App Worsley Dev Capital Proj

BHP Billiton Limited
04 May 2004

     BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
  obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

    The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
                                    earlier.



Date: 4 May 2004
Number: 23/04


               BHP BILLITON APPROVES WORSLEY ALUMINA DEVELOPMENT

                                CAPITAL PROJECTS




BHP Billiton today announced the approval of the US$192 million (US$165 million
BHP Billiton share) Worsley Alumina Development Capital Projects (DCP) in
Australia.

DCP is designed to take advantage of latent capacity in the plant through a
series of 28 packages of work. These include additions to the precipitation
circuit, additional bauxite residue washing and disposal facilities plus
utilities and electrical infrastructure upgrades.

The result will be an increase in alumina production of 250,000 tonnes per annum
(215,000 tonnes per annum BHP Billiton share) to a capacity of 3.5 million
tonnes per annum (3.01 million tonnes per annum BHP Billiton share).
Commissioning and completion of DCP is expected by the first quarter of calendar
year 2006 with the resulting production ramp-up to be achieved by the end of the
second quarter of calendar year 2006.

President Aluminium, Alex Vanselow said: 'The project is a rapid response to
meet the strong and growing demand for alumina. The DCP offers attractive
economic returns and a solid platform for future expansions at Worsley.'

Forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements about BHP Billiton's
development and capital expenditure plans and future production. Words such as
'will,' 'is expected to,' 'is estimated to' and similar expressions are intended
to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based on
management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees
of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other
factors, some of which are beyond BHP Billiton's control and are difficult to
predict. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
are discussed in the sections entitled 'Risk Factors' and 'Operating and
Financial Review and Prospects - General factors affecting our operating
results' included in our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 2003, which we filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date of this release. Unless legally required, BHP Billiton
undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhpbilliton.com

Australia                                                     United Kingdom
Tracey Whitehead, Investor Relations                          Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]                  Tel: [phone]
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Tania Price, Media Relations                                  Ariane Gentil, Media Relations
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email: [e-mail]                            email: [e-mail]

United States                                                 South Africa
Francis McAllister, Investor Relations                        Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]                  Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]
email: [e-mail]                   email: [e-mail]


BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077                     BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
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                            The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia


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