(a) During the financial year the BHP Billiton Group sold its interest in Minera Alumbrera Limited (refer note 1).

(b) Loans to joint ventures includes US$275 million (2002: US$273 million) that are in the form of cash on deposit, with the banks having an equivalent amount on loan to the joint venture.

(c) Own shares comprised the shares of BHP Billiton Plc held by the Group's Employee Share Ownership Trusts (refer note 23 for a description of the Trust). At 30 June 2003, 347 498 shares (2002: 659 882) were held by the Trust with a market value at that date of US$2 million (2002: US$3 million).

(d) The BHP Billiton Group has subscribed for shares in a number of listed companies in connection with option arrangements on exploration projects. The consideration has been allocated to the option and has generally been expensed in accordance with the BHP Billiton Group's accounting policy on exploration. These investments therefore have a book value of US$nil at 30 June 2003 (2002: US$nil) in the table above and a market value of US$11 million (2002: US$11 million). Other listed investments had a book value of US$72 million (2002: US$68 million) and a market value of US$77 million (2002: US$82 million).

(a) Under the terms of the BHP Billiton Limited Employee Share Plan, shares have been issued to employees for subscription at market price less a discount not exceeding 10 per cent. Interest free employee loans are available to fund the purchase of such shares for a period of up to 20 years repayable by application of dividends or an equivalent amount.

(b) Other debtors includes receivables from joint venture arrangement cash calls, indirect taxes and other long-term financing and reimbursement arrangements.

(a) Unlisted investments include US$104 million (2002: US$61 million) held by the Ingwe Environmental Trust Fund. The future realisation of these investments is intended to fund environmental obligations relating to the eventual closure of Ingwe's mines and consequently these investments, whilst under BHP Billiton Group control, are not available for the general purposes of the BHP Billiton Group. All income from these investments is reinvested or spent to meet these obligations. The BHP Billiton Group retains responsibility for these environmental obligations until such time as the former mine sites have been rehabilitated in accordance with the relevant environmental legislation. These obligations are therefore included under provisions for liabilities and charges (refer note 21).

(b) Unlisted investments include US$39 million (2002: US$49 million) relating to the BHP Billiton Group's self insurance arrangements. These investments are held for the benefit of the BHP Billiton Group but are not available for the general purposes of the BHP Billiton Group.

(a) In accordance with FRS 4 'Capital Instruments', all commercial paper is classified as short-term borrowings though it is backed by medium term facilities. Under US GAAP, this amount would be grouped with non-current borrowings at 30 June 2003 and 30 June 2002. The maturity of US$138 million (2002: US$849 million) of the commercial paper included above as due within one year can be extended beyond one year at the BHP Billiton Group's option.

(a) The limited recourse secured debt relates to the Mozal joint arrangement. The debt is secured by a charge over the assets of this joint arrangement and the lender has recourse to only those assets in the event of default. The BHP Billiton Group's share of these obligations are guaranteed by BHP Billiton Plc until such time as the project reaches financial completion.

(b) Redeemable preference shares include the following:

(a) Classified as current at 30 June 2003 following the exercise, on 27 June 2003, of Rio Algom's option to redeem the Preferred Securities on 7 August 2003.

(a) The provision for employee entitlements includes applicable amounts for annual leave and associated on-costs. It is anticipated expenditure of approximately US$313 million will be incurred in the year ending 30 June 2004.

(b) Total provision for restructuring costs is made up of:

(c) The BHP Billiton Group's activities are subject to various national, regional, and local laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment. Furthermore, the BHP Billiton Group has a policy of ensuring that reclamation is planned and financed from the early stages of any operation. Provision is made for the reclamation of the BHP Billiton Group's mining and processing facilities along with the decommissioning of offshore oil platforms and infrastructure associated with petroleum activities. At 30 June 2003, US$1 664 million (2002: US$1 276 million) was provided for reclamation and decommissioning costs relating to current operations in the provision for site rehabilitation. Reclamation and decommissioning expenditures generally are expected to be paid over the next 30 years. As stated in the BHP Billiton Group's accounting policy, the BHP Billiton Group's provisions for reclamation and decommissioning are discounted to their net present value. The estimated total site rehabilitation cost (undiscounted) to be incurred in the future arising from operations to date, and including amounts already provided for, is US$3 391 million (2002: US$2 863 million).

