On 5 June 2009, BHP Billiton plc and Rio Tinto plc signed a non-binding agreement to establish a production joint venture covering the entirety of both companies' Western Australian iron ore assets. Under the terms of the agreement up to 15% of production was proposed to be sold by the joint venture, independent of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have decided not to proceed with the joint venture marketing activity. As a result, all production from the proposed joint venture would be marketed separately by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The two companies believe that this change will clarify the nature of the JV for customers and emphasise its focus on realising significant production and development synergies.

Mongolia's government, which is trying to sell 49% in Tavan Tolgoi Coal Mining Co., may allow multiple companies to buy into the deal rather than hand it to a single bidder, sources said. The government has hired JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank to assist in the sale. The mine has drawn interest from China Shenhua Energy Company Limited, Peabody Energy Corporation, Joint Stock Company Severstal and BHP Billiton, among others. Tavan Tolgoi, said to be worth around $2 billion, is still up for grabs, and the government is undecided about whether to divide the deposit between bidders to satisfy multiple political allegiances, the sources said.

Churchill Mining Plc said it had received three separate offers. It said that two of the approaches were for possible acquisition of specific projects, and the third was for a possible offer for the company. Churchill Mining stated, "The approaches are conditional on due diligence and at this stage there is no certainty that any will progress to completion." Churchill Mining denied press reports of linking the company to BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc