Date: 1 November 2001 Number: 26/01 BHP BILLITON ACQUISITION OF DIA MET COMPLETED BHP Billiton today announced that it had successfully completed its acquisition of Dia Met Minerals Ltd (Dia Met) following the purchase of all outstanding Class A subordinate voting shares (Class A shares) and Class B multiple voting shares (Class B shares), for C$21.00 per share. The acquisition of outstanding shares was completed at the same price as BHP Billiton's previous offers and values Dia Met's equity at C$648 million. At the expiry of the offers on 3 July 2001, BHP Billiton had received acceptances for 98.6 per cent of the Class A shares and 88.7 per cent of the Class B shares. All conditions of the offers, including a minimum acceptance of 75 per cent of both classes of shares, were met at that time. BHP Billiton subsequently exercised its statutory right to compulsorily acquire the remaining Class A shares and completed the purchase of these shares on 20 September 2001. In addition, BHP Billiton proposed the amalgamation of Dia Met with the acquiring entity, Tortilla Acquisition Inc. The amalgamation was approved by an order of the British Columbia Supreme Court, with an effective date of 30 October 2001. As a result of the amalgamation, the former holders of Class B shares will receive a cash payment of C$21 per share. BHP Billiton Minerals Chief Development Officer Marcus Randolph said: "The EKATI(TM) Diamond Mine continues to be a great success for BHP Billiton and the acquisition of Dia Met ensures we will have ongoing access to the rough diamonds to strengthen our marketing activities through the EKATI(TM) and Aurias(TM) brands. We are currently witnessing strong demand for these branded products." Dia Met is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with a primary focus on diamonds. The company's principal asset is a 29 per cent joint venture interest in the Ekati(TM) Diamond Mine, Canada's first commercial diamond mine. BHP Billiton is the operator of the Ekati(TM) Diamond Mine and the acquisition of Dia Met increases its interest in the joint venture from 51 per cent to 80 per cent. Mr Charles Fipke and Mr Stewart Blusson own 10 per cent of the joint venture respectively. Further information can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhpbilliton.com Australia Dr Robert Porter, Investor Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 3540 Mobile: +61 419 587 456 Email: Robert.Porter@bhpbilliton.com Mandy Frostick, Media Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 4157 Mobile: +61 419 546 245 Email: Mandy.J.Frostick@bhpbilliton.com United States Francis McAllister, Investor Relations Tel: +1 713 961 8625 Mobile: +1 713 480 3699 Email: Francis.R.McAllister@bhpbilliton.com United Kingdom Ariane Gentil, Manager Communications Tel: +44 20 7747 3977 Mobile: +44 7881 518 715 Email: Ariane.Gentil@bhpbilliton.com South Africa Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations Tel: +27 11 376 3360 Mobile: +27 82 458 2587 Email: Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 Registered in Australia Registered Office: 600 Bourke Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Telephone +61 3 9609 3333 Facsimile +61 3 9609 3015 BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209 Registered in England and Wales Registered Office: 1-3 Strand London WC2N 5HA United Kingdom Telephone +44 20 7747 3800 Facsimile +44 20 7747 3900