Letter of Intent Signed

Broken Hill Proprietary Co Ld
28 January 2000


'PROJECT M' TO BE COMMERCIALISED

The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd (BHP) announced today it had signed a
Letter of Intent with NUCOR Corporation of Charlotte, N.C., USA (NUCOR) and
also with Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries of Japan (IHI) to form a joint
venture partnership to licence its 'Project M' strip casting patents and
technology.

NUCOR will become the first licensee of the joint venture, and will undertake
the first commercialisation of this revolutionary steel strip casting
technology, at one of its United States plants.

BHP will benefit from its share of the worldwide licensing of the technology
under the joint venture and will retain exclusive rights for Australia, New
Zealand and Asia, reflecting the consolidation of BHP's steel activities to a
geographically focussed flat products business.

NUCOR will be the exclusive licensee in the USA and Brazil.

IHI will be the exclusive provider of core equipment.

NUCOR is one of the largest and most profitable steel producers in the USA and
the world's largest operator of thin slab casting compact strip plants.

BHP and IHI have been developing the technology for strip casting since 1989,
and BHP has operated a full size demonstration plant as its Port Kembla works
since 1995. Strip casting will enable the direct casting of molten steel into
final shape and thickness without further hot or cold rolling. This in turn
will allow lower investment and operating costs, new product development,
reduced energy consumption and much smaller scale plants than can be
economically operated today.

Commenting on the signing of the Letter of Intent, Dr Bob Every, President BHP
Steel, said 'The significance of this is that it will enable this unique
technology developed by BHP to be commercialised by a world renowned operator
in Nucor and a quality equipment manufacturer in IHI. The know how developed
will flow back to BHP for use in its strategic areas of Australasia and S.E.
Asia; and the joint venture partnership will earn revenue from world
licensing.'



Contact: 
BHP Steel       

Mr Andrew Marjoribanks - Melbourne
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Mr Mike Archer - Port Kembla
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BHP Investor Relations

Dr Robert Porter - Melbourne
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