Mining major BHP has announced the selection of ten early-stage exploration and technology companies for its 2026 Xplor programme, representing the largest cohort since the initiative’s inception in 2023. Now entering its fourth year, the Xplor programme supports emerging explorers and innovators throughout the discovery pipeline, encompassing conceptual geological models, advanced data analytics, and novel sensing technologies.
The 2026 cohort brings together junior exploration companies, geoscience organisations, and technology developers, underscoring a more integrated approach to early-stage exploration as the industry addresses increasingly remote and geologically complex environments. “Exploration is evolving rapidly,” stated BHP Group Exploration Officer Tim O’Connor during Monday’s announcement of the new intake. “Enhanced tools, improved data, and innovative working methods are changing how early-stage ideas are assessed and refined. This cohort exemplifies that transition, combining explorers and technology developers who approach discovery in practical and considered ways. Xplor provides an invaluable opportunity to collaborate and envision the future of discovery.”
Diverse Global Cohort
The 2026 selection comprises six exploration-focused organisations and four technology companies, spanning North America, South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Among those chosen is FrontierX from Canada, an early-stage uranium explorer founded by alumni of Xplor’s inaugural cohort, leveraging the programme to evaluate initial geological concepts and advance uranium potential assessments.
Australia’s Litchfield Minerals is progressing copper, zinc, lead, silver, and gold projects in the Northern Territory, with particular emphasis on its Oonagalabi project in the Arunta region. Through Xplor, the company applies contemporary geophysics and targeted fieldwork to enhance understanding of underexplored mineral systems.
Orion Minerals, based in South Africa, utilises the programme to integrate modern data analytics and mineral systems methodologies across its extensive Northern Cape tenement package, seeking discovery opportunities beyond established deposits.
Otrera Resources operates in South America, focusing on sediment-hosted copper systems and advancing targets through regional expertise coupled with modern geochemical and geological techniques.
PT GeoFix Indonesia, a multidisciplinary geoscience consultancy, is investigating new porphyry copper/gold prospects within the Sunda-Banda Arc, employing proprietary prospectivity tools in less-explored regions.
The Utah Geological Survey in the United States is conducting regional mineral systems analysis in the eastern Great Basin, integrating new datasets and fieldwork to improve mineral potential assessments and provide high-quality geoscience data to the public.
Technology-Driven Discovery
The technology-focused participants reflect the expanding role of AI, genomics, and non-invasive sensing in exploration. Australian firm RadiXplore harnesses AI to reinterpret historical exploration records alongside contemporary datasets, identifying overlooked copper opportunities.
Canada-based Mineural employs its IRIS AI platform in copper exploration, merging machine learning capabilities with BHP’s geological expertise to enhance early-stage target identification.
VectOres Science, located in the United States, deploys non-invasive hydrogeochemical and isotopic tools to assess whether real-time water and isotope data can facilitate mineral system identification prior to drilling.
Discovery Genomics, headquartered in Vancouver, advances DNA sequencing as an exploration tool, using microbial DNA signatures to detect concealed copper systems in covered and complex terrains.
“The 2026 cohort demonstrates the breadth and dynamism of early-stage discovery,” commented Marley Palin, Head of BHP Xplor. “We are observing innovative concepts emerge across exploration, data, and technology, frequently concurrently and within shared locations. Uniting these teams through Xplor fosters a distinctive environment for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and experimentation, and we anticipate significant advancements in the coming months.”
Each participant will receive a non-dilutive grant of $500,000 and access to structured learning, mentorship, and technical support from BHP specialists across exploration, technology, and commercial domains. Since its launch in 2023, the Xplor programme has supported 21 companies over its first three cohorts, contributing to the development of a global network of explorers and innovators dedicated to early-stage discovery.
