 

Under the Framework Agreement, Samarco is 
responsible, as a primary obligor, for funding 
Fundação Renova’s annual calendar year 
budget for the duration of the Framework 
Agreement. The amount of funding for each 
calendar year will be dependent on the 
remediation and compensation projects to be 
undertaken in a particular year. To the extent that 
Samarco does not meet its funding obligations 
under the Framework Agreement, each of BHP 
Brasil and Vale has funding obligations under the 
Framework Agreement, as secondary obligors, 
in proportion to its 50 per cent shareholding 
in Samarco.

R$155 billion public civil claim commenced 
by the Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office 
(R$155 billion Federal Public Prosecutors’ 
Office claim)

On 3 May 2016, the Brazilian Federal Public 
Prosecutors’ Office filed a public civil claim 
before the 12th Federal Court of Belo Horizonte 
against Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale – as well 
as 18 other public entities (which has since been 
reduced to five defendants1 by the 12th Federal 
Court) – seeking R$155 billion (approximately 
US$30 billion) for reparation, compensation 
and collective moral damages in relation to the 
Samarco dam failure. 

This public civil claim and the R$20 billion Public 
Civil claim are broad claims that encompass the 
majority of the public civil claims filed against 
Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale. For this reason, 
the 12th Federal Court has suspended other 
public civil claims while negotiations continue 
in relation to the settlement of the R$155 billion 
Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office claim. 

This public civil claim was suspended for a 
period of two years from the date of ratification 
of the Governance Agreement (described below) 
on 8 August 2018. 

On 19 March 2021, the parties to the case 
agreed to extend the suspension of this case 
until 27 April 2021. Although the stay period 
has formally elapsed, neither party has made 
any filings to date, and the parties are engaged 
in negotiations to seek a definitive settlement 
(summarised below). 

Governance Agreement

On 25 June 2018, Samarco, BHP Brasil, Vale, 
the other parties to the Framework Agreement, 
the Public Prosecutors’ Office2 and the Public 
Defense Office3 entered into a Governance 
Agreement, which settled the R$20 billion 
Public Civil claim and established a process 
to renegotiate the Programs over two years to 
progress settlement of the R$155 billion Federal 
Public Prosecutors’ Office claim. 

Under the Governance Agreement, renegotiation 
of the Programs will be based on certain 
agreed principles, including full reparation 
consistent with Brazilian law, the requirement 
for a technical basis for any proposed changes, 
consideration of findings from experts appointed 
by Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale, consideration 

of findings from experts appointed by 
prosecutors and consideration of feedback from 
impacted communities. 

Since early CY2021, the parties have been 
engaging in negotiations to seek a definitive and 
substantive settlement of claims relating to the 
dam failure. The negotiations are overseen by 
the President of the National Council of Justice, 
as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 
Brazil, and are expected to continue until at 
least the expected end of the term of the current 
President on 31 August 2022. Outcomes of 
the negotiations are highly uncertain, and it 
is therefore not possible to provide a reliable 
estimate of potential outcomes and there is a 
risk that a negotiated outcome may be materially 
higher than amounts currently reflected in the 
Samarco dam failure provision. Until revisions 
to the Programs are agreed, Fundação Renova 
will continue to implement the Programs in 
accordance with the terms of the Framework 
Agreement and the Governance Agreement.

Enforcement Proceedings

Since 7 January 2020, the 12th Federal 
Court of Belo Horizonte has issued several 
decisions creating 13 enforcement proceedings 
(Enforcement Proceedings) linked to the 
R$20 billion Public Civil claim and R$155 billion 
Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office claim 
described above.

Issues covered by these Enforcement 
Proceedings include environmental 
recovery, human health risk and ecological 
risk, resettlement of affected communities, 
infrastructure and development, registration of 
certain impacted individuals under the Programs 
and indemnities for people impacted by the 
dam failure, resumption of economic activities, 
water supply for human consumption and hiring 
of technical advisers to impacted people, and 
restructuring Fundação Renova’s management 
system, among other key delivery areas.

In the context of these Enforcement 
Proceedings, Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale are 
seeking determinations, including, among other 
things, the repealing of fishing bans ordered 
by the courts or administration entities, set-off 
of compensation paid against future damages 
that may need to be paid, and regarding the 
hiring and supervision of technical assistants to 
impacted people.  

In August 2020, a Simplified Indemnification 
System (the Novel System) was created by the 
12th Federal Court of Belo Horizonte with specific 
rules designed for those who could not easily 
demonstrate their status as an impacted person 
based on ‘rough justice’ principles. Led by 
Fundação Renova, the Novel System has, as at 
the date of this Report, settled with more than 
68,000 claimants who were able to prove their 
damages, with approximately 66,500 claims 
already having been paid.

1  Currently, solely BHP Brasil, Vale and Samarco, the Federal Government and the state of Minas Gerais are defendants.
2  The Public Prosecutors’ Office includes the Federal, State of Minas Gerais and State of Espírito Santo public prosecutors’ offices.
3  The Public Defense Office includes the Federal, State of Minas Gerais and State of Espírito Santo public defense offices.

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On 26 June 2022, the President of the Federal 
Court of Appeals issued a preliminary ruling 
applying to impacted persons from Naque (a city 
in Minas Gerais) regarding the Novel System, 
determining that its terms do not provide a 
full release from damages. The amounts paid 
under the Novel System should therefore be 
considered as a ‘minimum indemnification’ 
granting a partial release from damages. For the 
same reasons, it was also determined that 
impacted persons should have the option to 
seek legal representation when settling claims 
under the Novel System, and that the Novel 
System settlement agreement does not prevent 
impacted persons from pursuing lawsuits in 
foreign jurisdictions. On 1 July 2022, the Federal 
Prosecutors filed a motion requesting the 
extension of the decision to all affected areas, as 
well as any settlements which have already been 
paid. On 6 July 2022, BHP Brasil filed its appeal 
and, as at the date of this Report, no decision 
has been made.

Certain creditors of Samarco have also 
requested that the JR Court appoint an examiner 
and a judicial manager for Samarco. The JR 
Court has not ruled on that request yet.

On 18 April 2022, certain creditors of Samarco 
voted to reject the Plan in a General Meeting 
of Creditors (GMC). Samarco, BHP Brasil 
and Vale have challenged the votes of such 
creditors and the JR Court has not ruled on such 
challenge yet.

On 18 May 2022, certain creditors of Samarco 
submitted an alternative plan of reorganisation 
(Lenders Plan), which, among other things, 
caps Samarco’s Renova funding obligations and 
contemplates a change in Samarco’s control. 
On the same date, the local labour unions also 
filed an alternative plan with the support of 
Samarco’s shareholders. Samarco, BHP Brasil 
and Vale filed objections to the Lenders Plan, 
which are pending. No plan of reorganisation 
has been approved or confirmed.

On 30 June 2022, the 12th Federal Court of 
Belo Horizonte extended the deadline for claim 
applications under the Novel System from 
30 June 2022 to 31 August 2022. 

No BHP entity is a debtor in Samarco’s JR case. 
BHP Brasil is participating in Samarco’s JR 
proceeding in its capacities as a shareholder and 
creditor of Samarco.

Samarco’s judicial reorganisation 

United States Chapter 15 case

On 9 April 2021, Samarco filed for judicial 
reorganisation (JR) with the Second Business 
State Court for the Belo Horizonte District of 
Minas Gerais (JR Court). The JR proceeding 
seeks to enable Samarco to negotiate and 
implement an orderly restructuring of its 
financial indebtedness in order to establish 
a sustainable financial position for Samarco, 
among other things, to continue to rebuild its 
operations and meet its Fundação Renova 
obligations. Samarco filed for JR following 
multiple enforcement actions filed by some 
of Samarco’s creditors that threatened its 
operations. The JR Court granted Samarco’s JR 
motion on 12 April 2021 and granted a stay of 
the enforcement actions.

On 10 June 2021, Samarco submitted its first 
proposed Plan of Reorganisation (Plan) to the 
JR Court. Certain of Samarco’s creditors have 
submitted formal objections to the Plan. 

On 18 August 2021, the State Prosecutor’s 
Office filed an application to hold BHP Brasil 
and Vale responsible for Samarco’s debt. 
On 18 October 2021, certain creditors of 
Samarco filed a similar application with the 
same purpose. Neither application has been 
decided yet.

Pursuant to the list of creditors produced by 
Judicial Administrators appointed by the JR 
Court, Samarco’s obligation to fund Renova 
is not subject to the JR. Certain creditors 
of Samarco have challenged the Judicial 
Administrators’ list of creditors. Among other 
things, such creditors are seeking to disallow 
shareholders’ claims against Samarco and 
impair Samarco’s obligation to fund Renova. 
No final decision has been rendered on these 
issues yet. 

On 19 April 2021, Samarco filed a petition with 
the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern 
District of New York seeking recognition of the 
JR proceeding under Chapter 15 of the US 
Bankruptcy Code. On 13 May 2021, the US 
Bankruptcy Court granted recognition of the 
JR proceeding as a ‘foreign main proceeding’ 
and accordingly stayed enforcement actions 
against Samarco in US territory. No BHP entity 
is a debtor in Samarco’s Chapter 15 case. 
BHP Brasil is participating in Samarco’s Chapter 
15 proceeding in its capacities as a shareholder 
and creditor of Samarco.

Civil public actions commenced by the State 
Prosecutors’ Office in the state of Minas 
Gerais (Mariana CPA cases)

The State Prosecutors of Mariana have 
commenced several civil public actions (CPA) 
against Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale.

On 10 December 2015, the State Prosecutors’ 
Office in the state of Minas Gerais filed a 
CPA against Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale 
before the State Court in Mariana claiming 
indemnification (amount not specified) for moral 
and material damages to an unspecified group of 
individuals affected by the Samarco dam failure, 
including the payment of costs for housing and 
social and economic assistance (CPA Mariana I). 

On 2 October 2018, the parties reached a 
settlement dismissing the claim, which was 
ratified by the Court. Under this settlement, 
Fundação Renova has reached more than 100 
individual agreements with impacted families in 
Mariana for the payment of damages. 

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In connection with CPA Mariana I, the State 
Prosecutors (Minas Gerais) started enforcement 
proceedings against Samarco, BHP Brasil and 
Vale. There are seven enforcement proceedings 
under way seeking (i) to set a deadline for 
completion of resettlement of the residents of 
Mariana’s districts and for fines to be imposed 
for delays to resettlement; (ii) to set the final 
term that will allow new households to join the 
resettlement; (iii) payment of compensation 
to affected individuals for delivery of houses 
below standard; (iv) to guarantee access to 
water sources for the families of the collective 
resettlements; (v) payment of fines for 
alleged delays in presenting proposals and 
making payments to affected individuals; and 
(vi) payment of compensation to impacted 
individuals who allege that they have not yet 
received compensation and a penalty for the 
alleged delays in making such payments. 

In addition to CPA Mariana I, the State 
Prosecutors (Minas Gerais) commenced nine 
other CPAs in Mariana against Samarco, BHP 
Brasil, Vale and, in some cases, Fundação 
Renova. The claims presented in those CPAs 
are related to damages that, according to the 
State Prosecutors, are not covered by CPA 
Mariana I.

The remaining CPAs have either been settled 
by the parties, including BHP Brasil, or the 
claims to which the CPAs relate have been 
dismissed (though the decisions are not yet 
final). Fundação Renova is responsible for any 
pending obligations set forth in the settlement 
agreements relating to the CPAs.

