The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News – January 24, 2024
BHP Xplor is providing exploration startups with the financial, technical, and other support to help accelerate the discovery of minerals critical to the global transition to clean energy.
BHP Exploration and Xplor Vice President Sonia Scarselli.
As part of its innovative approach to accelerating the discovery of minerals critical to the energy transition, BHP has selected six companies to join the second cohort of its Xplor program.
Launched by the mining giant in the fall of 2022, BHP Xplor is a unique program that offers funding and technical support to early-stage mineral exploration startups and feeds early-stage projects enriched with minerals and metals critical to clean energy technologies into the global pipeline.
"The demand for future facing commodities, such as copper and nickel, needed to support the global energy transition is forecast to increase in the coming decades – the launch of BHP Xplor will help us accelerate in finding these critical commodities now and into the future," BHP Chief Development Officer Johan van Jaarsveld said upon the August 2022 launch of the program.
BHP says Xplor is a disruptive program that pushes the boundaries of what has conventionally been achievable in the mineral exploration field.
Over the span of six months, companies selected to join each cohort work collaboratively with BHP Xplor to expedite the maturation of their geological concepts to position the projects for commercialization or partnership.
Each company selected to join BHP Xplor receives a $500,000 grant to fund its early-stage exploration.
While non-dilutive seed money to get a project off the ground is a big boost for a mineral exploration startup, the larger prizes are likely the coaching and support offered by BHP technical, business, and operational experts, as well as access to the mining giant's global partners and service providers.
This program is a departure from the normal model of senior mining companies, which largely leaves junior exploration companies on their own during the discovery and resource development phases of mineral projects – only getting involved through investments and buyouts during the advanced exploration to early development stages.
BHP's impetus for starting the Xplor accelerator is due to a belief that the traditional model is not robust enough to feed new mineral projects into the global pipeline at the speed demanded by the energy transition.
"Exploration for critical resources is moving slowly, but to meet the needs of the energy transition we must move at pace," said BHP Exploration and Xplor Vice President Sonia Scarselli.
Xplor also provides BHP with the unique advantage of having its finger on the pulse of startups exploring early staged energy minerals projects, a relationship that is expected to be beneficial for both the senior mining company seeking new projects for its portfolio and the junior explorers that have become connected to the BHP network.
From the more than 500 applications it received, BHP selected six companies to join the second Xplor cohort.
"The diversity and quality of the submissions amongst the applicants is amazing and inspiring," said Charlee Johnson, head of BHP Xplor.
The six companies selected to join the 2024 BHP Xplor cohort are:
• Longreach Mineral – a private company that is applying an innovative mineral systems approach to discover tier-one mineral deposits critical to the energy transition. Expertise in seismic geophysics and AI search tools sets the Australian company apart in the exploration industry.
• East Star Resources – a United Kingdom-based company listed on the London Stock Exchange exploring for copper and other base and precious metals in Kazakhstan.
• Pallas Resources – a private explorer focusing on large-scale copper, gold, nickel sulfide, and lithium systems in Kazakhstan.
• Hamelin Gold – a mineral exploration company listed on the Australia Securities Exchange and established to execute a modern exploration program at the Tanami Gold Project in an area of Western Australia that is also prospective for nickel-copper-PGE mineralized intrusions.
• Cobre – an exploration company listed on the Australia Securities Exchange, concentrating on copper and base metals exploration in Botswana.
• Equivest Minerals – a private company deploying a technology platform combining statistical insights on the location of major metal deposits with integrated machine learning and minerals systems to predict priority areas of interest within key regions.
"We will be working together with the 2024 cohort to accelerate exploration in new geographies and advance new geologic concepts," said Scarselli.
The accelerated exploration for the 2024 BHP Xplor cohort begins with a one-week boot camp where the six companies will join BHP experts for immersive workshops, masterclasses, and guest speakers.
Over the next six months, the companies will leverage BHP Xplor cash, technical expertise, and global networks to expedite the maturation of their geological concepts and position the projects for commercialization or partnership.
BHP will remain engaged with the 2024 Xplor programs over the next six months, including a reconvening of the cohort in March for project updates, additional classes, and further networking opportunities; site visits that allow the BHP Xplor team to gain further insights into the projects and companies; and a final showcase in June that once again connects the participants and BHP Xplor experts.
"We are excited to partner with the selected cohort and help bring their ideas and passion for their exploration projects to life," said Johnson. "We aim to accelerate this process and create disruptive results by identifying new concepts, data, and testing opportunities."
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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