According to an agreement, the company's Cannington mine in Queensland, Australia and its Escondida and Spence operations in Chile are the sources for the materials needed to produce the gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games.
(BEIJING, January 15) -- On January 15, 2008, BHP Billiton officially handed over to BOCOG the special metals to be used for the production of the medals for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.
According to an agreement, the company's Cannington mine in Queensland, Australia and its Escondida and Spence operations in Chile are the sources for the materials needed to produce the gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games.
Among the materials received, 13.4kg of gold from Escondida will be used to produce the gold medals; 1.34 tons of silver from Cannington will be used to produce gold and silver medals; while 6.93 tons of cathode copper from Spence is earmarked for the making of the bronze and commemorative medals. The materials were refined by BHP Billiton's partners before being shipped to China. The 3,000 medals -- 1,000 each of the gold, silver and bronze medals -- will be ready in June this year.
BHP Billiton China president Clinton Dines told the official hand-over ceremony that it is exciting for his company's staff and partners to join in on the production of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic medals.
Describing the hand-over ceremony as a milestone in the cooperation between BOCOG and BHP Billiton, Zhao Dongming, director of the Cultural Activities Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), said the medals would become a permanent Olympic legacy.
