Ten early-stage exploration and technology companies have been chosen by BHP for its 2026 Xplor program, marking the largest cohort since the program began.
The ‘Big Australian’ said the 2026 cohort brings together junior explorer companies, geoscience organisations, and technology teams that collectively span the discovery system.
BHP group exploration officer Tim O’Connor said that exploration is evolving quickly, with new tools, better data, and “different ways of working” 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,” he said.
“Xplor gives us a valuable opportunity to learn alongside them and explore what discovery could look like in the future.”
The company added that the cohort also reflects a “more connected approach” to early-stage exploration, where collaboration across disciplines is becoming central to how discovery evolves.
Xplor’s 10 successful applicants include:
- FrontierX: an early-stage Canadian uranium exploration company, undertaking a preliminary uranium project, focused on testing early geological concepts.
- Litchfield Minerals: an Australian exploration company advancing copper, zinc, lead, silver, and gold opportunities in the Northern Territory. The company is focusing on its Oongalabi project in the Arunta region.
- Orion Minerals: a listed exploration and development company in South Africa, it is advancing its portfolio of copper and zinc assets in the Northern Cape. Orion is applying modern data analytics and mineral systems thinking to identify new discoveries.
- Otrera Resources: a South American early-stage exploration company focused on sediment-hosted copper systems. Its Xplor project is centred on advancing new copper targets, drawing on the team’s deep regional experience and modern geochemical and geological approaches.
- PT GeoFix: An Indonesian company applying its proprietary prospectivity tools and regional expertise to test new porphyry copper-gold exploration concepts in the Sunda-Banda Arc.
- Utah Geological Survey: the state of Utah’s (United States) primary geoscience organisation, it is leading a regional mineral systems analysis across the eastern Great Basin.
Technology companies include:
- RadiXplore: a tech company using AI to analyse historical exploration records, it is applying its AI platform to test how legacy data can be re-interpreted.
- Mineural: this Canadian deep-tech company is using its AI platform, IRIS, for copper exploration, combining machine learning with BHP’s geological expertise.
- VectOres Science: this US-based mining tech company is applying its water and isotope chemistry platform to test how real-time primary data can help identify and prioritise mineral systems earlier.
- Discovery Genomics: this Canadian tech company, developing DNA sequencing as a new tool for exploration, is advancing its genomics platform for copper exploration.
The head of BHP’s Xplor program Marley Palin said that the 2026 intake reflects how broad and dynamic early-stage discovery has become.
“We’re seeing exciting ideas emerge across exploration, data, and technology, often at the same time and in the same places,” he said.
BHP noted this cohort was selected on the “strength of their ideas”, technical capability, and the companies’ potential to contribute to the long-term supply of future-facing commodities.
Each company will receive an equity-free grant of USD $500,000, ($718,339) along with structured learning, mentoring, and access to BHP specialists across exploration, technology, and commercial functions.
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