Mining major BHP has selected ten early-stage exploration and technology companies for its 2026 Xplor programme, marking the largest cohort since the initiative was launched in 2023.

Now in its fourth year, the Xplor programme supports early-stage explorers and innovators working across the discovery pipeline, from conceptual geological models to advanced data analytics and novel sensing technologies.

The 2026 cohort brings together junior exploration companies, geoscience organisations and technology developers, highlighting a more connected approach to early-stage exploration as the industry moves into increasingly remote and geologically complex environments.

“Exploration is evolving quickly," said BHP Group exploration officer Tim O’Connor on Monday, announcing the new intake. 

"New tools, better data, and different ways of working are changing how early-stage ideas are tested and refined. This cohort reflects that shift, bringing together explorers and technology developers who are approaching discovery in thoughtful and practical ways. Xplor gives us a valuable opportunity to learn alongside them and explore what discovery could look like in the future.”

DIVERSE GLOBAL COHORT
The 2026 intake includes six exploration-focused organisations and four technology companies, spanning North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Asia.

Among the exploration companies selected is FrontierX of Canada, an early-stage uranium explorer formed by two alumni from the first Xplor cohort. The company is using the programme to test early geological concepts and develop an initial understanding of uranium potential.

Australia’s Litchfield Minerals is advancing copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold opportunities in the Northern Territory, with a focus on its Oonagalabi project in the Arunta region. Through Xplor, the company is applying modern geophysics and targeted fieldwork to better understand a large, underexplored mineral system.

South Africa-based Orion Minerals is using the programme to apply modern data analytics and mineral systems thinking across its large Northern Cape tenement package to identify new discovery opportunities beyond known deposits.

Otrera Resources, operating in South America, is focused on sediment-hosted copper systems and is advancing new targets using regional expertise combined with modern geochemical and geological approaches.

PT GeoFix Indonesia, a multidisciplinary geoscience consultancy, is testing new porphyry copper/gold concepts in underexplored parts of the Sunda-Banda Arc using proprietary prospectivity tools.

The Utah Geological Survey in the US is a regional mineral systems analysis across the eastern Great Basin, integrating new datasets and targeted fieldwork to improve understanding of mineral potential and make high-quality geoscience data publicly available.

TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN DISCOVERY
The technology-focused participants reflect the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI), genomics and non-invasive sensing in exploration.

Australian company RadiXplore is using AI to reinterpret historical exploration records alongside modern datasets to identify overlooked copper opportunities.

Canada-based Mineural is applying its IRIS AI platform to copper exploration, combining machine learning with BHP’s geological expertise to improve early-stage targeting.

US-based VectOres Science is deploying non-invasive hydrogeochemical and isotopic tools to test how real-time water and isotope data can help identify mineral systems before drilling.

Discovery Genomics, based in Vancouver, is advancing DNA sequencing as a new exploration tool, using microbial DNA signatures to help detect buried copper systems in covered and complex terrains.

“The 2026 cohort reflects how broad and dynamic early-stage discovery has become," said Marley Palin, head of BHP Xplor. "We are seeing exciting ideas emerge across exploration, data, and technology, often at the same time and in the same places. Bringing these teams together through Xplor creates a unique environment for collaboration, learning, and experimentation, and we’re looking forward to what this group will explore over the coming months.”

Each participant will receive an equity-free grant of $500 000, as well as access to structured learning, mentoring and technical support from BHP specialists across exploration, technology and commercial functions.

Since its launch in 2023, the Xplor programme has supported 21 companies across its first three cohorts, helping to build a global network of explorers and innovators focused on early-stage discovery.