In addition, the BHP Billiton Group has certain obligations associated with maintaining several closed sites including remediation activities. At 30 June 2003, US$361 million (2002: US$337 million) and US$10 million (2002: US$47 million) were provided for closed properties and remediation activities in the provisions for site rehabilitation and restructuring, respectively. The main closed site to which this provision relates is Southwest Copper in the US. Certain of the remediation activities are subject to legal dispute and depending on the ultimate resolution of these matters the final liability for these matters could vary. The amounts provided for these matters are reviewed periodically based upon the facts and circumstances available at the time and the provisions are updated accordingly. The BHP Billiton Group believes that it is reasonably possible that, due to the nature of the liability and the degree of uncertainty which surrounds them, the liability for these matters could be as much as 50 per cent (2002: 20 per cent) greater than the total amount of US$371 million provided at 30 June 2003 (2002: US$384 million). Details of the more significant remediation sites are discussed below.

BHP Copper Inc ('BHP Copper') is involved in litigation concerning groundwater contamination resulting from historic mining operations near the Pinal Creek/Miami Wash area located in the State of Arizona.

A State consent decree ('the Decree') was approved by the Federal District Court for the District of Arizona in August 1998. The Decree authorises and requires groundwater remediation and facility-specific source control activities, and the members of the Pinal Creek Group (which consists of BHP Copper, Phelps Dodge Miami Inc and Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co) are jointly liable for performing the non-facility specific source control activities. Such activities are currently ongoing. As of 30 June 2003 the Group has provided US$22 million (30 June 2002: US$31 million) for its anticipated share of the planned remediation work, based on a range up to US$43 million.

BHP Copper and the other members of the Pinal Creek Group filed a contribution action in November 1991 in the Federal District Court for the District of Arizona against former owners and operators of the properties alleged to have caused the contamination. The claim is for an undetermined amount but under current state and federal laws applicable to the case, BHP Copper should recover a significant percentage of the total remediation costs from the Defendants, based upon their operations' proportionate contributions to the total contamination in the Pinal Creek drainage basin. Such action seeks recovery from these historical owners and operators for remediation and source control costs. BHP Copper's predecessors in interest have asserted a counterclaim in this action seeking indemnity from BHP Copper based upon their interpretation of the historical transaction documents relating to the succession in interest of the parties. BHP Copper has also filed suit against a number of insurance carriers seeking to recover under various insurance policies for remediation, response, source control, and other costs noted above incurred by BHP Copper. The reasonable assessment of recovery in the various insurances cases has a range from US$7 million to about US$20 million, depending on many factors. Neither insurance recoveries nor other claims or offsets have been recognised in the financial statements and will not be recognised until such offsets are considered virtually certain of realisation.

In May 1998, the BHP Billiton Limited Group divested its businesses in Hawaii. The BHP Billiton Limited Group indemnified the buyers for certain past liabilities and has capped this indemnification at less than US$10 million, much of which has now been spent. Following the divestment, the BHP Billiton Limited Group has retained some environmental liabilities for which it has indemnified the buyer and which are uncapped, as described below.

The BHP Billiton Limited Group operated a petroleum terminal, now decommissioned, at a site that is within an area that has since been declared a Hawaii State Superfund site. The BHP Billiton Limited Group is currently participating in a voluntary effort with a number of other parties to undertake site assessment, to be followed by a risk assessment, and ultimately risk-based correction actions. Site assessment is expected to be completed in 2003 and risk assessment in 2004. Some corrective action is taking place while the assessments are progressing.

