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Events after the balance sheet date - Additional information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions			6 Months Ended
	Aug. 01, 2018	Jul. 12, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018
Disclosure Of Nonadjusting Events After Reporting Period [Line Items]
Proceeds from disposal			$ 150
Non Binding Agreement To Dispose Of Joint Operation [Member]
Disclosure Of Nonadjusting Events After Reporting Period [Line Items]
Sale of ownership consideration		$ 3,500
Other disposals of assets [member] | Queensland Australia [Member]
Disclosure Of Nonadjusting Events After Reporting Period [Line Items]
Proceeds from disposal	$ 3,950
Other disposals of assets [member] | Australia [Member] | Hail Creek Coal Mine And Valeria Coal Development Project [Member] | Glencore [Member]
Disclosure Of Nonadjusting Events After Reporting Period [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of interests	1,700
Other disposals of assets [member] | Australia [Member] | Kestrel Underground Coal Mine [Member]
Disclosure Of Nonadjusting Events After Reporting Period [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of interests	$ 2,250

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- Definition

Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

The cash inflow from the disposal of mining assets. [Refer: Mining assets]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
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-IssueDate 2017-01-01
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- Definition

The cash inflow from sales of investments accounted for using the equity method. [Refer: Investments accounted for using equity method]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
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