Fundação Renova dissolution lawsuit

On 24 February 2021, the Minas Gerais State 
Prosecutor filed a CPA against Samarco, BHP 
Brasil, Vale and Fundação Renova seeking the 
dissolution of Fundação Renova. The plaintiffs 
are seeking R$10 billion (approximately 
US$2 billion) for moral damages and an 
injunction for the immediate intervention of 
Fundação Renova was also made, alleging the 
need to preserve information and documents 
produced by Fundação Renova to evaluate 
criminal and civil responsibilities. On 25 May 
2021, the Superior Court of Justice granted 
urgent relief to suspend the lawsuit. As at 
the date of this Report, the Court’s decision 
regarding the merits remains pending. 

Civil public action commenced by the State 
Prosecutors’ Office in the state of Espírito 
Santo and Minas Gerais (CPA Advertising)

On 11 May 2021, Federal and State Prosecutors 
(Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo) filed a 
CPA against Samarco, BHP Brasil, Vale and 
Fundação Renova, challenging Fundação 
Renova’s advertising expenditures. The plaintiffs 
requested injunctive relief for Fundação Renova 
to cease advertisements and stop incurring new 
expenses on advertising. The plaintiffs requested 
approximately R$56 million (approximately 
US$11 million) to be paid as compensation to 
the communities and approximately R$28 million 
(approximately US$5 million) to be spent 
on execution of Fundação Renova’s socio-
economic and socio-environmental programs. 
A ruling is still pending. 

Civil public action commenced by 
Associations concerning the use of 
tanfloc for water treatment (R$120 billion 
Associations claim)

On 28 October 2021, Vila Lenira Residents 
Association, State of Espírito Santo Rural 
Producers and Artisans Association, Colatina 
Velha Neighborhood Residents Association, 
and United for the Progress of Palmeiras 
Neighborhood Association filed a lawsuit against 
Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale and others, 
including the State of Minas Gerais, the State 
of Espirito Santo and the Federal Government. 
The plaintiffs allege that the defendants carried 
out a clandestine study on the citizens of the 
locations affected by the Fundão’s Dam Failure, 
using tanfloc – a tannin-based flocculant/
coagulant – that is currently used for wastewater 
treatment applications. The plaintiffs claim that 
this product allegedly put the population at risk 
due to its alleged experimental qualities. 

The plaintiffs are seeking multiple kinds of relief 
– material damage, moral damages, loss of 
profits – and that the defendants should pay for 
water supply in all locations where there is no 
water source other than the Doce River.

On 25 July 2022, Samarco, BHP Brasil and Vale 
presented their defences individually, as well as 
the State of Minas Gerais, the State of Espírito 
Santo and the Federal Government. The Court’s 
decision is still pending. 

Public civil claims currently suspended 

Approximately 20 of the proceedings to which 
BHP Brasil is a party are currently suspended 
due to their connection with R$20 billion Public 
Civil claim and R$155 billion Federal Public 
Prosecutors’ Office claim. There has not yet 
been a ruling in these cases.

The suspended proceedings include 
proceedings commenced by the State 
Prosecutors (Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo), 
Public Defenders (Minas Gerais and Espírito 
Santo), and the states of Minas Gerais and 
Espírito Santo against Samarco, BHP Brasil, 
Vale and Fundação Renova. The claims relate 
to environmental remediation measures, 
compensation for the impacts of the dam failure, 
including moral damages, reconstruction of 
properties and populations, including historical, 
religious, cultural, social, environmental and 
intangible heritages affected by the dam 
failure, and suspension of public water supply, 
among others. 

Other civil proceedings in Brazil

As noted above, BHP Brasil has been named as 
a defendant in numerous lawsuits relating to the 
Samarco dam failure. In addition, government 
inquiries and investigations relating to the 
Samarco dam failure have been commenced 
by numerous agencies of the Brazilian 
Government and are ongoing, including criminal 
investigations by the federal and state police, 
and by federal prosecutors.

BHP Brasil’s potential liabilities, if any, resulting 
from other pending and future claims, lawsuits 
and enforcement actions relating to the Samarco 
dam failure, together with the potential cost of 
implementing remedies sought in the various 
proceedings, cannot be reliably estimated at 
this time and therefore a provision has not been 
recognised and nor has any contingent liability 
been quantified for these matters. Ultimately, 
these could have a material adverse impact 
on BHP’s business, competitive position, cash 
flows, prospects, liquidity and shareholder 
returns. For more information on the Samarco 
dam failure refer to OFR 8.

As at June 2022, Samarco had been named as 
a defendant in more than 57,000 small claims 
for moral damages in which people argue their 
public water service was interrupted for between 
five and 10 days. BHP Brasil is a co-defendant in 
more than 24,000 of these cases. 

The Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure provides 
that repetitive claims can be settled through a 
system known as the Resolution of Repetitive 
Demands Procedure (IRDR). Under the IRDR, 
a court will hear a ‘pilot case’ representative of 
such recurring legal matters and the judgment 
in that decision will set a precedent for the 
resolution of similar cases in that jurisdiction. 
An IRDR has been established in Minas Gerais 
and the court in the pilot case has ruled that the 
mandatory parameter for resolution of claims 
will be the payment of R$2,000 (approximately 
US$400) per individual claim for moral damages 
due to the suspension of public water supply. 
Appeals before higher courts are pending 
judgment. Meanwhile, Samarco has reached 
settlement in more than 9,900 individual cases.

Criminal charges

On 20 October 2016, the Federal Prosecutors’ 
Office in Brazil filed criminal charges against 
Samarco, BHP Brasil, Vale and certain of 
their employees and former employees in the 
Federal Court of Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais. 
On 3 March 2017, BHP Brasil and the charged 
employees and former employees of BHP Brasil 
(Affected Individuals) filed their preliminary 
defences. The Federal Court granted Habeas 
Corpus petitions in favour of all eight Affected 
Individuals terminating the charges against those 
individuals. The Federal Prosecutors’ Office 
appealed seven of the decisions with hearings 
of the appeals still pending. BHP Brasil rejects 
outright the charges against BHP Brasil and the 
Affected Individuals and will defend the charges 
and fully support each of the Affected Individuals 
in their defences of the charges. 

Australian class action claim

BHP Group Limited is named as a defendant in 
a shareholder class action in the Federal Court 
of Australia on behalf of persons who acquired 
shares in BHP Group Limited on the Australian 
Securities Exchange or shares in BHP Group 
Plc (now known as BHP Group (UK) Ltd) on 
the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg 
Stock Exchange in periods prior to the Samarco 
dam failure. The amount of damages sought in 
the class action is unspecified.

On 12 May 2020, BHP Group Limited filed an 
application seeking declaratory relief which, if 
successful, would narrow the group of claimants 
in the class action. BHP Group Limited was 
unsuccessful at first instance and on appeal to 
the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. 
The High Court of Australia heard an appeal 
from the Full Court’s decision on 9 August 2022 
and a decision is pending. 

United Kingdom group action claim

BHP Group (UK) Ltd (formerly BHP Group 
Plc) and BHP Group Limited are named as 
defendants in group action claims for damages 
that have been filed in the courts of England. 
These claims have been filed on behalf of 
certain individuals, governments, businesses 
and communities in Brazil allegedly impacted by 
the Samarco dam failure. 

On 7 August 2019, the BHP parties filed a 
preliminary application to strike out or stay this 
action on jurisdictional and other procedural 
grounds. That application was successful before 
the High Court and the action was dismissed. 
However, on 8 July 2022, the Court of Appeal 
reversed the dismissal decision and allowed the 
action to proceed in England. The BHP parties 
will now seek leave to appeal the Court of 
Appeal judgment to the Supreme Court.

9  Shareholder 
information
9.1  History and 
development
BHP Group Limited (formerly BHP Billiton 
Limited, then BHP Limited and, before that, 
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited) 
was incorporated in 1885 and is registered in 
Australia with ABN 49 004 028 077. BHP Group 
Plc (formerly BHP Billiton Plc, and before that 
Billiton Plc) was incorporated in 1996 and is 
registered in England and Wales with registration 
number 3196209. Successive predecessor 
entities to BHP Group Plc have operated 
since 1860. 

We operated under a Dual Listed Company 
(DLC) structure from 29 June 2001 until 
31 January 2022. Under the DLC structure, the 
two parent companies, BHP Group Limited and 
BHP Group Plc, operated as a single economic 
entity, run by a unified Board and senior 
executive management team. 

On 31 January 2022, we unified our corporate 
structure under BHP Group Limited, which is 
now the sole parent company.

9.2  Markets
As at the date of this Annual Report, BHP Group 
Limited has a primary listing on the Australian 
Securities Exchange (ASX) (ticker BHP) in 
Australia, a standard listing on the London Stock 
Exchange (LSE) (ticker BHP), a secondary 
listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange 
(ticker BHG) and is listed on the New York Stock 
Exchange (NYSE) in the United States. 

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Trading on the NYSE is in the form of American 
Depositary Receipts (ADRs) evidencing 
American Depositary Shares (ADSs), with each 
ADS representing two ordinary shares of BHP 
Group Limited. Citibank N.A. (Citibank) is the 
Depositary for the ADS program. BHP Group 
Limited’s ADSs have been listed for trading on 
the NYSE (ticker BHP) since 28 May 1987. 

9.3  Organisational 
structure
From June 2001 to January 2022, BHP operated 
under a Dual Listed Company structure, with 
two separate parent companies (BHP Group 
Limited and BHP Group Plc) and their respective 
subsidiaries operating as a single unified 
economic entity.

On 31 January 2022, BHP unified its Dual Listed 
Company structure, following which BHP Group 
Plc became a subsidiary of BHP Group Limited. 
BHP Group Limited is now the ultimate BHP 
parent company of all subsidiaries within the 
BHP Group.

9.4  Constitution
This section sets out a summary of BHP 
Group Limited’s Constitution, as well as other 
related arrangements under applicable laws 
and regulations.

Provisions of the Constitution of BHP Group 
Limited can be amended only where such 
amendment is approved by special resolution. A 
‘special resolution’ is a resolution that is passed 
by 75 per cent (i.e. at least three quarters) of the 
votes cast by BHP shareholders entitled to vote 
being in favour of the resolution. 

Directors
The Board may exercise all powers of BHP, 
other than those that are reserved for BHP 
shareholders to exercise in a general meeting.

Power to issue securities
Under the Constitution, the Board of Directors 
has the power to issue any BHP shares or 
other securities (including redeemable shares) 
with preferred, deferred or other special rights, 
obligations or restrictions. The Board may issue 
shares on any terms it considers appropriate, 
provided that:

–  the issue does not affect any special rights 

of shareholders

–  if required, the issue is approved 

by shareholders

–  if the issue is of a class other than ordinary 
shares, the rights attaching to the class are 
expressed at the date of issue

Restrictions on voting by 
Directors
A Director may not vote in respect of any 
contract or arrangement or any other proposal 
in which they have a material personal interest 
except in certain prescribed circumstances, 
including (subject to applicable laws) where the 
material personal interest:

–  arises because the Director is a shareholder 
of BHP and is held in common with the other 
shareholders of BHP

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–  arises in relation to the Director’s 
remuneration as a Director of BHP

may be elected to the Board by ordinary 
resolution passed in a general meeting.

Retirement of Directors

The Board has a policy under which all Non-
executive Directors must, if they wish to remain 
on the Board, seek re-election by shareholders 
annually. This policy took effect from the 2011 
Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and replaced 
the previous system that required Non-executive 
Directors to submit themselves to shareholders 
for re-election at least every three years.

A Director may be removed by BHP in 
accordance with applicable law and must 
vacate his or her office as a Director in certain 
circumstances set out in the Constitution. 
There is no requirement for a Director to retire 
on reaching a certain age.