Also within the Superfund area is the site of a previous manufactured gas plant. Litigation over a claim brought by a neighbour, Castle & Cooke, asserting that contamination on its property arose from the BHP Billiton Limited controlled site was settled in December 2000. The BHP Billiton Group has engaged a contractor to remediate the former gas plant site to the satisfaction of the Hawaii Department of Health and to meet conditions of the Settlement Agreement. Remediation activities have commenced and are ongoing.

On 28 June 2002, the BHP Billiton Group and the New South Wales (NSW) Government executed contracts for the transfer of four properties in the Newcastle area from the Group to the NSW Government. The properties covered by the land transfer are 150 hectares at the former Newcastle Main Steelworks site, 230 hectares at Kooragang Island, 500 hectares at Belmont Sands and 1500 hectares at West Wallsend.

Pursuant to the terms of the contracts the NSW Government agreed to pay the Group US$22 million (net of GST) for the Main Steelworks site. The other properties were transferred to the NSW Government at no cost. The Group will ultimately pay the NSW Government a sum of US$73 million (net of GST) for environmental remediation and monitoring of the former Main Steelworks site and Kooragang Island, industrial heritage interpretation and rail infrastructure relocation on the former Main Steelworks site, of which US$43 million has already been paid.

The transfer of the four properties was conditional, amongst other things, on an indemnity from the NSW Government against responsibility for the remediation of contamination on the Main Steelworks site and Kooragang Island and contamination, which migrates to or is transported off these sites after the date of completion. The Group retains responsibility for any pre-existing environmental liabilities associated with Belmont Sands and West Wallsend and for pre-existing off-site contamination from the former Main Steelworks site and Kooragang Island.

The Group continues to be responsible for demolition at the Main Steelworks site at an estimated cost of approximately US$5 million at 30 June 2003 (2002: US$11 million). The payments to the Government associated with the land transfers and the cost of demolition has been accounted for as part of the Newcastle Steelworks closure. The transfers of the four properties referred to above were completed on 31 July 2002 and the indemnity referred to above is now in place. The Group has also taken out pollution liability insurance to cover certain risks associated with pre-completion environmental liabilities referred to above.

Additionally the Group retains responsibility for certain sediment in the Hunter River adjacent to the former Main Steelworks site. A remediation options study has been completed. The estimated total future costs provided at 30 June 2003 were approximately US$30 million (2002: US$75 million).

The BHP Billiton Group completed its withdrawal from the Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea in February 2002 with the transfer of its 52 per cent equity stake to PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited (Program Company), a development fund that operates for the benefit of the Papua New Guinean people.

The Program Company operates independently and will utilise future dividend payments arising from the BHP Billiton Group's transferred shareholding in Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) to fund current and long-term sustainable development projects in Papua New Guinea, particularly the Western Province.

Following the transfer of BHP Billiton's shareholding, the equity participants in OTML are: PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited (52 per cent); the State of Papua New Guinea (30 per cent) and Inmet Mining Corporation (18 per cent). OTML continues to operate the mine on behalf of the shareholders.

Additionally the withdrawal agreement required cash provisioning by OTML for mine closure and provides a scheme for retention of a responsible and skilled mine management team including transfer of existing BHP Billiton Group Ok Tedi staff to OTML.

The BHP Billiton Group also provides financial support to the Program Company by way of a fully repayable, interest free funding facility of US$100 million for a period of three years (until it has built up its own fund) with repayment arrangements if these are used. As any allocations from the funding facility are fully repayable, BHP Billiton's assessment is that these arrangements do not require provisioning in the BHP Billiton Group's accounts.

The financial support provided by the BHP Billiton Group ensures the Program Company has immediate access to finance for environmental remediation or other capital requirements, in accordance with its shareholder obligations, prior to the accumulation of sufficient funds in the Program Company from future dividend flows.

Following the equity transfer, the BHP Billiton Group no longer benefits financially from the Ok Tedi mine operations and, as a result, the BHP Billiton Group negotiated the agreement for its withdrawal to provide protection from any future liabilities including legal claims. The legal arrangements encompass a series of legal releases, indemnities and warranties that safeguard the BHP Billiton Group's interests following its formal exit from the project.

(a) 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 Billiton 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. Since the merger these shares have been beneficially held by J.P. Morgan plc.

(b) Each of BHP Billiton Plc and BHP Billiton Limited issued one Special Voting Share to facilitate joint voting by shareholders of BHP Billiton Plc and BHP Billiton Limited on Joint Electorate Actions.

(c) The Equalisation Share was authorised to enable a distribution to be made by BHP Billiton Plc to the BHP Billiton Limited Group should this be required under the terms of the DLC merger. The Directors have the ability to issue the Equalisation Share if required under those terms. The Constitution of BHP Billiton Limited allows the Directors of that Company to issue a similar Equalisation Share.

(d) Upon the demerger of the BHP Steel business in July 2002, bonus shares of BHP Billiton Plc were issued to BHP Billiton Plc shareholders to reflect the value distributed to shareholders of BHP Billiton Limited as a result of the demerger (the bonus issue was one BHP Billiton Plc share for approximately each 15.6 BHP Billiton Plc shares held).

(e) In September 2000, 235 000 000 ordinary shares were placed at a price of 265 pence per share. The placing comprised 181 115 598 new shares and 53 884 402 shares held under the share repurchase scheme.

(f) Contributed equity decreased by US$1 456 million due to the demerger of BHP Steel in July 2002. This reflected a capital reduction of A$0.69 per share. The demerger resulted in BHP Billiton Limited shareholders being issued one BHP Steel Limited share for every five BHP Billiton Limited shares held.

(g) The DLC merger between BHP Billiton Plc and BHP Billiton Limited was established on 29 June 2001. Under the terms of the DLC merger BHP Billiton Limited issued fully paid bonus shares effective 29 June 2001 with the allotment of shares occurring on 9 July 2001. Refer to Merger Terms in 'Dual Listed Companies Structure and Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements'.

(h) 80 000 (2002: 65 000; 2001: 30 000) shares paid to A$1.40 and 1 210 000 (2002: 1 351 500; 2001: 2 630 000) shares paid to A$1.36 were converted to fully paid during 2003. There were no partly paid shares issued during the year (2002: nil; 2001: nil). Including bonus shares, 1 710 184 (2002: 1 815 916; 2001: 2 660 000) shares were issued on conversion of these partly paid shares. 282 000 (2002: 650 000) partly paid shares are entitled to 321 984 (2002: 692 315) bonus shares on becoming fully paid. As a consequence of the BHP Steel demerger, an interim call of A$0.69 per share was made on partly paid shares and the capital reduction amount was applied to meet this call.

(i) The number of shares issued on exercise of options and Performance Rights after 7 July 2001 includes bonus shares.

(j) During the year ended 30 June 2003, BHP Billiton Limited did not repurchase any shares in accordance with its announced share buy-back program. During the year ended 30 June 2002, BHP Billiton Limited repurchased 4 134 622 shares at a weighted average price of A$8.83 per share. The buy-back program allows for the purchase of up to 186 million BHP Billiton Limited shares (adjusted for the bonus issue), less the number of BHP Billiton Plc shares purchased on-market by Nelson Investment Limited.

(k) During the period 1 July 2003 to 9 September 2003, 155 000 Executive Share Scheme partly paid shares were paid up in full, 2 978 357 fully paid ordinary shares (including attached bonus shares) were issued on the exercise of Employee Share Plan options and 813 709 fully paid ordinary shares (including attached bonus shares) were issued on the exercise of Performance Share Plan Performance Rights.