• Submitted by: manso
• United States
• Politics and Government
• 08 / 11 / 2010

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The New York-based Securities and Exchange Commission made what the company called a "routine inquiry" of the business Australian mining giant BHP Billiton does in Iran and Cuba, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

BHP, the world's largest mining company, contracted two Cuban state entities for projects in Guatemala between 2006 and 2008, paying them around $2.3 million, the company said in a document filed with the SEC on June 15. The filing ended three months of review, with no further action expected from the SEC, a BHP spokesman told Dow Jones.

A BHP subsidiary hired state-owned drilling contractor Cubanex to carry out exploration drilling in Guatemala for a contract value of $2.2 million.

BHP also paid Cuba's Geominera SA $85,000 to investigate turning slag into a cement and agricultural additive. Finally, BHP executives visited Cuba in 2006 and 2007,meeting the country's minister of basic industry and holding discussions on
potential mineral projects. No agreements were reached, and there are currently no discussions, BHP said.

The SEC reviews foreign companies that trade on the New York stock exchange if it suspects they violate U.S. restrictions, to alert U.S. investors.

Source: http://www.cubastandard.com/