Rights attaching to shares

Dividend rights

Under Australian law, dividends on shares may 
be paid only if the company’s assets exceed 
its liabilities immediately before the dividend 
is determined and the excess is sufficient for 
payment of the dividend, the payment of the 
dividend is fair and reasonable to the company’s 
shareholders as a whole and the payment of 
the dividend does not materially prejudice the 
company’s ability to pay its creditors.

The Constitution provides that payment of any 
dividend may be made in any manner, by any 
means and in any currency determined by 
the Board.

All unclaimed dividends may be invested or 
otherwise used by the Board for the benefit of 
BHP Group Limited until claimed or otherwise 
disposed of according to law. BHP Group Limited 
is governed by the Victorian unclaimed monies 
legislation, which requires BHP Group Limited to 
pay to the State Revenue Office any unclaimed 
dividend payments of A$20 or more that have 
remained unclaimed for over 12 months.

Voting rights

For the purposes of determining which 
shareholders are entitled to attend or vote at a 
meeting of BHP Group Limited, and how many 
votes such shareholder may cast, the Notice of 
Meeting will specify when a shareholder must be 
entered on the Register of Shareholders in order 
to have the right to attend or vote at the meeting. 
The specified time must be not more than 48 
hours before the time of the meeting.

Shareholders who wish to appoint a proxy to 
attend, vote or speak at a meeting of BHP Group 
Limited on their behalf must deposit the form 
appointing a proxy so that it is received not less 
than 48 hours before the time of the meeting.

–  relates to a contract BHP is proposing to 
enter into that is subject to approval by 
the shareholders and will not impose any 
obligation on BHP if it is not approved by 
the shareholders

–  arises merely because the Director is a 
guarantor or has given an indemnity or 
security for all or part of a loan, or proposed 
loan, to BHP

–  arises merely because the Director has a right 
of subrogation in relation to a guarantee or 
indemnity referred to above

–  relates to a contract that insures, or would 
insure, the Director against liabilities the 
Director incurs as an officer of BHP, but only if 
the contract does not make BHP or a related 
body corporate the insurer

–  relates to any payment by BHP or a related 
body corporate in respect of an indemnity 
permitted by law, or any contract relating to 
such an indemnity, or

–  is in a contract, or proposed contract with, 
or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, a 
related body corporate and arises merely 
because the Director is a director of a related 
body corporate

If a Director has a material personal interest 
and is not entitled to vote on a proposal, they 
will not be counted in the quorum for any 
vote on a resolution concerning the material 
personal interest.

Loans by Directors
Any Director may lend money to BHP at interest 
with or without security or may, for a commission 
or profit, guarantee the repayment of any money 
borrowed by BHP and underwrite or guarantee 
the subscription of shares or securities of 
BHP or of any corporation in which BHP may 
be interested without being disqualified as a 
Director and without being liable to account to 
BHP for any commission or profit.

Appointment and retirement 
of Directors

Appointment of Directors

The Constitution provides that a person may be 
appointed as a Director of BHP by the existing 
Directors of BHP or may be elected by the 
shareholders in a general meeting. 

Any person appointed as a Director of BHP 
by the existing Directors will hold office only 
until the next general meeting that includes an 
election of Directors. 

A person may be nominated by shareholders as 
a Director of BHP if:

–  a shareholder provides a valid written notice 

of the nomination; and

–  the person nominated by the shareholder 
satisfies candidature for the office and 
consents in writing to his or her nomination 
as a Director,

and the nomination is provided at least 40 
business days before the date of the general 
meeting. The person nominated as a Director 

Rights to share in BHP Group Limited’s 
profits

The rights attached to the ordinary shares of 
BHP Group Limited, as regards the participation 
in the profits available for distribution that the 
Board determines to distribute, are as follows:

–  The holders of any preference shares will be 
entitled, in priority to any payment of dividend 
to the holders of any other class of shares, 
to a preferred right to participate as regards 
dividends up to but not beyond a specified 
amount in distribution.

–  Any surplus remaining after payment of the 
distributions above will be payable to the 
holders of BHP Group Limited ordinary shares 
in equal amounts per share.

Rights on return of assets on liquidation 

On a return of assets on liquidation of BHP 
Group Limited, the assets of BHP Group 
Limited remaining available for distribution 
among shareholders after the payment of all 
prior ranking amounts owed to all creditors and 
holders of preference shares, and to all prior 
ranking statutory entitlements, are to be applied 
on an equal priority with any amount paid to the 
holders of BHP Group Limited ordinary shares, 
and any surplus remaining is to be applied in 
making payments solely to the holders of BHP 
Group Limited ordinary shares in accordance 
with their entitlements. 

Redemption of preference shares
If BHP Group Limited at any time proposes to 
create and issue any preference shares, the 
terms of the preference shares may give either 
or both of BHP Group Limited and the holder the 
right to redeem the preference shares. 

The preference shares terms may also give the 
holder the right to convert the preference shares 
into ordinary shares.

Under the Constitution, the preference shares 
must give the holders:

–  the right (on redemption and on a winding-up) 
to payment in cash in priority to any other 
class of shares of (i) the amount paid or 
agreed to be considered as paid on each of 
the preference shares; and (ii) the amount, if 
any, equal to the aggregate of any dividends 
accrued but unpaid and of any arrears of 
dividends; and

–  the right, in priority to any payment of 

dividend on any other class of shares, to the 
preferential dividend.

Capital calls
Subject to the terms on which any shares may 
have been issued, the Board may make calls on 
the shareholders in respect of all monies unpaid 
on their shares. BHP has a lien on every partly 
paid share for all amounts payable in respect of 
that share. Each shareholder is liable to pay the 
amount of each call in the manner, at the time 
and at the place specified by the Board (subject 
to receiving at least 14 days’ notice specifying 
the time and place for payment). A call is 
considered to have been made at the time when 
the resolution of the Board authorising the call 
was passed.

Borrowing powers
Subject to relevant law, the Directors may 
exercise all powers of BHP to borrow money, 
and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, 
property, assets (both present and future) and 
all uncalled capital or any part or parts thereof 
and to issue debentures and other securities, 
whether outright or as collateral security for 
any debt, liability or obligation of BHP or of any 
third party.

Variation of class rights
Rights attached to any class of shares issued 
by BHP Group Limited can only be varied where 
such variation is approved by:

–  the company as a special resolution; and

–  the holders of the issued shares of the 

affected class, either by a special resolution 
passed at a separate meeting of the holders 
of the issued shares of the class affected, or 
with the written consent of members with at 
least 75 per cent of the votes of that class.

Annual General Meetings
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) provides 
a forum to facilitate the sharing of shareholder 
views and is an important event in the BHP 
calendar. The meeting provides an update for 
shareholders on our performance and offers an 
opportunity for shareholders to ask questions 
and vote. To vote at an AGM, a shareholder 
must be a registered holder of BHP Group 
Limited shares at a designated time before the 
relevant AGM.

Key members of management, including 
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief 
Financial Officer, are present and available to 
answer questions. The External Auditor will also 
be available to answer questions. 

Proceedings at shareholder meetings are 
webcast live from our website. Copies of the 
speeches delivered by the Chair and CEO 
to the AGM are released to the relevant 
stock exchanges and posted on our website. 
The outcome of voting on the items of business 
are released to the relevant stock exchanges 
and posted on our website as soon as they are 
available following completion of the AGM and 
finalisation of the polls.

More information on our AGMs is available at 
bhp.com/meetings.

Conditions governing general 
meetings
The Board may, and must on requisition in 
accordance with applicable laws, call a general 
meeting of the shareholders at the time and 
place or places and in the manner determined 
by the Board. No shareholder may convene a 
general meeting of BHP except where entitled 
under law to do so. Any Director may convene 
a general meeting whenever the Director thinks 
fit. General meetings can also be adjourned or 
cancelled, or postponed where permitted by law 
or the Constitution. Notice of a general meeting 
must be given to each shareholder entitled to 
vote at the meeting and such notice of meeting 
must be given in the form and manner in which 

the Board thinks fit subject to any applicable 
law. Five shareholders of the company present 
in person or by proxy constitute a quorum for 
a meeting. A shareholder who is entitled to 
attend and cast a vote at a general meeting of 
BHP may appoint a person as a proxy to attend 
and vote for the shareholder in accordance 
with applicable law. All provisions relating to 
general meetings apply with any necessary 
modifications to any special meeting of any class 
of shareholders that may be held. 

Limitations of rights to own 
securities
There are no limitations under the Constitution 
restricting the right to own BHP shares or other 
securities. In addition, the Australian Foreign 
Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 imposes 
a number of conditions that restrict foreign 
ownership of Australian-based companies.

For information on share control limits 
imposed by relevant laws refer to Additional 
information 9.8.

Documents on display
Documents filed by BHP Group Limited on 
the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 
are available at asx.com.au and documents 
filed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) 
are available at data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/
nationalstoragemechanism. Documents filed 
on the ASX or on the LSE are not incorporated 
by reference into this Annual Report. 
The documents referred to in this Annual Report 
as being available on our website, bhp.com, are 
not incorporated by reference and do not form 
part of this Annual Report.

BHP Group Limited files Annual Reports and 
other reports and information with the US 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 
These filings are available on the SEC website 
at sec.gov.

9.5  Share ownership
Share capital
The details of the share capital for BHP Group 
Limited are presented in Financial Statements 
note 16 ‘Share capital’ and remain current as at 
4 August 2022. 

Major shareholders
The table in ‘Ordinary share holdings and 
transactions’ in Remuneration Report 5.4 
and the information set out in ‘Executive Key 
Management Personnel’ in Directors’ Report 
4 present information pertaining to the shares 
in BHP Group Limited held by Directors and 
members of the Key Management Personnel.

BHP Group Limited is not directly or indirectly 
controlled by another corporation or by any 
government. No shareholder possesses voting 
rights that differ from those attaching to all of 
BHP Group Limited’s voting securities.

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GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review9 Shareholder information continued

Substantial shareholders in BHP Group Limited
The following table shows holdings of 5 per cent or more of voting rights in BHP Group Limited’s shares as notified to BHP Group Limited under the 
Australian Corporations Act 2001, Section 671B as at 30 June 2022.1

Title of class

Ordinary shares

Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares

Identity of person or 
group

Citigroup Global Markets 
Australia Pty Limited
BlackRock Group
First Sentier Investors 
Holdings Pty Limited

Date of last notice

Date received

26 April 2022

Date of change

21 April 2022

Number  
owned

318,921,856.17

% of total voting
rights2

6.2999%

3 February 2022
25 January 2022

31 January 2022
21 January 2022

351,161,439
148,776,229

6.93%
5.04%

1  Between 1 July 2022 and 4 August 2022, BHP received a substantial shareholder notice from State Street Corporation on 22 July 2022, which included the following 

information: date of change 20 July 2022, the number of securities owned 261,205,833 and percentage of voting rights 5.16 per cent.

2  The percentages quoted are based on the voting rights provided in the last substantial shareholders notice.

Twenty largest shareholders as at 4 August 2022 (as named on the Register of Shareholders)1 

BHP Group Limited
1. HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited2
2. J P Morgan Nominees Australia Pty Limited
3. Computershare Clearing Pty Ltd 3
4. Citicorp Nominees Pty Ltd
5. Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited 
6. South Africa Control A/C\C4
7. BNP Paribas Noms Pty Ltd 
8. National Nominees Limited
9.  BNP Paribas Nominees Pty Ltd 
10.  Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited  
11.  HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited 
12. BNP Paribas Nominees Pty Ltd ACF Clearstream
13.  Computershare Nominees CI Ltd 
14.  Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited
15.  Netwealth Investments Limited 
16.  BNP Paribas Nominees Pty Ltd Hub24 Custodial Serv Ltd 
17. Argo Investments Limited
18. HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited2
19.  HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited 
20. Solium Nominees (Australia) Pty Ltd 

Number of fully 
paid shares

% of 
 issued  
capital

1,308,389,176
808,044,953
377,361,065
345,389,241
287,052,215
215,543,062
140,537,183
133,886,307
61,711,472
41,973,139
32,952,696
21,016,512
19,149,708
13,413,159
12,887,342
10,288,935
8,968,304
7,379,822
6,927,263
5,574,376
3,858,445,930

25.85
15.96
7.45
6.82
5.67
4.26
2.78
2.64
1.22
0.83
0.65
0.42
0.38
0.26
0.25
0.20
0.18
0.15
0.14
0.11
76.22

1  Many of the 20 largest shareholders shown for BHP Group Limited hold shares as a nominee or custodian. In accordance with the reporting requirements, the tables reflect 

the legal ownership of shares and not the details of the underlying beneficial holders. 

2  HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited is listed twice in the above table as they are registered separately under the same name on the share register.
3  Computershare Clearing Pty Ltd  represents the Depositary Interest Register (UK).
4  South Africa Control A/C\C represents the South African branch register.

US share ownership as at 4 August 2022

Classification of holder
Registered holders of voting securities
ADR holders

1  These shares translate to 142,540,203 ADRs.

Number of 
shareholders

1,613
1,760

BHP Group Limited

%

0.26
0.29

Number of 
shares

3,665,430
285,080,4061

%

0.07
5.63

232

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Annual Report 2022

Geographical distribution of shareholders and shareholdings as at 4 August 2022

Registered address
Australia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
United States
South Africa
Other
Total

Distribution of shareholdings by size as at 4 August 2022

Size of holding
1–5002
501–1,000
1,001–5,000
5,001–10,000
10,001–25,000
25,001–50,000
50,001–100,000
100,001–250,000
250,001–500,000
500,001–1,000,000
1,000,001 and over
Total

Number of 
shareholders

595,906
7,448
2,463
1,613
93
4,206
611,729

Number of 
shareholders

294,628
109,464
164,130
26,073
13,245
2,766
936
347
66
25
49
611,729

BHP Group Limited

%

97.41
1.22
0.40
0.26
0.02
0.69
100

Number of  
shares

5,006,223,404
17,288,389
6,396,636
3,665,430
194,146
28,555,185
5,062,323,190

BHP Group Limited

%

48.163
17.894
26.831
4.262
2.165
0.452
0.153
0.057
0.011
0.004
0.008
100

Number of
shares1

59,084,642 
83,778,512
367,994,711
183,985,534
198,949,969
94,261,200
64,334,549
49,498,045
22,227,516
17,084,058
3,921,124,454
5,062,323,190

%

98.89
0.34
0.13
0.07
0.00
0.57
100

% 

1.17
1.65
7.27
3.63
3.93
1.86
1.27
0.98
0.44
0.34
77.46
100

1  One ordinary share entitles the holder to one vote.
2  The number of BHP Group Limited shareholders holding less than a marketable parcel (A$500) based on the market price of A$38.17 as at 4 August 2022 was 9,468. 

9.6  Dividends
Policy
The Group adopted a dividend policy in February 2016 that provides for a minimum 50 per cent payout of Underlying attributable profit (Continuing 
operations) at every reporting period. For information on Underlying attributable profit (Continuing operations) for FY2022 refer to OFR 4.2 and OFR 11.

The Board will assess, at each reporting period, the ability to pay amounts additional to the minimum payment, in accordance with the Capital Allocation 
Framework, as described in OFR 2.2.

In FY2022, we determined our dividends and other distributions in US dollars as it is our main functional currency. 

Payments
BHP Group Limited shareholders may have their cash dividends paid directly into their bank account in Australian dollars, UK pounds sterling, New 
Zealand dollars, or US dollars, provided they have submitted direct credit details and if required, a valid currency election nominating a financial institution 
to the BHP Share Registrar in Australia no later than close of business on the dividend reinvestment plan election date. BHP Group Limited shareholders 
who do not provide their direct credit details will receive dividend payments by way of a cheque in Australian dollars.

Dividend reinvestment plan
BHP offers a dividend reinvestment plan to registered shareholders, which provides the opportunity to use cash dividends to purchase BHP shares in the 
market. Following the unification of BHP’s DLC structure, BHP made amendments to its dividend reinvestment programme to provide former shareholders 
of BHP Group Plc (now known as BHP Group (UK) Ltd) with an ongoing opportunity to participate in the BHP Group Limited dividend reinvestment plan.

BHP

Annual Report 2022

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GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial Review9  Shareholder information continued

9.7  American Depositary Receipts fees and charges
We have an American Depositary Receipts (ADR) program for BHP Group Limited which has a 2:1 ordinary shares to American Depositary Share (ADS) ratio.  

Depositary fees
Citibank serves as the depositary bank for our ADR program. ADR holders agree to the terms in the deposit agreement filed with the SEC for depositing 
ordinary shares or surrendering ADSs for cancellation and for certain services as provided by Citibank. Holders are required to pay certain fees for 
general depositary services provided by Citibank, as set out in the tables below.

Standard depositary fees

Depositary service
Issuance of ADSs upon deposit of shares
Delivery of Deposited Securities against surrender of ADSs
Distribution of Cash Dividends

Corporate actions depositary fees

Fee payable by the ADR holders
Up to US$5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) issued
Up to US$5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) surrendered
Up to US$1.50 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held

Depositary service
Cash Distributions other than Cash Dividends (i.e. sale of rights, other entitlements, return of capital) Up to US$2.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held
Up to US$5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held
Distribution of ADSs pursuant to exercise of rights to purchase additional ADSs. Excludes stock 
dividends and stock splits
Distribution of securities other than ADSs or rights to purchase additional ADSs (i.e. spin-off shares) Up to US$5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held
Distribution of ADSs pursuant to an ADR ratio change in which shares are distributed

Fee payable by the ADR holders

No fee

Fees payable by the Depositary to the Issuer
Citibank has provided BHP net reimbursement of US$1,067,481.21 in FY2022 for ADR program-related expenses for BHP’s ADR program (FY2021: 
US$1,157,500). ADR program-related expenses include legal and accounting fees, listing fees, expenses related to investor relations in the United 
States, fees payable to service providers for the distribution of material to ADR holders, expenses of Citibank as administrator of the ADS Direct Plan and 
expenses to remain in compliance with applicable laws. 

Citibank has further agreed to waive other ADR program-related expenses for FY2022, amounting to US$18,195.03 which are associated with the 
administration of the ADR program (FY2021: US$24,189.85). 

The ADSs issued under our ADR program trade on the NYSE under the stock ticker BHP. As of 4 August 2022, there were 142,540,203 ADSs on issue 
and outstanding in the BHP Group Limited ADR program.

Charges
Holders are also required to pay the following charges in connection with depositing of ordinary shares and surrendering ADSs for cancellation and for the purpose of 
withdrawing deposited securities: taxes and other governmental charges, registration fees, transmission and delivery expenses, expenses and charges incurred by 
the depositary in the conversion of foreign currency, fees and expenses of the depositary in connection with compliance with exchange control regulations and other 
regulatory requirements and fees and expenses incurred by the depositary or other nominee in connection with servicing or delivery of deposit securities. 

9.8  Government 
regulations
Our assets are subject to a broad range of laws and 
regulations imposed by governments and regulatory 
bodies. These regulations touch all aspects of 
our assets, including how we extract, process 
and explore for minerals and how we conduct 
our business, including regulations governing 
matters such as environmental protection, land 
rehabilitation, occupational health and safety, 
human rights, the rights and interests of Indigenous 
peoples, competition, foreign investment, export, 
marketing of minerals, and taxes. 

The ability to extract and process minerals is 
fundamental to BHP. In most jurisdictions, the 
rights to extract mineral deposits are owned by 
the government. We obtain the right to access 
the land and extract the product by entering into 
licences or leases with the government that owns 
the mineral deposit. We also rely on governments 
to grant the rights necessary to transport 
and treat the extracted material to prepare 
it for sale. The terms of the lease or licence, 
including the time period of the lease or licence, 
vary depending on the laws of the relevant 
government or terms negotiated with the relevant 
government. Generally, we own the product we 
extract and we are required to pay royalties or 
other taxes to the government. The Queensland 
Government recently announced that a 10-year 

234

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Annual Report 2022

freeze on coal royalties would expire on 30 June 
2022, with a new progressive royalty system 
to apply from 1 July 2022. The revised system 
replaced the fixed royalty amount of 15 per cent 
on any amounts above A$150 per tonne with 
a tiered approach, which increases the royalty 
amount payable as the price of coal passes 
certain monetary thresholds. The royalty rates 
for amounts up to and including A$150 will not 
change despite the expiry of the royalty freeze. 
For more information refer to OFR 5.1.

The rights to explore for minerals are granted 
to us by the government that owns the natural 
resources we wish to explore. Usually, the right 
to explore carries with it the obligation to spend a 
defined amount of money on the exploration, or to 
undertake particular exploration activities. 

Environmental protection, mine closure and 
land rehabilitation, and occupational health and 
safety are principally regulated by governments 
and to a lesser degree, if applicable, by leases. 
These obligations often require us to make 
substantial expenditures to minimise or remediate 
the environmental impact of our assets and 
to ensure the safety of our employees and 
contractors and the communities where we 
operate. Regulations setting emissions standards 
for fuels used to power vehicles and equipment 
at our assets and the modes of transport used 
in our supply chains can also have a substantial 
impact, both directly and indirectly, on the markets 

for these products, with flow-on impacts on our 
costs. For more information on these types of 
obligations refer to OFR 7.

The Parliament of Western Australia recently 
passed the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 
2021 (WA) (ACH Act). The ACH Act, which 
received assent on 22 December 2021, will 
replace the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 
1972 (WA), concluding more than three years of 
consultation with Indigenous Australians, industry 
representatives, heritage professionals and the 
Western Australian community. The ACH Act will 
strengthen the Western Australian government’s 
authority to regulate land use including mining 
activities, and the consultation process in 
relation to Aboriginal cultural heritage sites in 
Western Australia. Before the ACH Act comes 
into operation, there will be a transitional period 
of at least 12 months during which subordinate 
legislation, statutory guidelines and operational 
policies will be developed to ensure the ACH 
Act will achieve its intended effects. There is 
potential for the ACH Act to impact BHP’s mining 
operations or future access to mining areas. 
For more information refer to OFR 7.13.

From time to time, certain trade sanctions are 
adopted by the United Nations (UN) Security 
Council and/or various governments, including 
in the United Kingdom, the United States, the 
European Union (EU), China and Australia 
against certain countries, entities or individuals, 

that may restrict our ability to sell extracted 
minerals, oil or natural gas to, and/or our ability to 
purchase goods or services from, these countries, 
entities or individuals.

being outside the scope of US sanctions, or within 
the scope of a specific licence issued by the US 
Department of the Treasury‘s Office of Foreign 
Assets Control (OFAC). 

