Iron ore miner BHP Billiton dsclosed today it will cooperate with US officials in an investigation on corruption with government officials.

BHP explained the probe conducted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission is related to past terminated minerals and exploration projects. However, the miner did not reveal which country the investigation is related to.

BHP also presented information that the SEC requested ''as a part of an investigation relating primarily to certain terminated minerals exploration projects.''

According to the miner, the company disclosed evidences on possible violations of anti-corruption laws linking to government officials.

BHP added that it is also conducting internal investigation and the outcome of the probe will take a lot of time.

A spokeswoman of BHP later cleared up false rumors, stating that SEC's investigation does not relate to any activity in China nor its marketing activities or sales relating to the company's products. She also cleared that the inspection is related to past exploration projects a year ago.

''They were terminated by us on commercial grounds, not because of any inquiries, just because they weren't commercially viable and relatively small,'' she said.

SEC's investigation was revealed only today when BHP released its third quarter production, exploration, and development reports.