FACTBOX-BHP Billiton's huge Olympic Dam mine

May 26 (Reuters) - The following are key facts about BHP
Billiton's (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) Olympic Dam mine in southern
Australia.

The mine is scheduled to return to normal production rates
by the end of June, after its main shaft was damaged in October
following the derailing of a hauling system.

For a full story, click on [ID:nSGE64P0C6].

SIZE, LOCATION

* Olympic Dam is the world's fourth-largest copper deposit,
the largest known uranium deposit and the fifth-largest gold
deposit.

* Olympic Dam produced 194,000 tonnes of copper and 4,000
tonnes of uranium in the year ended June 30, 2009.

* Production in the first nine months of 2009/10 (July 1,
2009-March 31, 2010) dropped to 66,000 tonnes compared with
147,800 tonnes in the comparable period a year earlier due to
shaft damage.

* Located 560 km (348 miles) north of the south Australian
city of Adelaide, it is Australia's largest underground mine.

* The site comprises ore zones spread over several square km
and ranging in depth from 350 metres to 1 km.

PRODUCTION PROCESS

* Copper concentrate produced from the mine is fed to a
smelter at the site that produces blister copper before being
further refined into copper cathodes. The slimes from this
process are treated separately to recover gold and silver.

EXPANSION PLAN

* BHP plans to expand the mine progressively over 11 years.
The expansion project is still awaiting government approval and
a final investment decision. On May 10, BHP Chief Executive
Marius Kloppers said that expansion could be curtailed or
abandoned under a new tax regime to be introduced in 2012 that
could deem the project unprofitable.

* Expansion would take annual production levels to:

Total after Existing

expansion capacity Refine copper
(tonnes) 730,000 235,000 Uranium oxide (tonnes)
19,000 4,500 Gold (ounces) 800,000

100,000

MARKETS

* Olympic Dam's copper is sold to customers in Europe,
Australia and Asia under contracts negotiated annually with
pricing based on the LME cash settlement price.

* Olympic Dam has long-term contracts for the sale of
uranium oxide concentrates to customers in Britain, France,
Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada,
the United States and Spain.

* Gold and silver from the mine are sold to the Perth Mint,
Australia.

Source: BHP Billiton Web site www.bhpbilliton.com
(Editing by Kazunori Takada)