Disclosure of Iran-related activities 
pursuant to section 13(r) of the US 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Section 13(r) of the US Securities Exchange Act 
of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) requires 
an issuer to disclose in its annual reports whether 
it or any of its affiliates knowingly engaged in 
certain activities, transactions or dealings relating 
to Iran. If applicable, disclosure is required even 
where the activities, transactions or dealings are 
conducted outside the United States by non-US 
persons in compliance with applicable law, and 
whether or not the activities are sanctionable 
under US law. Provided in this section is certain 
information concerning activities of certain affiliates 
of BHP that took place in FY2022. BHP believes 
that these activities are not sanctionable either as 

On 30 November 2018, BHP Billiton Petroleum 
Great Britain Ltd (BHP GB), a wholly owned 
subsidiary of BHP, and its co-venturers in the 
Bruce and Keith gas and oil fields offshore United 
Kingdom (BP Exploration Operating Company 
(BP), Marubeni Oil & Gas (UK) Limited (Marubeni) 
and Total E&P UK Limited (Total)) completed the 
sale of their interests in the Bruce and Keith gas 
and oil fields to Serica Energy (UK) Limited (Serica) 
(the Bruce and Keith Transaction). BHP divested 
its entire licence interests in Bruce and Keith but 
retained the obligation to fund decommissioning in 
accordance with its previous licence interest.

The transfer of licence interests and retention of 
decommissioning liabilities for the Bruce and Keith 
co-venturers in the respective gas and oil fields is 
described below:

Bruce

Post-sale 
licence  
interest  
%
1
1
0
0
98

Pre-sale  
interest  
%
37
43.25
16
3.65
0

Post-sale 
decom.  
interest  
%
37
43.25
16
0
3.75

Pre-sale  
interest  
%
34.83
25
31.83
8.33
0

Keith

Post-sale 
licence  
interest  
%
0
0
0
0
100

Post-sale 
decom.  
interest  
%
34.83
25
31.83
0
8.33

BP
Total
BHP GB
Marubeni
Serica

While the sale closed on 30 November 2018, it 
was effective in economic terms as of 1 January 
2018. In addition to initial cash consideration 
received from Serica at completion, BHP: 

–  subsequently received a share of pre-tax net 

cash flow attributable to its historic interest in the 
Bruce and Keith gas and oil fields of 60 per cent 
during December 2018, 50 per cent in CY2019 
and 40 per cent in each of CY2020 and CY2021 
under a Net Cash Flow Sharing Deed; and 

–  will continue to receive a share of projected 

decommissioning costs up to a specified cap. 

The Bruce platform provides transportation and 
processing services to the nearby Rhum gas 
field pursuant to a contract between the Bruce 
owners and Rhum owners (the Bruce-Rhum 
Agreement). At the same time as the Bruce and 
Keith Transaction, Serica acquired from BP its 50 
per cent interest and operatorship of the Rhum 
gas field. The Rhum gas field is now owned by a 
50:50 unincorporated joint venture arrangement 
between Serica and Iranian Oil Company (UK) 
Limited (IOC). IOC is an indirect subsidiary of 
the National Iranian Oil Company, which is a 
corporation owned by the Government of Iran. 

OFAC issued licence No. IA-2018-352294-2 (the 
OFAC Licence) authorising BP, Serica and all 
US persons and US-owned or controlled foreign 
entities identified in the licence application to 
provide goods, services and support for the 
operation, maintenance and production of 
the Rhum gas field, and goods, services and 
support to the Bruce platform for a period from 
2 November 2018 through 31 October 2019. 
On 22 October 2019, OFAC renewed this 
licence through to 28 February 2021, and on 
19 January 2021, OFAC renewed the license 
through to 31 January 2023. OFAC also provided 

an assurance that non-US persons would not be 
exposed to US secondary sanctions for engaging 
in these activities and transactions involving 
Rhum or the Bruce platform, namely providing 
goods, services, and support to the Rhum field. 

BHP continues to monitor developments concerning 
US sanctions with respect to Iran to maintain 
compliance with applicable sanctions laws and 
requirements. Although BHP has no ongoing 
direct dealings with any Iranian party, because 
BHP received ongoing consideration from Serica 
related to the sale of its interest in the Bruce-Rhum 
Agreement, BHP has included this disclosure.

BHP recognised the following transactions in 
FY2022 related to the Bruce-Rhum Agreement. 
For the period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, BHP 
received US$6.5 million from Serica under the 
Net Cash Flow Sharing Deed.

Shareholding limits
Under current Australian legislation, the payment 
of any dividends, interest or other payments by 
BHP Group Limited to non-resident holders of 
BHP Group Limited’s shares is not restricted by 
exchange controls or other limitations, except 
that, in certain circumstances, BHP Group Limited 
may be required to withhold Australian taxes. 

From time to time, certain sanctions are 
adopted by the UN Security Council and/
or various governments, including in the 
United Kingdom, the United States, the EU 
and Australia. Those sanctions prohibit or, 
in some cases, impose certain approval and 
reporting requirements on transactions involving 
sanctioned countries, entities and individuals 
and/or assets controlled or owned by them. 
Certain transfers into or out of Australia of 
amounts greater than A$10,000 in any currency 
may also be subject to reporting requirements.

The Australian Foreign Acquisitions and 
Takeovers Act 1975 (the FATA) restricts 
certain acquisitions of interests in securities in 
Australian companies, including BHP Group 
Limited. Generally, under the FATA, the prior 
approval of the Australian Treasurer must be 
obtained for proposals by a foreign person 
(either alone or together with its associates) 
to acquire 20 per cent or more of the voting 
power or issued securities in an Australian 
company. Lower approval thresholds apply in 
certain circumstances, including for acquisitions 
of interests in entities that operate a ‘national 
security business’, and acquisitions of interests 
by foreign government investors of voting power 
or issued securities in an Australian company.

The FATA also empowers the Treasurer to make 
certain orders prohibiting acquisitions by foreign 
persons in Australian companies, including BHP 
Group Limited (and requiring divestiture if the 
acquisition has occurred) where the Treasurer 
considers the acquisition to be contrary to 
national security or the national interest. 

Except for the restrictions under the FATA, there 
are no limitations, either under Australian law or 
under the Constitution of BHP Group Limited, 
on the right of non-residents to hold or vote BHP 
Group Limited ordinary shares.

Post-unification requirements 
under FATA
The Treasurer gave approval under the FATA 
for the actions taken as part of implementation 
of the unification of BHP’s DLC structure on the 
conditions set out below:

–  BHP Group Limited remains an Australian 
resident company, incorporated under the 
Corporations Act, that is listed on the ASX 
under the name ‘BHP Group Limited’ and 
trades under that name.

–  BHP Group Limited remains the ultimate 
holding company of, and continues to 
ultimately manage and control the companies 
conducting the businesses which are 
presently conducted by the subsidiaries of 
BHP Group Limited, including the Minerals 
and Services businesses, for so long as those 
businesses form part of the BHP Group.

–  The headquarters of BHP Group Limited 

(including the BHP Group’s corporate head 
offices) are to be in Australia.

–  The Chief Executive Officer of BHP Group 

Limited has their principal office in Australia.

–  The centre of administrative and practical 
management of BHP Group Limited is in 
Australia and BHP Group Limited’s corporate 
head office activities, of the kind presently 
carried on in Australia, continue to be 
managed in Australia.

–  The headquarters of BHP Group Limited is 
publicly acknowledged as being in Australia 
in significant public announcements and in all 
public documents.

–  The Chief Executive Officer of BHP Group 

Limited has their principal place of residence 
in Australia.

–  The majority of all regularly scheduled Board 

meetings of BHP Group Limited in any 
calendar year occurs in Australia.

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10.1  Mining-related 
terms
3D
Three dimensional.

AIG
The Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

Anth (Anthracite)
Coal of high rank with the highest 
carbon content.

APEGS
Association of Professional Engineers and 
Geoscientists of Saskatchewan.

AusIMM
The Australasian Institute of Mining 
and Metallurgy.

Beneficiation
The process of physically separating ore from 
waste material prior to subsequent processing of 
the improved ore.

Bituminous
Coal of intermediate rank with relatively high 
carbon content.

Block cave
An area resulting from an underground mining 
method where the orebody is undermined to 
make it collapse under its own weight. 

Brownfield
The development or exploration located inside 
the area of influence of existing mine operations 
which can share infrastructure/management.

Coal Reserves
Equivalent to Ore Reserves, but specifically 
concerning coal.

Coal Resources
Equivalent to Mineral Resources, but specifically 
concerning coal.

Coking coal
Used in the manufacture of coke, which is 
used in the steelmaking process by virtue of its 
carbonisation properties. Coking coal may also 
be referred to as metallurgical coal.

Competent Person
A minerals industry professional who is a 
Member or Fellow of The Australasian Institute 
of Mining and Metallurgy, or of the Australian 
Institute of Geoscientists, or of a ‘Recognised 
Professional Organisation’ (RPO), as included 
in a list available on the JORC and ASX 
websites. These organisations have enforceable 
disciplinary processes, including the powers 
to suspend or expel a member. A Competent 
Person must have a minimum of five years’ 
relevant experience in the style of mineralisation 
or type of deposit under consideration and in the 
activity that the person is undertaking (JORC 
Code, 2012 Edition).

Copper cathode
Electrolytically refined copper that has been 
deposited on the cathode of an electrolytic bath 
of acidified copper sulphate solution. The refined 
copper may also be produced through leaching 
and electrowinning.

236

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Annual Report 2022

Cut-off grade
A nominated grade above which an Ore Reserve 
or Mineral Resource is defined. For example, the 
lowest grade of mineralised material that qualifies 
as economic for estimating an Ore Reserve.

Electrowinning/electrowon
An electrochemical process in which metal 
is recovered by dissolving a metal within an 
electrolyte and plating it onto an electrode.

Leaching
The process by which a soluble metal can be 
economically recovered from minerals in ore 
by dissolution.

LOI (loss on ignition)
A measure of the percentage of volatile matter 
(liquid or gas) contained within a mineral or rock. 
LOI is determined to calculate loss in mass when 
subjected to high temperatures.

Energy coal
Used as a fuel source in electrical power 
generation, cement manufacture and various 
industrial applications. Energy coal may also be 
referred to as steaming or thermal coal.

FAusIMM
Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining 
and Metallurgy.

Flotation
A method of selectively recovering minerals from 
finely ground ore using a froth created in water 
by specific reagents. In the flotation process, 
certain mineral particles are induced to float by 
becoming attached to bubbles of froth and the 
unwanted mineral particles sink.

Grade or Quality
Any physical or chemical measurement of the 
characteristics of the material of interest in 
samples or product.

Greenfield
The development or exploration located outside 
the area of influence of existing mine operations/
infrastructure.

Hypogene Sulphide
Hypogene mineralisation is formed by fluids 
at high temperature and pressure derived 
from magmatic activity. Copper in Hypogene 
Sulphide is mainly provident from the copper 
bearing mineral chalcopyrite and higher metal 
recoveries are achieved via grinding/flotation 
concentration processes.

Indicated (Mineral) Resources
That part of a Mineral Resource for which 
quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape 
and physical characteristics are estimated with 
sufficient confidence to allow the application 
of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to 
support mine planning and evaluation of the 
economic viability of the deposit (JORC Code, 
2012 Edition).

Inferred (Mineral) Resources
That part of a Mineral Resource for which 
quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated 
on the basis of limited geological evidence and 
sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to 
imply but not verify geological and grade (or 
quality) continuity (JORC Code, 2012 Edition).

In situ
Situated in the original place.

Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code
A set of minimum standards, recommendations 
and guidelines for public reporting in Australasia 
of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources 
and Ore Reserves. The guidelines are defined 
by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves 
Committee (JORC), which is sponsored 
by the Australian mining industry and its 
professional organisations.

MAIG
Member of the Australian Institute 
of Geoscientists.

Marketable (Coal) Reserves
Represents beneficiated or otherwise enhanced 
coal product where modifications due to mining, 
dilution and processing have been considered, 
must be publicly reported in conjunction with, 
but not instead of, reports of Coal Reserves. 
The basis of the predicted yield to achieve 
Marketable Coal Reserves must be stated 
(JORC Code, 2012).

MAusIMM
Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining 
and Metallurgy.

Measured (Mineral) Resources
That part of a Mineral Resource for which 
quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape 
and physical characteristics are estimated with 
confidence sufficient to allow the application 
of Modifying Factors to support detailed 
mine planning and final evaluation of the 
economic viability of the deposit (JORC Code, 
2012 Edition).

Metallurgical coal
A broader term than coking coal, which includes 
all coals used in steelmaking, such as coal used 
for the pulverised coal injection process.

Mineral Resources
A concentration or occurrence of solid material 
of economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust in 
such form, grade (or quality) and quantity that 
there are reasonable prospects for eventual 
economic extraction. The location, quantity, 
grade (or quality), continuity and other geological 
characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, 
estimated or interpreted from specific geological 
evidence and knowledge, including sampling 
(JORC Code, 2012 Edition).

Mineralisation
Any single mineral or combination of 
minerals occurring in a mass, or deposit, of 
economic interest.

Mixed (ore type)
Refer to Transitional Sulphide.

Modifying Factors
Considerations used to convert Mineral 
Resources to Ore Reserves. These include, 
but are not restricted to, mining, processing, 
metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, 
marketing, legal, environmental, social and 
governmental factors.

Nickel intermediates
Concentrate, matte, residue, and mix sulphide.

Nominated production rate
The approved average production rate for the 
remainder of the life-of-asset plan or five-year 
plan production rate if significantly different to 
life-of-asset production rate.

Open-cut (OC)
Surface working in which the working area is 
kept open to the sky.

Ore Reserves
The economically mineable part of a Measured 
and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes 
diluting materials and allowances for losses, 
which may occur when the material is mined 
or extracted and is defined by studies at Pre-
Feasibility or Feasibility level as appropriate 
that include application of Modifying Factors. 
Such studies demonstrate that, at the time 
of reporting, extraction could reasonably be 
justified (JORC Code, 2012 Edition).

PCI
Pulverised coal injection.

PEGBC
Association of Professional Engineers 
and Geoscientists of the Province of 
British Columbia.

Probable (Ore) Reserves
The economically mineable part of an Indicated 
and, in some circumstances, a Measured 
Mineral Resource. The confidence in the 
Modifying Factors applying to a Probable Ore 
Reserve is lower than that applying to a Proved 
Ore Reserve. Consideration of the confidence 
level of the Modifying Factors is important 
in conversion of Mineral Resources to Ore 
Reserves. A Probable Ore Reserve has a lower 
level of confidence than a Proved Ore Reserve 
but is of sufficient quality to serve as the basis 
for a decision on the development of the deposit 
(JORC Code, 2012 Edition).

Proved (Ore) Reserves
The economically mineable part of a Measured 
Mineral Resource. A Proved Ore Reserve 
implies a high degree of confidence in the 
Modifying Factors. A Proved Ore Reserve 
represents the highest confidence category of 
reserve estimate and implies a high degree of 
confidence in geological and grade continuity, 
and the consideration of the Modifying Factors. 
The style of mineralisation or other factors 
could mean that Proved Ore Reserves are not 
achievable in some deposits (JORC Code, 
2012 Edition).

Reserve Life
Current stated Ore Reserves estimate divided by 
the current approved nominated production rate 
as at the end of the financial year.

ROM (run of mine)
Run of mine product mined in the course 
of regular mining activities. Tonnes include 
allowances for diluting materials and for losses 
that occur when the material is mined.

Slag
A by-product of smelting after the desired metal 
has been extracted from its ore.

Smelting
The process of extracting metal from its ore by 
heating and melting.

10.2  Terms used in 
reserves and resources

Solvent extraction
A method of separating one or more metals 
from a leach solution by treating with a solvent 
that will extract the required metal, leaving the 
others. The metal is recovered from the solvent 
by further treatment.

Stockpile
An accumulation of ore or mineral built up when 
demand slackens or when the treatment plant 
or beneficiation equipment is incomplete or 
temporarily unable to process the mine output; 
any heap of material formed to create a buffer 
for loading or other purposes or material dug and 
piled for future use.

Sub-level cave
An area within an underground mine which uses 
the sub-level cave method. This is where an 
ore body is extracted from the upper horizons 
first and mining progresses downwards level 
by level. 

Supergene Sulphide
Supergene is a term used to describe near-
surface processes and their products, formed at 
low temperature and pressure by the activity of 
meteoric or surface water. Copper in Supergene 
Sulphide is mainly provident from the copper 
bearing minerals chalcocite and covellite and is 
amenable to both grinding/flotation concentration 
and leaching processes.

Tailings
Those portions of washed or milled ore that 
are too poor to be treated further or remain 
after the required metals and minerals have 
been extracted.

Total (Mineral) Resources
The sum of Inferred, Indicated and Measured 
Mineral Resources.

Total (Ore) Reserves
The sum of Proved and Probable Ore Reserves.

Transitional Sulphide
Transitional Sulphide is a term used to describe 
the zone of mineralisation that is a gradation 
between Supergene Sulphide and Hypogene 
Sulphide resulting from the incomplete 
development of the former as it overprints the 
latter. This results in a more irregular distribution 
of the three main copper bearing minerals and is 
amenable to both grinding/flotation concentration 
and leaching processes. 

Underground (UG)
Below the surface mining activities.

Wet tonnes
Production is usually quoted in terms of wet 
metric tonnes (wmt). To adjust from wmt to dry 
metric tonnes (dmt) a factor is applied based on 
moisture content.

Ag 
silver

AI2O3 
alumina

Anth
anthracite

Ash 
inorganic material remaining after combustion

Au 
gold

Cu 
copper

CV 
calorific value

Fe  
iron

Insol. 
insolubles

K2O 
potassium oxide

KCl 
potassium chloride

LOI 
loss on ignition

LPL
Lower Patience Lake (stratigraphic unit)

Met 
metallurgical coal

MgO 
magnesium oxide

Mo 
molybdenum

Ni 
nickel

NiSO4
nickel sulphate

P 
phosphorous 

Pc 
phosphorous in concentrate

PCI
pulverised coal injection

S 
sulphur

SCu 
soluble copper

SiO2 
silica

TCu 
total copper

Th 
thermal coal

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U3O8
uranium oxide

VM 
volatile matter

Yield 
the percentage of material of interest that is 
extracted during mining and/or processing

Zn 
zinc

10.3  Units of measure
% 
percentage or per cent

dmt 
dry metric tonne

g/t 
grams per tonne

ha 
hectare

kcal/kg 
kilocalories per kilogram

kg/tonne or kg/t 
kilograms per tonne

km 
kilometre

koz
thousand troy ounces 

kt 
kilotonnes

ktpa 
kilotonnes per annum

ktpd 
kilotonnes per day

kV 
kilovolt

kW
kilowatt

kWh
kilowatt hour

lb 
pound

m 
metre

m3
cubic metre

ML 
megalitre

Mt 
million tonnes

Mtpa 
million tonnes per annum

MW 
megawatt

oz 
troy ounce

ppm 
parts per million

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scf 
standard cubic feet

governance among Australia’s listed companies 
and helps educate retail investors.

t 
tonne

TW
terawatt

TWh
terawatt hour

tpa 
tonnes per annum

tpd 
tonnes per day

t/h 
tonnes per hour

wmt 
wet metric tonnes

10.4  Other terms
AASB (Australian Accounting Standards Board)
Accounting standards as issued by the 
Australian Accounting Standards Board.

Activity data 
A quantitative measure of a level of activity 
that results in greenhouse gas emissions. 
Activity data is multiplied by an energy and/
or emissions factor to derive the energy 
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions 
associated with a process or an operation. 
Examples of activity data include kilowatt-hours 
of electricity used, quantity of fuel used, output 
of a process, hours equipment is operated, 
distance travelled and floor area of a building.

ADR (American Depositary Receipt)
An instrument evidencing American Depositary 
Shares or ADSs, which trades on a stock 
exchange in the United States.

ADS (American Depositary Share)
A share issued under a deposit agreement 
that has been created to permit US-resident 
investors to hold shares in non-US companies 
and, if listed, trade them on the stock exchanges 
in the United States.

ADSs are evidenced by American Depositary 
Receipts, or ADRs, which are the instruments 
that, if listed, trade on a stock exchange in the 
United States.

ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments 
Commission) 
The Australian Government agency that 
enforces laws relating to companies, securities, 
financial services and credit in order to protect 
consumers, investors and creditors.

Assets
Assets are a set of one or more geographically 
proximate operations (including open-cut mines 
and underground mines). Assets include our 
operated and non-operated assets.

ASX (Australian Securities Exchange)
ASX is a multi-asset class vertically integrated 
exchange group that functions as a market 
operator, clearing house and payments system 
facilitator. It oversees compliance with its 
operating rules, promotes standards of corporate 

BHP
BHP Group Limited and its subsidiaries.

BHP Group Limited
BHP Group Limited and its subsidiaries. 

BHP Group Limited share
A fully paid ordinary share in the capital of BHP 
Group Limited.

BHP Group Limited shareholders
The holders of BHP Group Limited shares.

BHP Group Limited Special Voting Share
A single voting share issued to facilitate joint 
voting by shareholders of BHP Group Limited on 
Joint Electorate Actions (prior to unification of the 
DLC structure).

BHP Group Plc
BHP Group Plc (now known as BHP Group (UK) 
Ltd) and its subsidiaries. 

BHP Group Plc share
A fully paid ordinary share in the capital of BHP 
Group Plc (now known as BHP Group (UK) Ltd).

BHP Group Plc shareholders
The holders of BHP Group Plc shares (prior to 
unification of the DLC structure). 

BHP Group Plc Special Voting Share
A single voting share issued to facilitate joint 
voting by shareholders of BHP Group Plc 
(now known as BHP Group (UK) Ltd) on Joint 
Electorate Actions (prior to unification of the 
DLC structure).

BHP Group (UK) Ltd
BHP Group (UK) Ltd (formerly known as BHP 
Group Plc) and its subsidiaries.

BHP shareholders
In the context of BHP’s financial results, BHP 
shareholders refers to the holders of shares in 
BHP Group Limited.

Board
The Board of Directors of BHP.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e)
The universal unit of measurement to indicate 
the global warming potential (GWP) of each 
greenhouse gas, expressed in terms of the 
GWP of one unit of carbon dioxide. It is used 
to evaluate releasing (or avoiding releasing) 
different greenhouse gases against a 
common basis. 

Carbon neutral 
Carbon neutral includes all those greenhouse 
gas emissions as defined for BHP 
reporting purposes. 

Carbon offsets 
The central purpose of a carbon offset for 
an organisation is to substitute for internal 
GHG emission reductions. Offsets may be 
generated through projects in which GHG 
emissions are avoided, reduced, removed 
from the atmosphere or permanently stored 
(sequestration). Carbon offsets are generally 
created and independently verified in 
accordance with either a voluntary program or 
under a regulatory program. The purchaser of a 
carbon offset can ‘retire’ or ‘surrender’ it to claim 

the underlying reduction towards their own GHG 
emissions reduction targets or goals or to meet 
legal obligations.

CEO Water Mandate
The CEO Water Mandate is a UN Global 
Compact initiative that mobilises business 
leaders on water, sanitation, and the Sustainable 
Development Goals. Endorsers of the CEO 
Water Mandate commit to continuous progress 
against six core elements of stewardship and 
in so doing understand and manage their 
own water risks. Companies that endorse the 
Mandate agree to continuous improvement in six 
core areas of their water stewardship practice: 
Direct Operations, Supply Chain & Watershed 
Management, Collective Action, Public Policy, 
Community Engagement and Transparency. 
BHP is an active signatory of the Mandate.

Commercial
Our Commercial function seeks to maximise 
commercial and social value across our 
end-to-end supply chain. It provides effective 
and efficient service levels to our assets and 
customers through world-class insights and 
market intelligence, deep subject-matter 
expertise, simple processes and centralised 
standard activities. The function is organised 
around the core activities in our inbound and 
outbound value chains, supported by credit 
and market risk management, and strategy and 
planning activities. 

Company
BHP Group Limited and its subsidiaries.

DLC Dividend Share
A share to enable a dividend to be paid by BHP 
Group Plc to BHP Group Limited or by BHP 
Group Limited to BHP Group Plc (as applicable) 
prior to unification of the DLC structure.

DLC merger
The Dual Listed Company merger between BHP 
Group Limited and BHP Group Plc (now known 
as BHP Group (UK) Ltd) on 29 June 2001.

ECR
BHP’s Economic Contribution Report for the 
year ended 30 June 2022.

ELT (Executive Leadership Team)
The Executive Leadership Team directly reports 
to the Chief Executive Officer and is responsible 
for the day-to-day management of BHP and 
leading the delivery of our strategic objectives.

Emission factor 
A factor that converts activity data into 
greenhouse gas emissions data (e.g. kgCO2-e 
emitted per GJ of fuel consumed, kg CO2-e 
emitted per KWh of electricity used).

Energy
Energy means all forms of energy products 
where ‘energy products’ means combustible 
fuels, heat, renewable energy, electricity, or 
any other form of energy from operations that 
are owned or controlled by BHP. The primary 
sources of energy consumption come from fuel 
consumed by haul trucks at our operated assets, 
as well as purchased electricity used at our 
operated assets. 

Continuing operations 
Assets/operations/entities that are owned and/or 
operated by BHP, excluding assets/operations/
entities classified as Discontinued Operations.

Energy content factor
The energy content of a fuel is an inherent 
chemical property that is a function of the 
number and types of chemical bonds in the fuel.

Convention of Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity 
(CBD) is the international legal instrument for 
‘the conservation of biological diversity, the 
sustainable use of its components and the fair 
and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out 
of the utilization of genetic resources’ that has 
been ratified by 196 nations.

CQCA
Central Queensland Coal Associates. 

Discontinued operations 
Assets/operations/entities that have either 
been disposed of or are classified as held 
for sale in accordance with IFRS 5/AASB 
5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and 
Discontinued Operations.

Dividend record date
The date, determined by a company’s board of 
directors, by when an investor must be recorded 
as an owner of shares in order to qualify for a 
forthcoming dividend.

DLC (Dual Listed Company)
BHP’s Dual Listed Company structure had two 
parent companies (BHP Group Limited and 
BHP Group Plc (now known as BHP Group (UK) 
Ltd)) operating as a single economic entity as a 
result of the DLC merger. The DLC structure was 
unified on 31 January 2022.

Entrained water
Entrained water includes water incorporated into 
product and/or waste streams, such as tailings, 
that cannot be easily recovered.

Equity share approach 
A consolidation approach whereby a company 
accounts for greenhouse gas emissions from 
operations according to its share of equity in the 
operation. The equity share reflects economic 
interest, which is the extent of rights a company 
has to the risks and rewards flowing from an 
operation. Also see the definition for ‘Operational 
control approach’.

Executive KMP (Key Management Personnel)
Executive KMP includes the Executive Director 
(our CEO), the Chief Financial Officer, the 
President Operations (Minerals Australia), the 
President Operations (Minerals Americas), 
and the Senior Executive Officer (President 
Petroleum until 31 May). It does not include the 
Non-Executive Directors (our Board).

Financial control approach 
A consolidation approach whereby a company 
reports greenhouse gas emissions based on 
the accounting treatment in the company’s 
consolidated financial statements, as follows:

–  100 per cent for operations accounted for 
as subsidiaries, regardless of the equity 
interest owned

–  for operations accounted for as a joint 
operation, the company’s interest in 
the operations

It does not report greenhouse gas emissions 
from operations that are accounted for 
using the equity method in the company’s 
financial statements.

Functions
Functions operate along global reporting lines to 
provide support to all areas of the organisation. 
Functions have specific accountabilities and 
deep expertise in areas such as finance, legal, 
governance, technology, human resources, 
corporate affairs, health, safety and community.

Gearing ratio
The ratio of net debt to net debt plus net assets.

GHG (greenhouse gas)
For BHP reporting purposes, these are the 
aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide 
equivalent emissions of carbon dioxide 
(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), 
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons 
(PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). 
Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) GHG emissions 
are currently not relevant for BHP 
reporting purposes.

Global goal for nature 
The global goal for nature defines what is 
needed to halt and reverse today’s catastrophic 
loss of nature. It is supported by a number of 
organisations that ask governments to adopt 
the goal at the international level, which each 
country, the private sector, communities and 
others can contribute to achieving.

Goal (in respect of greenhouse gas emissions)
An ambition to seek an outcome for which there 
is no current pathway(s), but for which efforts will 
be pursued towards addressing that challenge, 
subject to certain assumptions or conditions.

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI works with businesses and governments to 
understand and communicate their impact on 
critical sustainability issues.

Groundwater
Water beneath the earth’s surface, including 
beneath the seabed, which fills pores or 
cracks between porous media such as soil, 
rock, coal, and sand, often forming aquifers. 
Groundwater may be abstracted for use from bore 
fields or accessed via dewatering to access ore. 
For accounting purposes, water that is entrained 
in the ore can be considered as groundwater.

Group
BHP Group Limited and its subsidiaries.

GWP (global warming potential)
A factor describing the radiative forcing impact 
(degree of harm to the atmosphere) of one 
unit of a given greenhouse gas relative to one 
unit of CO2. BHP currently uses GWP from the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
(IPCC) Assessment Report 5 (AR5) based on a 
100-year timeframe.

HPI (high-potential injuries)
High-potential injuries (HPI) are recordable 
injuries and first aid cases where there was the 
potential for a fatality. 

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Annual Report 2022

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ICMM (International Council on Mining and Metals)
The International Council on Mining and Metals 
is an international organisation dedicated 
to a safe, fair and sustainable mining and 
metals industry.

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)
Accounting standards as issued by the 
International Accounting Standards Board.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for 
assessing the science related to climate change.

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of 
Nature)
The International Union for Conservation of 
Nature is an international organisation working in 
the field of nature conservation and sustainable 
use of natural resources.

KMP (Key Management Personnel)
Key Management Personnel (KMP) includes the 
roles which have the authority and responsibility 
for planning, directing and controlling the 
activities of BHP. These are Non-executive 
Directors, the CEO, the Chief Financial 
Officer, the President Minerals Australia, the 
President Minerals Americas and the Senior 
Executive Officer (i.e. President Petroleum until 
31 May 2022).

KPI (key performance indicator)
Used to measure the performance of the Group, 
individual businesses and executives in any 
one year.

Legacy assets
Legacy assets refer to those BHP-operated 
assets, or part thereof, located in the Americas 
that are in the closure phase.

LME (London Metal Exchange)
A major futures exchange for the trading of 
industrial metals.

Location-based reporting 
Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions based on 
average energy generation emission factors 
for defined geographic locations, including 
local, subnational, or national boundaries (i.e. 
grid factors). In the case of a direct line transfer, 
the location-based emissions are equivalent to 
the market-based emissions.

Market-based reporting
Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions based on 
the generators (and therefore the generation 
fuel mix from which the reporter contractually 
purchases electricity and/or is directly provided 
electricity via a direct line transfer).

Nature positive
A high-level goal and concept describing a future 
state of nature (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem 
services and natural capital) which is greater 
than the current state. This definition comes 
from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial 
Disclosures (TNFD) Framework – Beta release 
v0.1.

Net zero (for a BHP greenhouse gas goal, target or 
pathway, or similar)
Net zero includes the use of carbon offsets 
as governed by BHP’s approach to carbon 
offsetting described at bhp.com/climate.

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Annual Report 2022

Net zero (for industry sectors, the global economy, 
transition or future, or similar)
Net zero refers to a state in which the 
greenhouse gases (as defined in this Glossary) 
going into the atmosphere are balanced by 
removal out of the atmosphere.

NGER (National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting 
Scheme)
The Australian National Greenhouse and Energy 
Reporting (NGER) scheme is a single national 
framework for reporting and disseminating 
company information about greenhouse 
gas emissions, energy production, energy 
consumption and other information specified 
under NGER legislation.

Nickel intermediates
Concentrate, matte, residue, and mix sulphide.

Non-operated asset/non-operated joint venture 
(NOJV) 
Non-operated assets/non-operated joint 
ventures include interests in assets that are 
owned as a joint venture but not operated by 
BHP. References in this Annual Report to a ‘joint 
venture’ are used for convenience to collectively 
describe assets that are not wholly owned 
by BHP. Such references are not intended to 
characterise the legal relationship between the 
owners of the asset.

Occupational illness
An illness that occurs as a consequence of work-
related activities or exposure. It includes acute 
or chronic illnesses or diseases, which may be 
caused by inhalation, absorption, ingestion or 
direct contact.

OELs (occupational exposure limits)
An occupational exposure limit is an upper limit 
on the acceptable concentration of a hazardous 
substance in workplace air for a particular 
material or class of materials. OELs may also 
be set for exposure to physical agents such as 
noise, vibration or radiation.

OFR
BHP’s Operating and Financial Review for the 
year ended 30 June 2022.

Onshore US
BHP’s petroleum asset (divested in the 
year ended 30 June 2019) in four US shale 
areas (Eagle Ford, Permian, Haynesville 
and Fayetteville), where we produced oil, 
condensate, gas and natural gas liquids.

Operated assets
Operated assets include assets that are wholly 
owned and operated by BHP and assets that 
are owned as a joint venture and operated by 
BHP. References in this Annual Report to a ‘joint 
venture’ are used for convenience to collectively 
describe assets that are not wholly owned 
by BHP. Such references are not intended to 
characterise the legal relationship between the 
owners of the asset.

Operational control approach
A consolidation approach whereby a company 
accounts for 100 per cent of the greenhouse gas 
emissions over which it has operational control 
(a company is considered to have operational 
control over an operation if it or one of its 
subsidiaries has the full authority to introduce 
and implement its operating policies at the 

operation). It does not account for greenhouse 
gas emissions from operations in which it 
owns an interest but does not have operational 
control. Also see the definition for ‘Equity 
share approach’. 

Operations
Open-cut mines, underground mines and 
processing facilities.

Other (with respect to water consumption volumes)
This includes water volumes used for purposes 
such as potable water consumption and amenity 
facilities at our operated assets.

Paris Agreement 
The Paris Agreement is an agreement between 
countries party to the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to 
strengthen efforts to combat climate change and 
adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to 
assist developing countries to do so. 

Aims of the Paris Agreement
The central objective of the Paris Agreement 
is its long-term temperature goal to hold global 
average temperature increase to well below 2°C 
above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to 
limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above 
pre-industrial levels.

Paris-aligned
Aligned to the Paris Agreement goals.

Petroleum (asset group)
A group of oil and gas assets (see ‘Asset 
groups’) formerly operated by BHP before 
its merger with Woodside in June 2022. 
Petroleum’s core production operations were 
located in the US Gulf of Mexico, Australia and 
Trinidad and Tobago. Petroleum produced crude 
oil and condensate, gas and natural gas liquids.

PPE (personal protective equipment)
PPE means anything used or worn to minimise 
risk to worker’s health and safety, including air 
supplied respiratory equipment.

Residual mix 
The mix of energy generation resources and 
associated attributes such as greenhouse gas 
emissions in a defined geographic boundary 
left after contractual instruments have been 
claimed/retired/cancelled. The residual mix can 
provide an emission factor for companies without 
contractual instruments to use in a market-based 
method calculation. A residual mix is currently 
unavailable to account for voluntary purchases 
and this may result in double counting between 
electricity consumers.

SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 
is a non-profit organisation that develops 
standards focused on the financial impacts 
of sustainability.

Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions
Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions are direct 
emissions from operations that are owned 
or controlled by the reporting company. 
For BHP, these are primarily emissions from 
fuel consumed by haul trucks at our operated 
assets, as well as fugitive methane emissions 
from coal and petroleum production at our 
operated assets.

Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions are indirect 
emissions from the generation of purchased 
or acquired electricity, steam, heat or cooling 
that is consumed by operations that are owned 
or controlled by the reporting company. BHP’s 
Scope 2 emissions have been calculated 
using the market-based method unless 
otherwise specified. 

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions are all other 
indirect emissions (not included in Scope 2) that 
occur in the reporting company’s value chain. 
For BHP, these are primarily emissions resulting 
from our customers using and processing 
the commodities we sell, as well as upstream 
emissions associated with the extraction, 
production and transportation of the goods, 
services, fuels and energy we purchase for use 
at our operations; emissions resulting from the 
transportation and distribution of our products; 
and operational emissions (on an equity basis) 
from our non-operated joint ventures.

SEC (United States Securities and Exchange 
Commission) 
The US regulatory commission that aims to 
protect investors, maintain fair, orderly and 
efficient markets and facilitate capital formation.

Senior manager
An employee who has responsibility for planning, 
directing or controlling the activities of the entity 
or a strategically significant part of it. In the OFR, 
senior manager includes senior leaders and 
any persons who are directors of any subsidiary 
company even if they are not senior leaders.

Shareplus
All-employee share purchase plan.

Social investment
Social investment is our voluntary contribution 
towards projects or donations with the primary 
purpose of contributing to the resilience of 
the communities where we operate and the 
environment, aligned with our broader business 
priorities. BHP’s targeted level of contribution 
is 1 per cent of pre-tax profit calculated on the 
average of the previous three years’ pre-tax 
profit as reported. For FY2023-FY2030, our 
social investment will be assessed as a total 
over the seven-year goals period to FY2030, 
rather than calculated as an average of the 
previous three years’ pre-tax profit. 

South32
During FY2015, BHP demerged a selection 
of our alumina, aluminium, coal, manganese, 
nickel, silver, lead and zinc assets into a new 
company – South32 Limited.

Surface water
All water naturally open to the atmosphere, 
including rivers, lakes and creeks and external 
water dams but excluding water from oceans, 
seas and estuaries (e.g. precipitation and runoff, 
including snow and hail).

Target (in respect of greenhouse gas emissions)
An intended outcome in relation to which we 
have identified one or more pathways for 
delivery of that outcome, subject to certain 
assumptions or conditions.

Third-party water
Water supplied by an entity external to the 
operational facility. Third-party water may 
contain water from three sources, surface water, 
groundwater and seawater.

Tier 1 asset
An asset that we believe is large, long life and 
low cost.

TRIF (total recordable injury frequency)
The sum of (fatalities + lost-time cases + 
restricted work cases + medical treatment cases) 
x 1,000,000 ÷ actual hours worked.

Stated in units of per million hours worked. 
BHP adopts the US Government Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration guidelines 
for the recording and reporting of occupational 
injury and illnesses. TRIF statistics exclude non-
operated assets.

TSR (total shareholder return)
TSR measures the return delivered to 
shareholders over a certain period through the 
movements in share price and dividends paid 
(which are assumed to be reinvested). It is the 
measure used to compare BHP’s performance to 
that of other relevant companies under the Long-
Term Incentive Plan.

Underlying attributable profit
Profit/(loss) after taxation attributable to BHP 
shareholders excluding any exceptional items 
attributable to BHP shareholders as described in 
Financial Statements note 3 ‘Exceptional items’. 
For more information refer to OFR 11.

Underlying EBIT
Earnings before net finance costs, taxation 
expense, Discontinued operations and any 
exceptional items. Underlying EBIT includes 
BHP’s share of profit/(loss) from investments 
accounted for using the equity method including 
net finance costs and taxation expense/(benefit). 
For more information refer to OFR 11.

Underlying EBITDA
Earnings before net finance costs, depreciation, 
amortisation and impairments, taxation expense, 
Discontinued operations and exceptional items. 
Underlying EBITDA includes BHP’s share 
of profit/(loss) from investments accounted 
for using the equity method including net 
finance costs, depreciation, amortisation and 
impairments and taxation expense/(benefit). 
For more information refer to OFR 11.

Unification
The unification of BHP’s corporate structure 
under BHP Group Limited as effected on 
31 January 2022.

Unit costs
One of the financial measures BHP uses to 
monitor the performance of individual assets. 
Unit costs are calculated as ratio of net costs of 
the assets to the equity share of sales tonnage. 
Net costs is defined as revenue less Underlying 
EBITDA excluding freight and other costs, 
depending on the nature of each asset.Western 
Australia Iron Ore, Queensland Coal and New 
South Wales Energy Coal unit costs exclude 
government royalties; Escondida unit costs 
exclude by-product credits. 

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 
(SDGs) 
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 
also known as the Global Goals, were adopted 
by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal 
call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, 
and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace 
and prosperity.

WAF (Water Accounting Framework)
The Water Accounting Framework is a common 
mining and metals industry approach to water 
accounting in Australia.

Water quality – Type 1
Water of high quality that would require minimal 
(if any) treatment to meet drinking water 
standards. This water is considered high-quality/
high-grade in the International Council on Mining 
and Metals (ICMM) ‘Good Practice’ Guide (2nd 
Edition) (2021).

Water quality – Type 2
Water of medium quality that would require 
moderate treatment to meet drinking water 
standards (it may have a high salinity threshold 
of no higher than 5,000 milligrams per litre 
total dissolved solids and other individual 
constituents). This water is considered high-
quality/high-grade in the International Council 
on Mining and Metals (ICMM) ‘Good Practice’ 
Guide (2nd Edition) (2021).

Water quality – Type 3
Water of low quality that would require significant 
treatment to meet drinking water standards. 
It may have individual constituents with high 
values of total dissolved solids, elevated levels 
of metals or extreme levels of pH. This type 
of water also includes seawater. This water 
is considered low-quality/low-grade in the 
International Council on Mining and Metals 
(ICMM) ‘Good Practice’ Guide (2nd Edition) 
(2021).

WRSA (Water Resource Situational Analysis) 
A Water Resource Situational Analysis (WRSA) 
is a holistic assessment of the water situation 
where an asset operates. The process is 
designed to describe the water challenges that 
stakeholders share and the opportunities for 
collective action to address those challenges. 
The WRSA is prepared by a credible third-party 
and draws on publicly available information and 
direct stakeholder input. Within a defined area 
that includes the water resources that BHP 
interacts, each WRSA includes assessment of:

–  the sustainability of the volume and quality 
of the water resources, taking into account 
interactions of all other parties and any related 
environmental, social or cultural values and 
climate change forecasts

–  the state of water infrastructure, water access, 
sanitation and hygiene of local communities

–  the environmental health of the water 

catchments that feed the water resources 
taking into account the extent of vegetation, 
runoff, and any conservation of the area

–  external water governance arrangements and 

their effectiveness

BHP

Annual Report 2022

241

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewNotes

242

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Notes

BHP

Annual Report 2022

243

GovernanceFinancial StatementsAdditional  InformationOperating and Financial ReviewNotes

244

BHP

Annual Report 2022

Corporate directory

BHP Registered Offices

BHP Corporate Centres

Commercial Office

Australia

171 Collins Street 
Melbourne VIC 3000

Telephone Australia 1300 55 47 57  
Telephone International +61 3 9609 3333 
Facsimile +61 3 9609 3015

Group Company Secretary

Stefanie Wilkinson

United Kingdom

Nova South, 160 Victoria Street 
London, SW1E 5LB, UK

Telephone +44 20 7802 4000 
Facsimile: +44 20 7802 4111

Chile

Cerro El Plomo 6000 
Piso 15 
Las Condes 7560623 
Santiago

Telephone +56 2 2579 5000 
Facsimile +56 2 2207 6517

Singapore

10 Marina Boulevard, #18-01 
Marina Bay Financial Centre, Tower 2 
Singapore 018983

Telephone +65 6421 6000 
Facsimile  +65 6809 4000

Share Registrars 
and Transfer 
Offices

Australia

BHP Group 
Limited Registrar 
Computershare Investor 
Services Pty Limited 
Yarra Falls, 452 
Johnston Street 
Abbotsford VIC 3067 
Postal address – GPO 
Box 2975 
Melbourne VIC 3001

Telephone 1300 656 780 
(within Australia) 
+61 3 9415 4020
(outside Australia)

Facsimile +61 3 9473 2460

Email enquiries:  
investorcentre.com/bhp

United Kingdom

South Africa

New Zealand

United States

Computershare Investor 
Services Limited 
Level 2/159 
Hurstmere Road 
Takapuna Auckland 0622 
Postal address – Private 
Bag 92119 
Auckland 1142

Telephone +64 9 488 8777

Facsimile +64 9 488 8787

BHP Group 
Limited Depositary  
Computershare Investor 
Services PLC 
The Pavilions, 
Bridgwater Road 
Bristol BS13 8AE 
Postal address (for 
general enquiries) 
The Pavilions, 
Bridgwater Road 
Bristol BS99 6ZZ

Telephone +44 344 
472 7001 
Facsimile +44 370 
703 6101

Email enquiries: 
webcorres@ 
computershare.co.uk

BHP Group 
Limited Depositary 
Computershare Investor 
Services PLC 
The Pavilions, 
Bridgwater Road 
Bristol BS13 8AE 
Postal address (for 
general enquiries) 
The Pavilions, 
Bridgwater Road 
Bristol BS99 6ZZ

Telephone +44 344 
472 7001

Facsimile +44 370 
703 6101

Email enquiries: 
webcorres@ 
computershare.co.uk

Computershare Trust 
Company, N.A. 
150 Royall Street 
Canton MA 02021

Postal address – PO 
Box 43078 
Providence RI 02940-3078

Telephone +1 888 404 6340 
(toll-free within US)

Facsimile +1 312 601 4331

ADR Depositary, Transfer 
Agent and Registrar  
Citibank 
Shareholder Services 
PO Box 43077 
Providence RI 02940-3077

Telephone +1 781 575 4555 
(outside of US) +1 877 248 
4237 (+1-877-CITIADR) 
(toll-free within US) 
Facsimile +1 201 324 3284

Email enquiries: citibank@ 
shareholders-online.com

Website: citi.com/dr

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Economic 
Contribution  
Report 2022

Modern Slavery 
Statement  
2022

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Operating and Financial Reviewbhp.com